Inventory Management

[MickDundee]

I buy what I need for 4 or 5 specific recipes then a user-upper brew at the end.

 

[trueblue]

Luddite

Not at all I have tried a few computer based systems over the last 20 years but I find my pen and paper easier and quicker.

 

[An Ankoù]

I use a calc printout like this, print out all the pages, put them in a file and just update them with a pen. I redo the sheet perhaps twice a year.

 

[Deathstar]

Thanks all, I think I go down the xls route with me having a Grainfather and using the automation from the app.
Just need to remember to debit the amounts when brewing.
I may have a play with the XML output and import it to auto calc.... play time is coming.

 

[Benfleet Brewery]

I wind myself up with this. I do a stock take of grains and hops and just keep it in the “note” section on my iPhone ready to update after each brew day. Then, after a few weeks, I realise I haven’t been updating it and don’t have enough of something on brew day and have to ad-lib. Then I do a stock take of my grains and hops.............

 

[Cwrw666]

Every time I'm going to order a new 25Kg bag of pale malt I just weigh everything I've got. Then I plan all the brews that I'll do with the PM and order what I need. Doing it this way means I never have much left in stock anyway.
I'm with TrueBlue but I tend to use a biro and the back of a used envelope.

 

[RichardM]

I use Beersmith to keep track of my inventory, but the rub is that you have to make sure you hit the "remove inventory" button each time you brew. I keep hops, frozen yeast, and grain on hand. I don't bother tracking irish moss, brewing salts, gelatin, since I don't need to know those when I'm building a recipe.
The caution I noted was due to using my last vial of a strain of frozen yeast and then needing to buy a new pack to re-supply my bank.

Are you freezing liquid yeast? What technique are you using? I've read that you can't just freeze liquid yeast, you need to add glycerol to prevent osmosis killing the yeast cells.

 

[Edison]

I use BeerSmith (and occasionally double check in case I forget to remove a recipe from inventory!) but wish there was a way of saving %alpha of hops when I add them. I have to double check on the pack in the freezer when I add them to a recipe.

 

[Sadfield]

I use BeerSmith (and occasionally double check in case I forget to remove a recipe from inventory!) but wish there was a way of saving %alpha of hops when I add them. I have to double check on the pack in the freezer when I add them to a recipe.

Ingredients>Hops> Then double click on desired hop to bring up the edit box, there you can correct the AA% to what you have and also change the Inventory amount.

 

[Edison]

Ah, thanks @Sadfield did not know that. Feels like a workaround changing the default values, there should be the ability to specify %alpha when adding to the inventory in its own tab. Useful if you have a number of batches of the same variety. Just nit picking tho!

 

[marshbrewer]

I wind myself up with this. I do a stock take of grains and hops and just keep it in the “note” section on my iPhone ready to update after each brew day. Then, after a few weeks, I realise I haven’t been updating it and don’t have enough of something on brew day and have to ad-lib. Then I do a stock take of my grains and hops.............

This is where software like Brewfather helps so much. As long as you remember to add your stock into the inventory, then when you brew it's automatically removed. I only have to sanity check mine because I know that sometimes I don't update the batch recipe with the exact amounts used, and the odd gram or two here can add up

 

[peebee]

I use Beersmith, record everything into the Inventory, and then I always know exactly what I've got for the next brew.

And two brews down the line … "did I remember to remove the last brew's ingredients from the inventory?" "Is the Inventory telling me the truth?"

I'd best do (yet another) "stock-take" Flippin' waste of time. I'm sure I'll have it written down somewhere … 🌩

 

[BlackIsland]

Are you freezing liquid yeast? What technique are you using? I've read that you can't just freeze liquid yeast, you need to add glycerol to prevent osmosis killing the yeast cells.

I use a solution of 30% glycerin, 70% water, sterilize it in a pressure canner, and then when I add the yeast slurry, I double the volume so that I have a 15% glycerin solution. I store about 16 ml in a 24 ml vial.

 

[BlackIsland]

Ah, thanks @Sadfield did not know that. Feels like a workaround changing the default values, there should be the ability to specify %alpha when adding to the inventory in its own tab. Useful if you have a number of batches of the same variety. Just nit picking tho!

when I have multiple hops with different alpha acids of the same variety, I just use the add a hop function, add that specific hop at the specific alpha acid, and put the amount that I have in inventory. That way it's unique to the recipes I'm using them in.

 

[Edison]

Thats what I do, but it would be more convenient to add it at the correct %alpha when I add to the inventory as I’m unboxing a delivery and not have to check again when I’m building a recipe.
And, of course, when I tried the previous suggestion last night, I noticed I hadn’t removed the last brew from the inventory!! Well, at least it’s still in the FV!

 

[dad_of_jon]

Pen and paper, worked well the last 40 odd years.

Pen and Paper - Luxury!

I scratch the details with a sharp stone on my skin.....

Seriously I just look in my brewing supplies boxes in fridge (hops & yeast) and storage box in dining room malts,grains & sugars. When I see Im down to one last brew I order stuff for another 3-4. I keep my brewing schedule in my head.... Imperial stout, sour and a hoppy golden beer are the next 3.

 

[Horners]

Im going to try to move to just having stuff in for the next 3 or 4 brews as stuff is taking up too much space. This is partly down to making up orders that are about say £15 below free delivery so throwing in an extra few 500gf bags of random speciality malts and hops you might or might not 'need'. Hence the need to track inventory

 

[Cheshire Cat]

I use a calc printout like this, print out all the pages, put them in a file and just update them with a pen. I redo the sheet perhaps twice a year.
View attachment 33036

That's a lot of stock but was that your lockdown levels or normal?

 

[An Ankoù]

Im going to try to move to just having stuff in for the next 3 or 4 brews as stuff is taking up too much space. This is partly down to making up orders that are about say £15 below free delivery so throwing in an extra few 500gf bags of random speciality malts and hops you might or might not 'need'. Hence the need to track inventory

Even with delivery at £13 a load, it's still MUCH cheaper to buy grain and hops from Ireland or the UK than it is on the mainland. Nevertheless, I always top up to the full 30 Kilos with base malt, usually Crisp's or Minch pale malt.

 

[AdeDunn]

Im going to try to move to just having stuff in for the next 3 or 4 brews as stuff is taking up too much space. This is partly down to making up orders that are about say £15 below free delivery so throwing in an extra few 500gf bags of random speciality malts and hops you might or might not 'need'. Hence the need to track inventory

I've massively reduced how much stock I keep in this time around compared to the last go around. I used to buy 25kilo sacks of different malts, order hops "just in case" then put them in the freezer etc... All that happened was I ended up binning loads when I had an enforced break. This time around, I order my base malts in 10 kilo bags, and only order hops for brews I am going to actually do. Same with yeasts, I only order for brews I am going to do, especially as I 50/50 use dry to liquid yeasts now.

I don't worry about free shipping at all, as honestly, even with shipping it's still way better value than buying craft beer in, plus end of the day it's my hobby. If my wife buys yarn or crochet hooks or something, we pay shipping. If I order keyboard switches or keycaps I sometimes have to pay shipping, sometimes not.... I just avoid buying tiny quantities at a time. Easy to do thanks to buying base malts 10 kilos at a time, as that's about 2-3 brews worth.... lol

Serious plus side, I can experiment with using different base malts freely.

Oh and yeah, Get Er Brewed and The Homebrew Company, both in Ireland, are my go to companies for ordering. I used to use The Malt Miller, but sadly since Covid he seems to have hiked his prices rather a lot, and it's only about 1 day longer coming from Ireland via DPD. I've also used KegThat a couple of times, but right now their URL takes you to a cPanel placeholder page...

Oh, re the original question, I don't bother. I just order ahead of brewing so far, but will be doing some brews to use up at some point too, as I don't build up big stocks now.