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@Scott and a good question Steve
. I've been a bit absent of late so sorry for not seeing this sooner. This is a good example for those who want to use the BIAbacus to help them work out the VAW of a recipe.
In the link @shetc gave to the Brulosophy recipe, the page has a BeerXML file which is a file in a format made up among several brewing software many years ago. The terminology used in the BeerXML file is often vague; we still have terms like Batch Size and Efficiency used. For example, the recipe says the Efficiency is 63%. Also some amounts are in metric while others are in US. Wtf? Anyway, here is what I've changed in shetc's original file.
First I made sure the ratios of grain were correct by typing in the actual amounts on the left of Section B instead of the 99% and 1% that Steve had.
Secondly, I went to Section X and forced the efficiency to 63% to match the BeerXML file. I also put a zero in for KFL and FPL. This effectively changes the VIF in Section A to be the VAW.
Thirdly, I added the Yield info on each grain into Section Y. (Yield is another term that is really vague.Usually it means Fine Grind Dry Basis or FGDB and there is zero moisture content.)
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Then I typed 19.87 into the VIF of Section B and then checked the right hand side of Section B. It came up with 12.23 pounds of Vienna malt and 1.92 ounces of the Pale Chocolate Malt. (This is extremely close to the original recipe's 12.25 and 2.0.)
The Real Story
When the VAW of a recipe isn't given, the above is about as easy as it gets to determine it. To get the above, I actually had to play around a lot before I could get things to match. The 63% could have easily been EIF instead of EAW. The Yields may have included moisture content. The 19.87 may have been the volume of the hot wort so I shrunk that by 4% several times. In other words, there are a lot of numbers that could mean anything! Often, you won't be able to get a recipe to "balance" no matter what you do as there is simply not enough info to dig up.
You'll notice the IBU's don't match the original recipe. This will be due to the original program using an incorrect Tinseth formula. As for colour not matching, I can't find anything in the BeerXML file that will help us there. I'd guess the same error applies here as to the bitterness formula, they'll probably have based it on VIF instead of VAW. Don't worry about it
So, in the file below, I have typed 19.87 into the VAW field in Section C as well.
BIABacus PR1.3U - Brulosophy Vienna Lager - Batch A0 - VAW Determination.xls
Now that we have all that done, we know the VAW and can get things set for our own equipment....
The File to Use
In this final file, I've deleted some things I did above. I got rid of the two zeroes in Section X. I've left the mash temp as what Steve had as I think it's more reasonable. As for the 63% kettle efficiency in Section X, what I've done is typed minus 15% in, instead of 63. This ends up giving us a higher kettle efficiency than the 63% which is more realisitc because we're BIAB'ing. The kettle efficiency is very low because the mash is only going for 20 minutes. I've changed the VIF to 25 just for fun. All you have to do though in this last file is...
Type whatever number you want into VIF in Section B.
Type in your kettle diameter into Section B.
BIABacus PR1.3U - Brulosophy Vienna Lager - Batch A0 - Good to Go.xls
And you are good to go!
Cheers
Pat
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