Water calculator link to recipes

[Tallbrewer]

Hi Larry,

I've started to use your built in calculator for all my recipes and am really liking it. Its very easy to understand and simply laid out while still maintaining a huge amount of options. One idea I had was could there be a recipe update from the calculator to the recipe. So that once you've figured out your brewing salt additions you hit a button in the calculator and it adds all the additions into a field under the water section of the recipe. Currently I type in each addition and amount into the notes field. Seems like a small thing but you already have lots of link buttons from the recipe to the calculator so I was thinking it might be a simple addition.

Matt

 

[LarryBrewer]

Thanks for the praise, glad you are liking the tools!

So just to be clear, you want some notes about the salt additions to go back from the Mash Chemistry and Brewing Water Calculator into the recipe water notes field. I was thinking estimated mash pH would be a good one too. Someday we may be able to roll it into one 'unified' calculator!

This is not perfect, but currentlywhat I do is follow the link from the Recipe to the advanced water calculator, and then it shows me my saved water records for that recipe and I click the link from there to load the saved record. The saved records are also under My Brewing -> My Water Calcs.

 

[Tallbrewer]

I basically do the same as you. I design or input my recipe then use the link under the water section to get to the water calculator. I know in the recipe editor it can load your targets but If you selected a pre-made target that you had done before and it loaded all the necessary additions as well it would keep all the info on the recipe printout. For instance say I was wanting to do a pale ale. I would select a custom made target from the drop down that I had made previously or use the link to create a new one. Once I select that profile it would load into the recipe editor the target and also the necessary salt additions, including acidulated malt and acids, into fields in the water section. This way it keeps all the info on your recipe so when you print it off for brew day the additions are listed right on the recipe. Thats why I enter my additions into the notes so that they are on my recipe printout. Then for future brews it wouldn't be necessary to use the calculator if your grain bills were fairly similar. You could load the custom targets and all your additions would load with it.

Matt

 

[DonY]

+1 on this. When I create a brew session from a recipe with an associated water calc I'd like my mineral/acid additions to be part of my checklist for the brew session .

 

[McKnuckle]

+1 again.

I think I understand the original concept behind a separate table of water calculations ("My Water Calcs"). The idea is that you might reuse them for multiple brews to replicate a particular mineral profile. In theory that sounds useful. But in practice, I think more people link a water calc to a single recipe, and it's relevant only for that recipe, because it uses the recipe's detailed grain bill and water volumes.

If you want to create a similar profile for another recipe, you likely have new water volumes and a different grain bill to contend with. These lead to new salt additions and, basically, a new water calc altogether.

So in practice, this separate table of water calcs, with their somewhat arcane record locator keys, is not as intuitive an approach to water management as some brewers might like. I would personally like to have the water calc for the recipe be an integral part of it - salt additions, estimated pH, the whole nine yards. Much easier than loading something on another screen and trying to manage another bunch of data objects.

 

[Josh (Brewer's Friend)]

I tend to agree with the association of a water profile to a single recipe. I create a new profile for every recipe I brew, so I concur with the need to consolidate the water/salt information on the recipe page. I have this tracked in our feature backlog. Thanks!

 

[McKnuckle]

Josh,

You'll also notice that the Water Chemistry Basic display (used on the Brew Session "Water Chemistry" tab) shows the salts in a different order than the Advanced display. This drives me nuts!

Needless to say, they should be consistent (and the Advanced view is arguably more familiar).

Water Chemistry Advanced / Water Profiles:
Ca Mg Na Cl SO4 HCO

Water Chemistry Basic:
Ca Mg SO4 Na Cl HCO3

 

[Josh (Brewer's Friend)]

Oh weird, I'll definitely get that fixed when we tackle this. Thanks!

 

[McKnuckle]

Just want to say thanks for the current and prospective efforts. As a long time IT person I'm susceptible to noticing every little thing, but the site is great and I am finding it very helpful to my brewing if not practically essential at this point!

Cheers