Beersmith 3.0

[Hoddy]

So who has pre-ordered the new version of Beersmith?

Ive decided to pre order it and get the discount. Looks like (amount other things) it’s gonna have native water additions (minerals and salts) calculator based on the actual recipe you ask it to calculate it for. Which should make all the water profile things a breeze. Including PH management.







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[dan125]

Yep I downloaded it yesterday after preordering - just trying to get my head round it.

EDIT - the water calc looks good, but it only has lactic & phosphoric acid options fo mash pH adjustments and I don't think I can add the CRS (that I usually use) as an extra 'ingredient'.

 

[Leon103]

I read the email. But then forgot all about it. Is it too late to pre-order

 

[Sadfield]

I read the email. But then forgot all about it. Is it too late to pre-order

You have until the 30th of June, to get the discounted price.

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[BeerCat]

How much is it and how does it compare to brewers friend?

 

[Hoddy]

How much is it and how does it compare to brewers friend?

With the US exchange rate via PayPal it’s about £19.

It’s loads better in brewersfriend so many way. You can download beersmith3 as a 21 day trial to see what you think of it. That’ll give you a few weeks to see the value in it.

I think it’s great personally.

Although like @dan125 I am struggling to see how I can use the ph adjustment effectively. He’s integrated all of the other recipe dev areas into your specific beer your developing. Apart from the ph adjustment???


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[Leon103]

Which option did everyone go for?
Does it transfer your current recipes over

 

[Hoddy]

Which option did everyone go for?
Does it transfer your current recipes over

I went for the one off payment and just 3.0 with minor revisions. I don't see the point of going subscription based (yet)

It does all the importing of your old previous data for you and it all comes in perfectly.

I'm quite impressed so far. Just need to work out of the PH stuff works automatically like the mineral additions do.

I really like the way the app is now focused around the recipes now equip/minerals/water etc and it means you can capture all the specifics you set around one recipe and style.


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[dan125]

I only had the mobile version before, so I've got a bit of learning to do.
Luckily I do have a bottle of 75% phosphoric acid that is listed for mash pH adjustments, so I'm gonna have a go at using that next brewday to see if the software gets me close to target pH.

 

[dan125]

I also went for the one off purchase basic version.
I'm surprised at the IBU contribution predicted for steeping hops.
It reckons I'd still get 8.4 IBUs out of a 30min steep at 70C using 100g total citra/denali at approx 14%AA

 

[Sadfield]

@dan125 How are you currently using CRS?

Just bought the stand alone version, as I rarely use the cloud and can't really see how v4 can offer any more than I need. To be honest, only moved from v2 to v3 as it's the software equivalent of getting some new shiny.

 

[dan125]

@dan125 How are you currently using CRS?

Just treating my water with it before adding the salts in the usual way, but before now I have been using a very simple water treatment spreadsheet I put together that accounts for the sulphate & chloride contributions from it.

 

[Sadfield]

I was slightly worried you were adding CRS to the mash, when you said you were going to try phosphoric instead.

Not sure why they haven't added CRS to the water treatment side of this. A massive omission in my view. Although all my custom target water profiles I created in v2 account for this, but I did hope they may have removed the need for this workaround in v3.

I would treat with CRS as normal, and add a Water Profile to beersmith of your base water (post CRS treatment). Then use that profile in the Water section, followed by the Match to Target Profile feature and let Beersmith calculate the Salt additions. When you mash, you should then be near your target pH and not need to add acid to the mash.

I edit the CRS profile under Miscellaneous ingredients so it knows how many g/L I need to adjust my water. Then when I create a recipe and add CRS it automatically calculates how much I need to add to my Total Water Volume.

 

[dan125]

I was slightly worried you were adding CRS to the mash, when you said you were going to try phosphoric instead.

Not sure why they haven't added CRS to the water treatment side of this. A massive omission in my view. Although all my custom target water profiles account for this.

I wasn't sure if they use CRS in the states. Might explain why its not on there??
Is it not OK to use phosphoric while treating the liquor, before mashing in. like I would with the CRS?
Good idea to create the new water profile, and I hadn't even noticed the 'match to target profile' bit yet.:cheers7:

 

[Sadfield]

Good point on the US, perhaps I added CRS as an ingredient in v2. I still think it is odd they haven't addressed mineral reduction, even if the US favour pre-boiling or dilution. I think you could pretreat your water with Phosphoric instead of CRS, although that isn't what Beersmith is calculating here with Phosphoric additions, it is calculating how much phosphoric is needed to be added directly to the mash to lower the pH when too high. Personally, I'd stick with using CRS if it already works for you.

 

[cheeseyfeet]

I also went for the one off purchase basic version.
I'm surprised at the IBU contribution predicted for steeping hops.
It reckons I'd still get 8.4 IBUs out of a 30min steep at 70C using 100g total citra/denali at approx 14%AA

This surprised me too, I'm going to do a mega addition in the whirlpool for my next pale and believe the numbers - we'll see if the taste suggests it's correct!

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[Hoddy]

This surprised me too, I'm going to do a mega addition in the whirlpool for my next pale and believe the numbers - we'll see if the taste suggests it's correct!

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On this one don’t forget to change on the hop addition what temp the whirlpool will be. It seems to be default to 90oc which will add IBU’s. I change mine to 75oC which is the temp I do whirlpool at.


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[cheeseyfeet]

Good point, I have mine set to 70c and it was still giving me 20+ IBUs for a 100g mix of citra and mosaic for a 60 minutes whirlpool.

I don't heat during the whirlpool as my boiler is either on or off, so I can't maintain 70c - I'm guessing that beersmith will come out slightly high as it can't account for the natural cooling during the hopstand?

Does anyone have any tips for using the new functionality to estimate bitterness additions from cube hops when no chilling?

I usually just count them as a 20 minutes boil addition but I'm not sure this is too accurate.

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[dan125]

Good point on the US, perhaps I added CRS as an ingredient in v2. I still think it is odd they haven't addressed mineral reduction, even if the US favour pre-boiling or dilution. I think you could pretreat your water with Phosphoric instead of CRS, although that isn't what Beersmith is calculating here with Phosphoric additions, it is calculating how much phosphoric is needed to be added directly to the mash to lower the pH when too high. Personally, I'd stick with using CRS if it already works for you.

It looks like anything included in the 'Mash pH Acid Additions' section gets included in the 'Water Prep' section of the Brew Steps - so I assumed the extra 'Final Mash pH Adjustments' section was for adjusting during the mash after taking a pH reading if you wanted to??

 

[Sadfield]

They do, but are suffixed with (Mash) and the acids don't make any difference to the water analysis section under the Water tab, where as salts do.

EDIT: Have sent a message to Beersmith asking if CRS/AMS can be added as an Ingredient Add-on that adjusts the water parameters in the water section, like the salts do. Will post any reply I get.