Oldbloke Posted March 24, 2022 Share Posted March 24, 2022 Hi, I'm just wondering who keeps good beer records and how. I started out using a note book and then changed to excel spread sheet many years ago. (after about 20 brews I think) So I have a record of every brew I have done. I use a texta to number all bottles on the cap & a small card stored with each batch as a quick reference. It has evolved a bit over time. For clarification. Date= date bottled Heat= If the bottles were kept worm for secondary fermentation Sugar= How much sugar added to brew (dont use it any more but will not delete column.) Days= Days of fermentation in barrel Brewing comments= comments + recipe if applicable. 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greenyinthewestofsydney Posted March 24, 2022 Share Posted March 24, 2022 1 minute ago, oldbloke said: Hi, I'm just wondering who keeps good beer records and how. I started out using a note book and then changed to excel spread sheet many years ago. (after about 20 brews I think) So I have a record of every brew I have done. I use a texta to number all bottles on the cap & a small card stored with each batch as a quick reference. It has evolved a bit over time. For clarification. Date= date bottled Heat= If the bottles were kept worm for secondary fermentation Sugar= How much sugar added to brew (dont use it any more but will not delete column.) Days= Days of fermentation in barrel Brewing comments= comments + recipe if applicable. I used to on a spreadsheet up to about brew 70 or so. Haven't done it for ages. I just keep my recipes on beersmith and have a folder with the ones I regularly do. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidM Posted March 24, 2022 Share Posted March 24, 2022 I keep a record of my brews, started with the phone app. Brew Tracker I've looked at other apps but all seem too complicated for what I do, K&K. It works for Me. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Classic Brewing Co Posted March 24, 2022 Share Posted March 24, 2022 (edited) I have been keeping records of all the brews I have done over the years, I use a 1 to a page diary. It's good to flick through & look up an old recipe but I should have put page numbers & an index in as there are so many of them. I have also got Brew Father which I will be using for AG brews. Edited March 24, 2022 by Classic Brewing Co 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brauhaus Fritz Posted March 24, 2022 Share Posted March 24, 2022 4 hours ago, DavidM said: I keep a record of my brews, started with the phone app. Brew Tracker I've looked at other apps but all seem too complicated for what I do, K&K. It works for Me. Looks interesting, gonna try it out 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malter White Posted March 24, 2022 Share Posted March 24, 2022 4 hours ago, DavidM said: I keep a record of my brews, started with the phone app. Brew Tracker I've looked at other apps but all seem too complicated for what I do, K&K. It works for Me. 4 minutes ago, Brauhaus Fritz said: Looks interesting, gonna try it out I use Brewtracker also. Free and simple to use. I only do kits and bits brewing. I don't know if it's suitable for other types of brewing. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aussiekraut Posted March 24, 2022 Share Posted March 24, 2022 I keep a record of all brews in the notes of the recipe in BeerSmith. I record the brew date, gravity readings and comments about the brew day, issues I encountered and what the last batch was like...if applicable that is. I do not record batch numbers or things like that, thus I have no idea how many brews I've made. A wild guess would be about 50-70 kits 'n' bits and around 100 AG brews I suppose. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iBooz2 Posted March 24, 2022 Share Posted March 24, 2022 (edited) I use an Excel sheet for all brewing batch details as I don't want to lose any of my info if say my brew-father or Beer-Smith subscriptions expire and I can no longer access the historical records. I also give each of my recipes names and or batch numbers as I find that imperative if you reclaim and recycle the yeast. You should know absolutely which batch it originated from / generations etc. etc. as its flirting with danger and disappointment if you do not do this. Very gun shy of apps as I know what other info most of them mine behind the scenes. Edited March 24, 2022 by iBooz2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stickers Posted March 24, 2022 Share Posted March 24, 2022 most of mine i build and log through the ianH spreadsheet. occasionally i'll forget to record one (espcially if it's something like a toucan that doesn't need hops or a partial grain addition) so i don't have an exact count on my number of brews. i always remember the really good ones though! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shamus O'Sean Posted March 24, 2022 Share Posted March 24, 2022 @oldbloke, I used Brew Tracker for my first 90 brews. You can export a spreadsheet file and import it into Excel. I still refer to it now and then to help folks with kit n kilo questions. I have used Brewfather ever since going all grain, even for the occasional kit n kilo brew I still do. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oldbloke Posted March 25, 2022 Author Share Posted March 25, 2022 On 3/24/2022 at 4:02 PM, Classic Brewing Co said: I have been keeping records of all the brews I have done over the years, I use a 1 to a page diary. It's good to flick through & look up an old recipe but I should have put page numbers & an index in as there are so many of them. I have also got Brew Father which I will be using for AG brews. Interesting to see what members are doing. Note books are hard to beat. I think using Apps is risky I think. You might lose the data so you would need a data download option. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ben 10 Posted March 26, 2022 Share Posted March 26, 2022 I use beersmith. Data is held locally (on my HD) and that is occasionally backed up. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marty_G Posted March 30, 2022 Share Posted March 30, 2022 I am like AussieKraut I keep the recipe, with notes, using my brewing software. The notes are pretty generic. Did I hit my target OG/FG sort of stuff. Usually just one or two dot points. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tone boy Posted March 30, 2022 Share Posted March 30, 2022 This is the sort of malarkey I get up to… 5 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Classic Brewing Co Posted March 30, 2022 Share Posted March 30, 2022 5 minutes ago, Tone boy said: This is the sort of malarkey I get up to… Looks great Toner I do the same but with less detail but that was k & k. Now I will have to conquer the Brew Father software & take it from there. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tone boy Posted March 30, 2022 Share Posted March 30, 2022 (edited) 4 minutes ago, Classic Brewing Co said: Looks great Toner I do the same but with less detail but that was k & k. Now I will have to conquer the Brew Father software & take it from there. Yes whenever I try a new process, or new ingredient etc I always make notes on what/how/when and then try to follow up with tasting notes later on. If I went to all grain I’d need a new brain and a bigger book!! Perhaps the Big Book of Beer… Hope your first AG brew went well mate, and it turns out like beer Edited March 30, 2022 by Tone boy 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Classic Brewing Co Posted March 30, 2022 Share Posted March 30, 2022 Cheers so do I, it looks like beer, in all of the excitement yesterday I forgot to take a reading so I just did, when I de-gas I will record a proper reading. I reckon after I have done this a few times I can cut the time & find shortcuts or at least make it easier. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidM Posted March 30, 2022 Share Posted March 30, 2022 30 minutes ago, Tone boy said: This is the sort of malarkey I get up to… That's great detail you put in to your Notes. Really good to read how others do a K&K I need to Step Up! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jennyss Posted March 30, 2022 Share Posted March 30, 2022 On 3/24/2022 at 1:53 PM, oldbloke said: Hi, I'm just wondering who keeps good beer records and how. I started out using a note book and then changed to excel spread sheet many years ago. (after about 20 brews I think) So I have a record of every brew I have done. I use a texta to number all bottles on the cap & a small card stored with each batch as a quick reference. It has evolved a bit over time. For clarification. Date= date bottled Heat= If the bottles were kept worm for secondary fermentation Sugar= How much sugar added to brew (dont use it any more but will not delete column.) Days= Days of fermentation in barrel Brewing comments= comments + recipe if applicable. Love the brewing comments. You would never remember other wise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jennyss Posted March 30, 2022 Share Posted March 30, 2022 @oldbloke, What a great discussion you have kicked off! Now I have read right back to the beginning of this thread I can see what a variety of recording methods all you home brewers use. Mine is the exercise book variety so far. Too much detail I think; but perhaps that's alright for a beginner. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Classic Brewing Co Posted March 30, 2022 Share Posted March 30, 2022 35 minutes ago, Classic Brewing Co said: Cheers so do I, it looks like beer, in all of the excitement yesterday I forgot to take a reading so I just did, when I de-gas I will record a proper reading. I reckon after I have done this a few times I can cut the time & find shortcuts or at least make it easier. The SG is 1.036 so I am thinking the ABV will be a little lower than expected but that's OK as long as I have made beer !! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oldbloke Posted March 30, 2022 Author Share Posted March 30, 2022 49 minutes ago, jennyss said: @oldbloke, What a great discussion you have kicked off! Now I have read right back to the beginning of this thread I can see what a variety of recording methods all you home brewers use. Mine is the exercise book variety so far. Too much detail I think; but perhaps that's alright for a beginner. @jennyss it's just horses for courses. But I think its better to have too many notes rather than too few. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malter White Posted March 31, 2022 Share Posted March 31, 2022 2 hours ago, Tone boy said: This is the sort of malarkey I get up to… You obviously aren't a doctor, Tone. Your writing is far too legible. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidM Posted March 31, 2022 Share Posted March 31, 2022 15 minutes ago, MUZZY said: Your writing is far too legible. Now there is one of my problems, I can touch type and use Spell Check. But my writing and spelling is crap! 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RDT2 Posted April 1, 2022 Share Posted April 1, 2022 On 3/31/2022 at 5:49 AM, Classic Brewing Co said: Cheers so do I, it looks like beer, in all of the excitement yesterday I forgot to take a reading so I just did, when I de-gas I will record a proper reading. I reckon after I have done this a few times I can cut the time & find shortcuts or at least make it easier. Nice golden colour mate well done 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now