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The Menu BarFileThe file menu allows the saving and retrieving of recipes, and for the loading of the example recipes which can be used as templates. More example recipes will be included at a later date, but there appears to be are one or two intermittent bugs that I have not got to the bottom of yet, due to their intermittency making them difficult to track down.It is probably a good idea to save your own recipes in your own documents directory. PrintingThe various print functions are grouped here. These functions fire up the browser and are intended to be printed for inclusion in a brewers' journal, a ring-binder, within which the details of each beer brewed should be recorded. The browser's orientation and margins may need to be set to accommodate the page properly. Generally speaking, the pages are designed for margins of 12.7mm or less, although the margins can be offset to provide an adequate binding margin as long as the total of both horizontal margins, or the total of both vertical margins does not exceed 25.4mm.Recipe To BrowserObvious really, just directs the recipe to the browser. The page should be in portrait mode and the margins are not critical.JournalThis brings up a pop-up panel that allows various types of journal page to be generated and displayed for printout. There are three types of page:Journal Pages. Two printable log book pages that can be shoved into a ring-binder, for recording all the variables of a brewing session - gravities, fermentation progress and that sort of thing. Planner Page. This generates a monthly planner. It requires that a month and year be selected in the appropriate boxes. The browser should be set to landscape mode and, typically 12.7mm margins. The margin width can be varied as long total of the horizontal margins or the total of the vertical margins does not exceed 25.4mm. Calendar Page. This fires up a yearly calendar. The browser should be set to portrait mode and the margins set to 12.7mm or less, or 25.4mm total in each axis. CalculatorsHydrometer StuffTemperature Correction. Standard hydrometer temperature correction stuff. Enter the hydrometer reading (needs decimal point), sample temperature (the temperature of the wort you are measuring), and the calibration temperature (the temperature printed on your hydrometer). The correction factor and the corrected reading will appear in the other boxes.Conversions. Enables conversion between specific gravity and Plato (and brewers' pounds per barrel for fun). Put the known value in one of the boxes and the other boxes will be updated with the conversions. This is direct conversion as if the substrate being measured is sucrose. Alcohol. Self explanatory. O.G. and F.G in the appropriate boxes, and the alcohol percentages will be displayed. ABV is customary in Britain. It uses the official Excise conversion, which may be skewed in their revenue favour, but has the advantage that the abv's should match those published by commercial brewers. Units ConversionNot much explanation needed here. For volume and weight conversions, put a number in the left-most box, select what you are converting from and what you are converting to, using the drop-down lists, and the answer will be displayed. For temperature, plonk the known in one box and the conversion will be displayed in the other.
Water TreatmentNot implemented yet.Strike HeatDunno how useful a strike heat calculator will be. It is more or less straightforward, the parameters required are self-explanatory. The only tough one is the grist moisture content, which will have to be guessed at. Fresh pale malt has about 3.5% moisture, but flakes and torrified cereals can be twice that. Storage will increase the moisture, particularly crushed malt. 4% should be regarded as the minimum.EfficiencyThis utility enables you to calculate your true mash efficiency or your true overall efficiency. To use it, enter your recipe, exactly as you brewed it, into the main part of the programme (No need to bother with the hops for this purpose). Then bring up the efficiency calculator. Use the radio buttons to select whether you want to calculate the overall efficiency or the mash efficiency.If overall efficiency is selected, then measure the volume and gravity of the wort in the fermenter, before (or very soon after) the yeast is added, and put the figures in the appropriate boxes. If mash efficiency is selected, then measure the volume and original gravity of the sweet wort collected from the mash tun (including spargings). This can be the sweet wort collected in the copper, but before any copper sugars or syrups are added. It is important to appreciate the distinction between 'overall efficiency' and 'mash efficiency', because the point at which volume and gravity is measured is different. The appropriate radio button must be selected and the parameters measured at the proper point and entered into the boxes. The difference between the mash efficiency and overall efficiency radio buttons is that copper sugars and syrups are excluded from the internal calculation when mash efficiency is selected, but are included when overall efficiency is selected. It matters not if any dilution liquor has been added to either the copper or the fermenter prior to taking the readings.
RefractometerThe refractometer pop-up consists of two panels; 'pre-fermentation measurement' and 'secondary measurements'. The top panel, pre-fermentation measurement, as the name suggests, is for use under circumstances prior to fermentation; mash tun run-off for example or the equivalent of original gravity. It simply adjusts the refractometer reading that is put into the refractometer box by the calibration factor and displays the results in S.G. It can be used stand-alone (without using the second panel). It will also work backwards by putting a number in the original gravity box and it will fill in the refractometer and Brix boxes.The bottom panel, 'secondary measurements', is for occasions after yeast has been added. It cannot be used stand-alone; the top panel, 'pre-fermentation measurement', must be filled in with the original gravity figure first, because it needs to adjust the reading for alcohol content which can only be determined from original gravity. The bottom panel works in the same way as the top panel; that is, enter the refractometer reading in the appropriative box and the equivalent specific gravity, corrected for both alcohol and calibration factor, is displayed. The calculation will also work backwards by putting a figure into the SG box. Calibration Factor A tool for calculating the calibration factor, should you require to set a different one to the default of 1.04, can be accessed from the menu bar of the refractometer tool pop-up. The whole issue of using a refractometer for beer is both controversial and a bit of a technical minefield. A full discussion needs a whole page to itself and such a discussion can be found here: Refractometer Discussion Vessel GaugingAnother Wheeler first. Where else have you seen a tool that enables you to volumetrically calibrate your brewing vessels? This tool calculates the volume of a frustum, which enables the dip-gauging of tapered and parallel-sided vessels. You can gauge the volume of the fluid in the vessel by measuring the perpendicular distance from the rim of the vessel to the surface of the fluid. It matters not whether the vessels are round or rectangular, parallel-sided, cylindrical, or tapered. The only requirement is that the vessels are straight-sided (not the same thing as having parallel sides), which means that they should have no steps in them (such as the old Boots brewing bin used to have) or bulges (such as barrel-shaped vessels).To use the tool the internal dimensions of the vessel should be entered into the dimensions panel, after first selecting the shape of the vessel with the radio buttons. All dimensions are internal, in centimetres, and must be fairly accurate. It can be difficult to measure the internal dimensions of the base of a vessel but, with polythene buckets at least, this can be eased by turning the bucket upside down with a bright torch inside. Measuring the internal dimensions of the rim can be difficult if the bucket is out of shape. This can be facilitated by filling the bucket with water to pull it back into shape, or by taking several measurements at different positions and averaging the results. The height is the perpendicular height, not the slant height, and is measured from the internal base of the vessel to the top of the rim. This can be facilitated by putting a straight-edge of some sort across the top of the bin to give you an edge to measure to. The default pre-loaded measurements are for the RPC Containers' RPC316S bin which is the current Young's type which is stocked in Wilkinsons among other places. Once the dimensions have been entered, simply enter the distance from the rim of the bin to the surface of the fluid in the 'dip height' box, and the volume of the fluid will be displayed below it. The dip height is again the perpendicular height, not the slant height, and a straight-edge across the top of the bin (the lid might do) will help. The acquisition of a 60cm stainless-steel rule from your local DIY emporium would be useful. It might be a good idea to spend a bit of time and produce a table of measurements at 1cm intervals which can be entered into a spreadsheet and then a graph plotted that can be printed and put into your brewing journal for quick reference. EditorsGrain EditorThe grain editor enables the modification, removal or addition of fermentable ingredients to the database. A certain amount of information is necessary for the inner workings of Beer Engine to do its job properly. Most of this information can be obtained from the supplier's or maltster's data sheet. The grain editor is reached from the "Editors" function on the top menu bar.Click on "Editors" -> "Grain Editor" to pop up the grain editor window. Using the keyboard arrow keys highlight an ingredient. Alternatives are to use the mouse scroll-wheel or the scroll-bar to bring the item in view and then clicking on the desired ingredient. Decide whether you wish to delete or modify the data for that ingredient, or add a new ingredient and click the relevant button. If "Delete" is selected, then the obligatory, irritating conformation window will pop up and the deletion can be confirmed or cancelled as usual. If "Modify" or "New" is selected, the left-hand panel and its buttons will grey out and the right-hand panel and its buttons will wake up. The parameters from the database for the selected ingredient are pre-loaded into the form. These can then be modified if "Modify" has been selected or can be used as a template for the new ingredient if "New" has been selected. If you want to enter a new ingredient from scratch, the "Clear Form" button will do exactly that. Once you have entered or modified the data, the "Done" button will enter the ingredient into the working table. When you have finished entering your changes you can then use the "Save To Database" to make the changes permanent for future sessions. If the changes are not saved to the database, they will only remain active for the current session. The various buttons grey out and disable or wake up and enable, as appropriate, to guide you through the proper sequence. The parameters required are detailed below. They can be found in the maltster's data sheet. Name: The name by which the ingredient is identified. The length is limited to 25 characters, so with some ingredients the name may need to be abbreviated somewhat. If adding a new ingredient, it is important to note that either the name or the colour of the ingredient must be unique for the system to work properly. Two ingredients with the same name and the same colour will be problematic, so ensure that at least one of those two fields contain different data.
Colour: The colour of the ingredient in degrees EBC. This figure is used internally to predict the colour of the resulting beer. Errors or omissions will cause the colour prediction to be wrong. The colour figure is also used in conjunction with the name to identify and distinguish between ingredients. Two ingredients with the same name and the same colour will be problematic, so ensure that at least one of those two fields contain different data. Extract: The extract or yield delivered by the ingredient in litre degrees/ kilogramme. This is a very important figure which is used in almost all the internal calculations. The extract figure required is the Coarse Grind (MIAG 7) figure. This is normally given as a "dry basis" figure in the maltster's data, but is sometimes given "as is". If you are obliged to use the "as is" figure, rather than the "dry basis" figure, then the moisture content figure (described next) should be set to zero. If the the data does not specify whether the figure is "dry" or "as is", assume that it is dry basis - which is the normal. Moisture Content: Typical moisture content of the ingredient in per cent. This figure is used optionally (selectable in defaults) to provide a more accurate figure for mash efficiency. Extract figures provided by the maltster are measured in a laboratory and are usually given as "dry basis"; that is, as if the grain contains no moisture. In practice, however, the grain as supplied (as is) contains moisture which adds to the weight of the grain. A grain such as pale malt has typically 3.5% moisture when it leaves the malt house, but some ingredients contain 7% or more when it leaves the manufacturer. More moisture will be absorbed from the atmosphere during storage, particularly ready-crushed malt. Obviously a 7% increase in the apparent weight is going to make a 7% difference in the extract achieved compared to the laboratory-derived dry figure. This will affect mash efficiency accordingly. Entering this figure enables Beer Engine to compensate for the moisture content if required (provided that it is enabled). However, calculations by home brewers and most competing brewing software tend not to compensate for moisture content. If the extract figure (above) is given "as is", then the moisture content should be set to zero. If the extract figure is given as dry basis, then the moisture content figure should be entered. Sometimes it is prudent to add 1% or 2% to the figure supplied to account for moisture absorbed during storage after it leaves the malt house. The exact figure for the additional moisture absorbed depends upon storage conditions; temperature and humidity. Ready crushed malt is more likely to absorb additional moisture than uncrushed malt. Most people just use the figure supplied by the maltster and do not bother to adjust it further - it is getting rather fussy and unnecessary to go that far, and any figure for additional moisture absorbed is only a guess anyway, because we have no way of actually measuring it. Fermentability: This is the percentage of fermentable sugars contributed by the ingredient after mashing, and represents real fermentability of the ingredient. The fermentability figure is used internally to predict final gravity and percentage alcohol. It is a little confusing, not least because in many cases 200% is put into this box - clearly impossible, so it requires some explanation. Real fermentability is stressed because does not, directly, represent the attenuation you would see by hydrometer. Most mashed ingredients have a variable fermentability determined by mash temperature and pH. To deal with this situation a special code 200 (%) is put into this box to tell Beer Engine to perform internal calculations to determine fermentability. However, some ingredients have a fixed fermentability, particularly those that do not need to be mashed. Cane sugar has 100% fermentability; black and chocolate malt have virtually zero fermentability. Malt extract has already been mashed at the factory and has a fixed fermentability determined by the product specification, usually specified as 63% minimum. So it becomes clear that fermentability is not a straightforward issue. A fermentability figure is required, but as it only effects final gravity and alcohol percentage predictions, which is an approximation at best anyway, an error in this figure is not going to be the end of the world or make a bad beer. To determine a figure: if the ingredient is an enzymic primary malt that has to be mashed it is probably safe enough to put the code, 200, in the box and let Beer Engine deal with the problem of fermentability. It is probably safe to use 200 for secondary mashed malts too, certainly anything below about 200EBC colour. Cane and beet sugar-derived products, syrup or crystalline, are 100%. With malt extract you are are safe with 63% or 65%. The tough one is crystal malt, caramalt type of products, the fermentability of these is fixed but differs from type to type and is usually not specified - 50% is a good bet if the real figure is not known. If in doubt, use a similar product from the existing list as a template. If all else fails - guess! You will be close enough. It is rare for fermentability to be specified in suppliers lists, but sometimes one is specified. If the fermentability specification is given in terms of apparent fermentability as would be given by hydrometer measurements (apparent attenuation), as do some of the American Briess malt extract specifications for example, divide apparent fermentability by 1.22 to arrive at real fermentability, which is the actual percentage of fermentable sugars and is not the same as a hydrometer would read. Type: This is used internally so that Beer Engine knows how to treat any particular type of ingredient, and is also used for various internal checks and calculations. It is important to get the type (or class) correct otherwise Beer Engine can make some mistakes. Currently these mistakes will probably be fairly minor, but this will not be the case after some planned future enhancements have been incorporated into Beer Engine. 1. Primary Malt. Sometimes referred to as a base malt, particularly by American home brewers. This is an enzymic malt that contains sufficient enzymes to self convert its own starch into sugar. It needs to be mashed and is always put into the mash tun. Pale malt, mild ale malt and lager malt are examples of this type of malt. 2. Secondary Malt. This is a non-enzymic type of malt that contains convertible extract, starch, but does not possess the necessary enzymes to perform the conversion. It relies on the enzymes supplied by an enzymic malt and is always mashed alongside an enzymic primary malt. Amber malt and brown malt are examples of a secondary non-enzymic malt. As a guideline, any malt that has a colour above about 30EBC will have had its enzymes destroyed and should be classed as a secondary malt. 3. Mash Tun Adjunct. This is unmalted ingredients, such as flakes or torrified cereals that contain convertible starch but do not contain the enzymes necessary to convert that starch into sugar. They rely on enzymes contributed by the primary malt to effect conversion. All unmalted cereals, such as flaked wheat or torrified barley, are in this class. 4. Can Be Steeped. These are ingredients that do not need conversion by enzymes and their sugars can be extracted by a simple steep. These ingredients are usually put into the mash tun for convenience, but could just as well be put into the copper or steeped in hot water. They can therefore be used by malt extract brewers without mashing. Crystal malt, carapils, chocolate and black malts are in this class. 5. Malt Extract. This is an ingredient, syrup or powder, that is added to the copper, and which contains nitrogen or protein. Malt extract is the most obvious ingredient in this class. 6. Copper Sugar. This is similar to above, and is any sugar, syrup or granular, added to the copper that does not contain any nitrogen or protein. Ordinary household sugar or any cane or beet sugar is in this class. The major difference between types 5 and 6 is that, although both types are effectively copper sugars or syrups, type 5 contains protein and type 6 does not. This information will be used in a future enhancement to improve hop utilisation predictions. Comments: This is a free-form area for notes, comments or descriptions about the ingredient. This is displayed in the ingredient selection pop-up list. You are limited to 360 characters. You can not leave any box empty (except for the descriptions field), otherwise an irritating error box will pop up. Hop EditorThe hop editor behaves in the same way as the grain editor described above.Click on "Editors" -> "Hop Editor" to pop up the editor window. Using the keyboard arrow keys highlight a hop. Alternatives are to use the mouse scroll-wheel or the scroll-bar to bring the item in view and then clicking on the desired hop. Decide whether you wish to delete or modify the data for that hop, or add a new hop and click the relevant button. If "Delete" is selected, then the obligatory, irritating conformation window will pop up and the deletion can be confirmed or cancelled as usual. If "Modify" or "New" is selected, the left-hand panel and its buttons will grey out and the right-hand panel and its buttons will wake up. The parameters from the database for the selected hop are pre-loaded into the form. These can then be modified if "Modify" has been selected or can be used as a template for the new hop if "New" has been selected. If you want to enter a new hop from scratch, the "Clear Form" button will do exactly that. Once you have entered or modified the data, clicking the "Done" button will enter the hop into the working table. When you have finished entering your changes you can then use the "Save To Database" to make the changes permanent for future sessions. If the changes are not saved to the database, they will only remain active for the current session. The various buttons grey out and disable or wake up and enable, as appropriate, to guide you through the sequence. The parameters required are very straightforward: Name: Obvious really - you have to call it something. Type: This distinguishes between whole and pellet hops. It may be used in future enhancements of Beer Engine to give different utilisation characteristics between the two types. The pellet hops are considered to be type 90 or type 45. Type 100 pellets, commonly known in home brewing as "plugs", have identical characteristics, except form, to whole hops. Thus if you have type 100 pellets / plugs, select whole. Origin: The country of origin. Not actually used in Beer Engine at the moment or displayed anywhere. This information, if thought to be important, could also be entered into the comments box making it viewable during hop selection. Alpha Acid: Obviously this is important. It is sufficient to enter the mean or average figure found in hop merchants data. The actual alpha-acid for the hops you have in hand can be adjusted during recipe design. Use: This is the usual application for the hop; bittering, aroma or general-purpose (both). Comments: This is a free-form area for notes, comments or descriptions about the hop. This is displayed in the hop selection pop-up list. You are limited to 360 characters. Set DefaultsThe Set Defaults enables changes to the system defaults to be made. This has been given a whole page to itself. It can be found here: Set Defaults
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