BREW MATE SOFTWARE

[the complete angler]

Hi Guys

Ive downloaded the " Brewmate" calculator which seems straight forward enough to use, but I do have one question for experienced users of the programe, there is a "balance" figure which changes as you tinker with a recipe, I cant find any reference as to what this means or is there a desirable range which the figure should be kept within or doesnt it really matter

Mike

 

[PD]

e mail the company and they will send you a detailed explanation of it and if your lucky a table of beer styles with the balance values appropriate to each style.
Its too complicated for my brain I'm afraid.

 

[bunkerbrewer]

It's a ratio of sweetness to bitterness, based on weighted values of FG and OG and IBUs.

I tend to use the BU:GU ratio more when scaling recipes, especially when I want a lower ABV version of a recipe. If the original recipe has OG 1.050 and 30 IBUs, that's a BU:GU ratio of 0.6. If I want a 1.045 beer, in theory I need 27 IBUs (0.6 * 45).

Because balance value also factors in FG, you can see the BV change if you change the expected attenuation of your yeast (the AA% box), but the BU:GU ratio doesn't change. So if you're adjusting a recipe to make a less dry version of a beer by using a higher mash temperature, you can lower the AA%, and tweak the IBUs to get you back to the original balance value for the recipe.

There's quite a good explanation here.

 

[PD]

Yep that's more or less what the company said to me !...

 

[Good Ed]

The BU:GU ratio is very useful as a reference to what your particular tastes are like, Ray Daniels formulated this, and it's the bittering units divided by the gravity units (last 2 digits of the original gravity). The Balance Value takes this a step further by taking account of the apparent attenuation you achieve with your yeast, and there are guidlines for these for each particular beer style. Having said that I think that they should only be used as a guide for your particular tastes. For example when I started brewing I used a BU:GU of 0.85 for pale ales, but now I actually prefer something around 0.95, so it's a useful guide when formulating recipes.