I've been having fun brewing NRBs APA using the Biabacus 1.3 that is somewhere about the forum, but my mind has turned to brewing something else now.
Is the below method a sane way of creating a recipe using the BIABACUS?
I have a vague source recipe, from which i know:
- Target OG
- Target IBU
- Ratios of which malts
- Ratios of which hops
So what I'm doing is:
- adding my kettle details to a clean version of the biabacus,
- plugging in the VIF that I want,
- putting the OG required in the "this recipe requires an OG of" box
- putting the IBUs I want in the "please set my desired IBUs to" box[/list]
then for the grain bill:
- Adding the ratios of the grains I want in the grain bill boxes
And for the hop bill:
- adding the AA of the actual hops I'd be using
- sticking a random number that I know is more than necessary in the grams section under "original hop bill design"[/list]
And standing back and admiring it!
My thinking then is that the Biabacus will:
- Calculate how much grain I need to hit the desired OG for my VIF wish, and then split it as per the entered ratios, and
- Calculate how many hops I need to hit the IBU I entered (it won't try to scale the random number I put in the original hop bill section as I've overruled that by filling in the "set my desired IBUs to" box - the random number is necessary though for it to bother to make the calculation)[/list]
This logically makes sense to me, but is possibly insane. I plugged the grain bill numbers into an online calculator though, and they seemed in the right ballpark, so I'm hopeful.
Post #2 made 12 years ago
Sounds like you're on the right track to me.
I eventually like to turn the grain percentages into grams though, makes things easier for fine tuning later on.
Also, if you want to mess with the hops a bit here's a tip. Look at your VAW, enter that in Section D for "original recipe" VAW. Delete the desired IBU's. Now you can mess around with your hop totals on the left side to instantly see what the IBU effect will be to any alterations (then I would switch it back to the way you have it for saving).
I eventually like to turn the grain percentages into grams though, makes things easier for fine tuning later on.
Also, if you want to mess with the hops a bit here's a tip. Look at your VAW, enter that in Section D for "original recipe" VAW. Delete the desired IBU's. Now you can mess around with your hop totals on the left side to instantly see what the IBU effect will be to any alterations (then I would switch it back to the way you have it for saving).
Last edited by Rick on 01 Apr 2014, 22:17, edited 1 time in total.
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Post #3 made 12 years ago
Your thinking looks perfec to me maevans 
Let us know if that isn't working for you please.
That's the only sentence that bothers me in your post. Rick's probably answered it above but you shouldn't need to have a VAW figure in Section D when designing. The desired IBU's should be all that is required.maevans wrote:- the random number is necessary though for it to bother to make the calculation)
Let us know if that isn't working for you please.
Last edited by PistolPatch on 01 Apr 2014, 22:08, edited 1 time in total.
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Post #4 made 12 years ago
Thanks to you both! Glad I'm on the right track - opens up a world of possibilities!PistolPatch wrote:Your thinking looks perfec to me maevansThat's the only sentence that bothers me in your post. Rick's probably answered it above but you shouldn't need to have a VAW figure in Section D when designing. The desired IBU's should be all that is required.maevans wrote:- the random number is necessary though for it to bother to make the calculation)
Let us know if that isn't working for you please.
Pistol, re: your question, even if I have a figure in the "please set my desired IBUs to" box, I don't get anything in the "what you will use" section of the hop bill (even if AA & Mins are complete) - it doesn't make the calculation until I put a number (any number at all) in the grams box for Original Hop Design. Does that make sense? Hope so!
Last edited by maevans on 02 Apr 2014, 06:32, edited 1 time in total.
Post #5 made 12 years ago
Just heading out the door maevans but to play it safe, can you post two files up? One with the number and one without. I just want to make sure we aren't talking at cross purposes which sometimes happens. Posting the two files will solve that and make things easier to explain anyway.
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Post #6 made 12 years ago
No problem - both attached here. Only differences in the files is the number "1" in grams of original hop bill - but as you can see, in the "without number" file I get nothing in the "what you will use" section.PistolPatch wrote:Just heading out the door maevans but to play it safe, can you post two files up? One with the number and one without. I just want to make sure we aren't talking at cross purposes which sometimes happens. Posting the two files will solve that and make things easier to explain anyway.
Cheers!
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Last edited by maevans on 02 Apr 2014, 19:55, edited 1 time in total.
Post #7 made 12 years ago
Look at it from a different approach, you are creating an original recipe. The BIABacus tells you that you need 8.2g to achieve desired IBU. This is what you should now enter in the left side now that you let the BIABacus figure it out for you.
Think of a hypothetical second time you brew to this recipe, the original hop bill was 8.2g/5.0%AA on the left side. Perhaps AA% will be different next time, though? Say the hops you get for batch #2 are 4.1%AA. You would need to enter the new hop information on the right side under AA%. Then, the BIABacus will adjust hop totals based on that difference to achieve the same IBU.
If you enter my hypothetical scenario into the BIABacus properly for this file, it should bump the hop total up to 10g.
Think of a hypothetical second time you brew to this recipe, the original hop bill was 8.2g/5.0%AA on the left side. Perhaps AA% will be different next time, though? Say the hops you get for batch #2 are 4.1%AA. You would need to enter the new hop information on the right side under AA%. Then, the BIABacus will adjust hop totals based on that difference to achieve the same IBU.
If you enter my hypothetical scenario into the BIABacus properly for this file, it should bump the hop total up to 10g.
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Post #8 made 12 years ago
[Haven't read Rick's post above yet but he probably makes more sense than me. ]
Just when I thought I had seen it all
.
And I can definitely see where you are coming from. One of the main aims of the BIABacus is to get the user to question things that are not obvious. You've typed in an AA% and mins on the left and asked for 17.5 IBU's but have got nothing on the right!!!!
That's really interesting and I was about to say that I could probably fix that but I'd have to add a lot more "if" statements to an already over-taxed BIABacus. In other words, I could write something that would solve your problem, a beer design with only one hop addition but what about when there are two?
And that's where your thinking needs to go. When you have two or more hops you need to be asking informed questions. eg How much emphasis do I want on flavour? How much on bitterness? Anything on aroma or heaps?
Hopping is, in many recipes, an art that home brewers try and simplify with numbers.
Anyway, as mentioned above, I can easily see where you are coming from. I'll have to ask now that you see where I am coming from. See how the left hand side, under "The Original Hop Bill Design," has 8 fields? Four are white and sunken, two are white and two are light green. White, sunken cells are compulsory in the BIABacus.
It's not a great answer for you I know but I think the BIABacus solves most scenarios, points of view. I'll think on this more but I'm not sure we can do any better on this.
PP
]Just when I thought I had seen it all
.And I can definitely see where you are coming from. One of the main aims of the BIABacus is to get the user to question things that are not obvious. You've typed in an AA% and mins on the left and asked for 17.5 IBU's but have got nothing on the right!!!!
That's really interesting and I was about to say that I could probably fix that but I'd have to add a lot more "if" statements to an already over-taxed BIABacus. In other words, I could write something that would solve your problem, a beer design with only one hop addition but what about when there are two?
And that's where your thinking needs to go. When you have two or more hops you need to be asking informed questions. eg How much emphasis do I want on flavour? How much on bitterness? Anything on aroma or heaps?
Hopping is, in many recipes, an art that home brewers try and simplify with numbers.
Anyway, as mentioned above, I can easily see where you are coming from. I'll have to ask now that you see where I am coming from. See how the left hand side, under "The Original Hop Bill Design," has 8 fields? Four are white and sunken, two are white and two are light green. White, sunken cells are compulsory in the BIABacus.
It's not a great answer for you I know but I think the BIABacus solves most scenarios, points of view. I'll think on this more but I'm not sure we can do any better on this.
PP
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Post #9 made 12 years ago
Thanks both - your explanations make sense.
I think because I've always been scaling other people's recipes until now I've become fixated on the right hand "what you will use" side of the Hop bill rather than the left hand "original hop bill" side.
Now I think about it, it does make complete sense that I should add the 8.2g to the "original hop bill" side!
I guess originally I was just seeking confirmation that the 8.2 it was telling me was correct, which seems to be the case.
Thanks to you both!
I think because I've always been scaling other people's recipes until now I've become fixated on the right hand "what you will use" side of the Hop bill rather than the left hand "original hop bill" side.
Now I think about it, it does make complete sense that I should add the 8.2g to the "original hop bill" side!
I guess originally I was just seeking confirmation that the 8.2 it was telling me was correct, which seems to be the case.
Thanks to you both!
