Brewer's Friend Home Brewing Software

2015 BJCP Style Guidelines Now Live on Brewer’s Friend

We’re pleased to announce that we now have support for the 2015 BJCP style guidelines on Brewer’s Friend starting today.  Here is the set of styles that’s included in the update:

https://www.bjcp.org/docs/2015_Guidelines_Beer.pdf

Since the styles are quite different from the previous set, we decided it would be best to not automatically modify existing recipes.  This means that your existing recipes will remain in their current (old) style guidelines, so any information related to their adherence to style guidelines, etc. is preserved.  If you wish to update your recipes to a new style guideline, simply edit the recipe, choose one of the 2015 styles and save.

On the recipe editor, you’ll notice that there are two main lists of styles now: the current set, and Pre-2015 BJCP.  If you’d like to continue using the old guidelines or need them for backwards compatibility, they’re still at the bottom of the main category list for your use.

We’re excited to have the latest and greatest styles available and hope this is a seamless addition for everyone.  But if you run into any problems in using these or building recipes, please don’t hesitate to reach out:

https://www.brewersfriend.com/feedback-welcome/

Prost!

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Brewer’s Friend Recipe of the Week!

We’re starting a new feature here at Brewer’s Friend, Recipe of the Week!

This is going to be based on views so only public recipes will be considered. If your recipe is selected as the week’s top recipe you will receive 1 year of supporting membership here on Brewer’s Friend! We’re going to do this once a week so that’ 52 chances a year to win a supporting membership!

If you posted your recipe anonymously and it is chosen for Recipe of the Week please be sure to contact me. I can see who submitted them, but since you might have decided to keep that private I’m going to respect your wishes, but I’m happy to upgrade you.

So, for the first Recipe of the Week we’re taking a look at Zombie Dust Clone submitted to us via an anonymous member.

Image courtesy of skeeterpleezer of HomeBrewTalk

The original recipe was originally submitted to HomeBrewTalk, but made it’s way to Brewer’s Friend in no time!

Zombie Dust Clone – ALL GRAIN
Method: All Grain
Style: American IPA
Boil Time: 60 min

Image Courtesy of Hockyplr of HomeBrewTalk

Batch Size: 6 gallons (fermentor volume)
Boil Size: 7 gallons
Efficiency: 70% (brew house)
Source: skeezerpleezer on Homebrewtalk.com

Fermentables
Amount Fermentable PPG °L Bill %
11.75 lb American – Pale 2-Row 37 1.8 81.7%
1.13 lb American – Munich – Light 10L 33 10 7.9%
0.5 lb German – CaraFoam 37 1.8 3.5%
0.5 lb American – Caramel / Crystal 60L 34 60 3.5%
0.5 lb German – Melanoidin 37 25 3.5%
14.38 lb Total

Hops
Amount Variety Type AA Use Time IBU
0.75 oz Citra Pellet 11 First Wort
1.25 oz Citra Pellet 11 Boil 15 min
1.25 oz Citra Pellet 11 Boil 10 min
1.25 oz Citra Pellet 11 Boil 5 min
1.25 oz Citra Pellet 11 Boil 1 min
3 oz Citra Pellet 11 Dry Hop 7 days

Mash Guidelines
Amount Description Type Temp Time
22 qt Temperature 155 F 60 min

Yeast: Fermentis / Safale – English Ale Yeast S-04
Attenuation (avg): 72%
Flocculation: Medium
Optimum Temp: 59 – 75 °F
Starter: Yes

Image courtesy of Skeeterpleezer of HomeBrewTalk

So what makes this recipe so popular? Aside from being a clone from a very popular commercial brew this is a dead on clone. Many, many brewers have noted how their finished Zombie Dust clone taste like it was straight from the 3 Floyds Brewing Company itself. Although not an original recipe anyone who’s ever developed a clone will tell you that getting all the little nuances of a beer as popular as Zombie Dust is a challenge and one that SkeeterPleezer took on with great results.

From everyone at Brewer’s Friend I would like to thank you for being a member and checking out our newest feature, “Recipe of the Week!”.

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BrewPrint.com and BrewersFriend.com have Merged!

It is with great pride we announce the merging of BrewPrint.com and BrewersFriend.com.

What were once two great brewing resources can now be found under one domain, BrewersFriend.com, and this means a lot of great things for our two platforms.

First, we are combining the recipes databases to produce one of the largest collections of beer recipes online.

Second, BrewersFriend gets a full time technical administrator in the form of Josh Smith from Brew Print. He has spent the last few months now combing over the code and the features of BrewersFriend and I can say with absolute certainty that he will be on top of every issue, every fix, every suggestion that he decides to implement. Furthermore Josh will also be heading up server administration as we migrate to newer, faster servers meaning better response times and faster page loads.

BrewersFriend members will also see more comprehensive information pages on ingredients, techniques, and styles, along with the ability to purchase recipes in an easy to use format.

For Brewprint members this means a new larger community to be part of, which in turn means more brewing knowledge, which leads to better beers from better brewers. The goal from the beginning has been to “Brew Better Beer”, and that goal lives on in the merging of our two great platforms. Once the merge is complete, Brewprint members will be able to access their recipes and accounts on BrewersFriend.com using the e-mail addresses and passwords they previously used on Brewprint.

As we move into the future I know great things are in store. From both Josh and myself, it’s an honor and a privilege to serve our independent communities and to continue on in the spirit of brewing legacy and tradition makes our communities so great. Apart we are two great communities. Together we are a huge brewer’s resource, better than the sum of our parts.

So if you will, please join me in raising a glass to the merging of BrewPrint and BrewersFriend.

Salud!

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Yeast Pitch Calculator for iOS 7 launched

Our popular Yeast Pitch Calculator is now available in the App Store for iOS7!

This is a port of our popular web based Yeast Pitch Calculator, now available for iPhone iOS7.

Pitch your yeast like the pro’s do with this easy to use calculator that supports dry yeast, liquid yeast, slurry, and starters. Calculates liquid yeast viability based on manufactured date. You get to choose your desired pitch rate in million cells / milliliter of wort / degree plato. Also calculates how big of a starter to make and how much DME to add to that starter. Up to three step-ups are supported, so you can even start from a yeast slant! Two different growth curves are supported. The first comes from recently published research at Braukaiser, and the second from a study by Chris White.

Posted in Announcements, Yeast Cultures | No Comments »

September 2013 Release Live – Inventory and shopping list updates

This month we tuned up the inventory and shopping list features so the data flows more smoothly and gives more flexibility at the same time. This was based on user feedback in the feature request forum – thank you for the input!

Recipe Tools -> Add To Shopping List improved:

The Add Recipe to Shopping List screen now shows inventory levels, and allows changing the actual amount to add to the shopping list. Lines can be unchecked, which means they will not carry into your shopping list. Please note that hops require an exact match between hop name, hop AA, and hop form to line up.

Shopping List now groups related items and shows the total:

Shopping list lines for the same ingredient are now grouped together and the total is displayed. This works for brewers buying in bulk (for example a 50 pound sack used for several recipes), and brewers who plan to build up each recipe’s grain bill individually. I do it both ways. Sometimes at my LHBS I put the entire grain bill for a recipe into a paper bag, ready to mill on brew day. While other times I’ll buy a 50 pound sack of Pilsner or 2-row and use that over the course of several brews. Buying in bulk does save a little money though.

Shopping List -> Convert to Inventory screen improved:

The amount in your inventory is displayed and the amount purchased can be overridden.

For a given line on your shopping list, if you convert less than the full amount the line will be kept but the amount converted will be subtracted from the original amount. Eg – you wanted to buy 10 pounds of honey but they only had 4, so now your shopping list has 6 pounds of honey.

Ever been to the home brew store wanting 14.8% AA Magnum hops, only to come home with 16.4% AA? Everytime I buy hops the AA values are slightly different. The convert to inventory screen allows the actual AA value to be provided.

This screen is also a good place to compare what is in your shopping list vs your inventory.

Deduct from Inventory:
Deducting from inventory can now be done in a Brew Session after the Brew is created. Look for it on the Brew Session -> Edit tab. I often create my brew session when I make my yeast starter. For yeast starters I log the day I started it, the starter size, and the amount of DME (which the yeast pitch calculator tells me). However, at that point I’m not quite ready to deduct from inventory.

Other updates:

• Add Gervin English Ale Yeast – GV12
• Brew session page ‘back to …’ button improved so it understands where you came in from, instead of always pointing back to the dashboard.
• In the recipe editor, snapshot recipes now show a large banner above them indicating they are a snapshot and not a regular recipe.

Posted in Announcements | 1 Comment »

August 2013 Release Live

Multiple equipment profiles supported, new yeasts added, updates to extract/partial mash calculations and more.

Multiple Equipment Profiles:

The system now supports up to 5 equipment profiles under each account. To manage your equipment profiles click the gear icon in the upper right and then on Equipment Profiles. The equipment profile is used by the water requirements feature and more heavily in the brew feature.

One of the profiles may be set as the default. The default profile is used unless a recipe overrides it. To point a recipe at a specific profile, in the recipe editor click on the ‘More…’ button and look for the Equipment Profile drop down that appears. The More… section was rearranged a little in this release to make room for the extra field (sorry to change things!). For more, see our FAQ entry on equipment profiles.

I already have an equipment profile setup for my IPAs where I squeeze out the hops, vs my standard profile where I don’t bother. This does make a difference when it comes to hitting the target batch size exactly. I will soon setup a profile for 2.5 gallon batches in the kitchen. Makes me want to brew more already!

New yeasts and yeast manufacturers added:

This release includes over 70 new yeasts! New brands include East Coast Yeast, Mangrove Jack, Real Brewers, Siebel Institute, and Brewferm. The Wyeast list adds a few extra private collection strains. The White Labs list adds a few lambic strains. The White Labs list also gets whiskey yeasts which can be used on beer to produce interesting profiles.

Given the yeast list is pretty long there is now a drop down to filter by yeast brand. There is also an option to sort the list by product ID or by name (a profile option determines the default yeast sort).

We felt it is better if we maintain the yeast list, since it is published by the manufacturers and doesn’t change too often. We are always open to making additions and corrections. Contact us anytime.

Note to iPhone users about the yeast list: We have an iPhone release due out very soon that will incorporate the new yeast list. If you setup a recipe with a new yeast and sync it down, the current iPhone version (1.6) will switch it back to the default yeast since it doesn’t have the new yeasts yet. Look for the update in the App Store in the next few days. We’ll announce it on our social media channels when it is released.

Extract and Partial Mash recipes get more in depth options:

This release enables the concept of batch size targets for extract and partial mash recipes.

Batch size target can be kettle or fermentor. To the ‘kettle’ is how much wort is in the kettle at the very end of the brew (corrected for temperature). To the ‘fermentor’ is how much wort made it into the primary fermentor. Previously only BIAB and All Grain had this option.

Enabling this option gives extract partial mash brewers doing full wort boils much more control. The water requirements section includes kettle dead space for extract and partial mash brews.

The following FAQ entries were clarified. If you haven’t read up on batch size and the definition of efficiency (there are really four types), make sure to check into that.

• How is batch size defined by the recipe editor?
• How is efficiency defined by the recipe editor?
• How is efficiency calculated in a brew session?

Brewer’s Friend GrogTag store:

We now have a GrogTag store that gives you an exclusive 10% off on professionally printed beer labels. These guys do a great job of making high quality labels. Way better than our DIY label generator. We’ll be following up with a complete review next month.

Other updates:

• Recipe editor will display a warning ‘are you sure you want to leave this page?’ if you try to navigate away when the recipe is in an unsaved state and the page has been loaded for more than 30 seconds. Does not apply to Internet Explorer.
• Inventory section allows sorting by yeast year.
• Priming calculator – fermentation temp vs bottling temp clarified.
• Users with browser plugins that force SSL should have a better time using the site in 100% SSL mode.

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July 2013 Release Notes

The July 2013 release is live. Hop stand support, gyle/krausen priming calculator, starting mash thickness field, and many other refinements are in this release. Along with changes to the cloud application this month our iPhone app was just updated to version 1.5 and is available in the app store. Many thanks to those who contributed to discussions in the feature request forum.

Support for Hop Stands – select Whirlpool or Hopback in the Hop Use drop down.

Hop Stands are getting a lot of attention lately and Brewer’s Friend now supports them!

A hop stand is a technique where hops are exposed to the wort after the boil but before fermentation.

• In a Whirlpool hop stand, the whirlpool is started after the boil and extra hops are added.
• With a hopback the wort is pumped or drained through a container holding the extra hops on the way to the fermentor.

Hop stands avoid vaporizing the essential oils and are said to result in smoother bitterness and flavor. The temperature and time of the exposure greatly impacts the utilization (for the purposes of IBU calculations). Given the wide variation in process and equipment out there, the utilization factor is left up to the brewer. A value of 10% is generally accepted, but could vary based on process. The hotter the temperature and the more time, the higher the utilization.

When selecting Whirlpool or Hopback as the hop use, two new fields will appear.

• The utilization of the hops (normally 10%, but could be zero if done at lower temperatures or for a short time).
• The temperature at which the hop stand is performed at.

For more information on hop stands see this excellent and detailed write up by BYO (Mar/Apr 2013).

Equations for modeling hop stand utilization and their IBU impact are being worked on by Kaiser!

State of the Art Gyle / Krausen Priming Calculator:

Our Gyle / Krausen Priming calculator is powered by Kaiser’s equations and his gyle/krausen spreadsheet. For convenience, if you don’t have enough Gyle or Krausen on hand, the calculator reports how much additional sugar is needed to hit the target CO2 level. It also breaks down the relative CO2 contributions from the beer, gyle/krausen, priming sugar, and any unfermented sugars still in the beer. Our plan is to eventually link up the recipe editor and brew session to our three priming calculators (gyle/krausen, priming sugar, and keg calculators).

Updates to the Recipe Editor:

• Total grain bill weight is displayed in the fermentables box.
• When changing the unit drop down for hops and grains, the value automatically toggles to the equivalent value in the new unit.
• Starting mash thickness field added for All Grain recipes as requested in the feature request forum. This sets us up to build out mash profiles down the road.
• Mash lines can be specified in quarts or gallons for recipes in US mode.
• Other Ingredients can be specified in milliliters.
• Volumes of CO2 added in priming section in the Other Ingredients section.
• New profile options for the recipe editor: Default Batch Size and Default Boil Size.

Other improvements:

Pre-boil gravity is now displayed on the recipe view, recipe print, and brew session pages.

The My Recipes and My Brewing list has been improved to include the recipe type. On the My Recipes page, each recipe now has direct links to related brew sessions.

iPhone 1.5 Updates:

• Improved listing of recipes with index (ability to jump down quickly) and snapshot indicator.
• Mash thickness field for all grain recipes.
• Recipe level volumes of CO2 and CO2 unit.
• Hopstand support (whirlpool and hopback hop uses).
• Mash line volume can now be specified in quarts or gallons (for recipes in US units mode).
• Other ingredient unit list now includes milliliters.
• Click here for more information about our iphone app.

Our mission is to help you brew better beer. Stay tuned for more updates at Brewer’s Friend!

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June 2013 Updates

We got a lot of good features out this month. Recipes and brews can be organized into folders. On the recipe editor the yeast drop down may be sorted by product id, or by name.  Nine new yeasts were added. We now accept payments with Stripe (in addition to PayPal). The new brewing report page is live.  The recipe labels feature has been updated (thanks for all the great input in the feature request forum). Shared recipes may now be embedded in other web sites with an iframe tag.

Folders for Recipes and Brews:

Recipes and brews can now be organized into folders. It works via drag and drop. See our FAQ about this feature.

Yeast list sortable by product id or name:

On the recipe editor the yeast list may now be sorted by name or by product id. There is a new button to change the sorting, and the default can be set under your brewing profile. The default is to sort by name (the way it has always been).  We feel advanced brewers will appreciate this.

Nine new White Labs yeasts have been added:

• Whitbread Ale Yeast – WLP017
• Southwold Ale Yeast – WLP025
• Premium Bitter Ale Yeast – WLP026
• Klassic Ale Yeast – WLP033
• Belgian Saison III Yeast – WLP585
• German Lager X Yeast – WLP835
• Copenhagen Lager Yeast – WLP850
• Munich Helles Yeast – WLP860
• HP Lager Yeast – WLP925

Now accepting payments with Stripe:

Stripe is a secure and easy to use payment option now available on the upgrade page.  Stripe has far fewer steps than the PayPal checkout. Stripe also has the convenience of not requiring a ‘stripe account’. We are still accepting payments via PayPal.

For current premium members, you may now upgrade to a lifetime subscription and get a discount based on remaining time left! See our upgrade page for details (requires login).

Brewing Report Page

For those of you using the brew feature, a brewing report is now available that summarizes brew sessions, ingredients, and allows drilling down. FAQ entry is here.

Perfect if you want to plan for next year. I’m buying Amarillo in bulk!

Updates to Recipe Label feature:

As requested in the feature request form – there are three new fields on the Recipe Label page:

• Brew Date
• Bottle Date
• Comments

All fields are overridable. When a field is blank it is not displayed. Removes ‘equation’ designation (tinseth/rager), which cleans up appearance and makes room for the new fields.

Also, as requested in the Feature Request forum: The link to the ‘Label Generator’ from Brew Session page sets fields based on the brew’s data.

Embeddable Recipes:

For shared recipes, a new embed tag button is available that allows for the recipe to be embedded in another website via an iframe. Any changes to the recipe automatically flow through to your audience. The view count is incremented when someone views the recipe at your site!

Other Updates:

• Recipe editor water profiles updated to match those on the Mash Chemistry and Brewing Water Calculator.
• For public recipes, a share via Pinterest button has been added next to the Facebook, Twitter, and Google Plus share buttons.

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2013 May Release Updates

May has been a busy month for Brewer’s Friend. The mash calculator tab has new updates. Recipes integrate with the Mash Chemistry and Brewing Water Calculator.  The 1.3 version of our iPhone app is live and supports sync of brew sessions and brew logs!

We are very happy to get these items knocked out for you! Our mission is to help you brew better beer!

• Strike Tab now allows targeting mash thickness or infusion volume.
  

• Ability to mash in quarts or gallons (for users who have their units set to US).  The input fields on related tabs work in gallons as well.  Mash water unit is profile option. The default is quarts, but it can be changed under your brewing profile.  The mash water unit value can also be overridden on the Brew Start page. Related to this, the Water Volume Tracking table shows key volumes in quarts and gallons (when brew is in US units mode).

  

• Added Fly Sparge and Batch Sparge options, which make things much clearer.

• Warnings related to exceeding volumes, boiling, or freezing are now textual instead of popup alert dialogs.

A few months ago, in collaboration with Kaiser, we launched our Mash Chemistry and Brewing Water Calculator, which does mash pH estimates in addition to many other water chemistry calculations.  In this release, the advanced water calculator and the recipe editor are more tightly integrated. Look for the link to the Mash Chemistry and Brewing Water Calculator on the Recipe View or Recipe Edit pages. (Requires a water profile to be selected.)

I’m hooked on this tool because it shows the relationship between grain bill, brewing salts, and mash pH. Following the link from the recipe leads to a pre-populated version of the tool (target profile, grain bill, and water volumes are filled out based on the recipe and your profile). You can also load in your source water profiles from the drop downs without having to re-type them.

As a follow on to the above item, accounts now supports multiple water profiles, not just one!

Brew Session and Brew Log Sync Supported!

• Ability to delete all items from shopping list.

• On the recipe edit and view pages, the number of yeast cells needed to hit the targeted pitch rate is displayed.

• Added brew log entry type ‘yeast starter’.  I typically create my brew session the day I make my starter.  The volume drop down now supports Liters as well (for some reason I always do starters in Liters).

Happy brewing,
Larry

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April 2013 Release is Live, Refractometer Support, Calories, iPhone 1.2 sync, Lifetime Memberships

More cool new features at your disposal. Our mission is to help you brew better beer! Enjoy!

Refractometer Support:

• When used with wort, refractometers readings require adjustment by a wort correction factor, and an additional correction in the presence of alcohol. Our calculators cover all that for you! See our FAQ about the types of gravity scales we support.
• New Stand Alone Refractometer Calculator
• How to determine your Refractometer’s Wort Correction Factor.  A new equipment profile setting has been introduced to store this parameter.
• Screen shot of brew log entry screen:

  

Calories per 12oz / 355 mL:

• The recipe editor, under the More… section will now show the calorie count.
• In the brew session section, there is a new line for calories which appears after the fermentation completely log entry is made.

Lifetime Memberships Available:

• We have re-enabled Lifetime Memberships!

  

• If you already have a Premium Membership that has a lot of time left you are in a good spot. Down the road we plan to setup a discount program for members who want to convert from a Premium Membership to a Lifetime Membership.

iPhone 1.2 Release, which supports sync (premium account required):

• Our iPhone app is catching up to the cloud solution fast. Next we will support brew session and brew log sync!
• Brewer’s Friend iPhone App Information Page
  

Other Updates:

• Our Stand Alone ABV Calculator has been updated to calculate calories, attenuation, and support Plato!
• Usual minor bug fixes, platform updates, etc.

Don’t forget about The Big Brew Day, coming up May 4th at your Local Home Brew Store!  At the stores here in Portland there will be lots of brewing going on, food, discounts, and of course home brew! Have a blast!

Happy brewing!

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