Grainfather Specifications for BeerSmith, Beer Tools Pro, and Other Software

Recently, I've been trying to "dial in" settings in BeerSmith and Beer Tools Pro so that I can do a better job getting my actual brewing results to match up to the figures in the software. Below are some of the figures I've worked out with my US Grainfather. Given manufacturing variances and possible measuring errors on my part, these might not match exactly to yours, but hopefully they're close enough that it will help you.

BeerSmith Equipment Profile:

Brewhouse Efficiency: 83% (based on my experience, yours may vary)
Mash Tun Volume: 8 gallons
Mash Tun Weight: 8.82 pounds
Mash Tun Specific Heat: 0.12 Cal/gram-deg C
Mash Tun Addition: 0 gallons
Lauter Tun Losses: 0 gallons
Top Up Water for Kettle: 0 gallons
Boil Volume: 6.25 gallons
Boil Time: 60 minutes
Boil Off: 0.40 gallons per hour
Cooling Shrinkage: 6%
Loss to Trub and Chiller: 0.53 gallons
Batch Volume: 5 gallons
Fermenter Loss: 0.40 gallons (yours may vary)
Whirlpool time: 0 minutes

Beer Tools Pro Vessel Profile:

Shape: Circular/Elliptical
Width: 12 inches
Length: 12 inches
Height: 17 inches
Capacity: 8.3 gallons
Heat Capacity: 1020.5 J/K
Dead Space; 0.5 gallons
Heat Transfer Coefficient: 5.51 W/m2 K
Environment: 68.5F
Infusion Volume: 5.0 gallons
Infusion Temp: 148F
Temp After 5 minutes: 147F
Temp After 65 Minutes: 137F

Beer Tools Pro Heat Source Profile:

Environment: 68.7F
Calibration Volume: 5 gallons
Vessel Heat Capacity: 502.8 J/K
Time to Heat 18F (10C): 10.5 minutes

If, as I do, you use hops bags to keep particulate out of the kettle, you may want to factor in adding about 10% additional hops to account for possible losses due to the bag.

Yellow Label Angel Yeast vs. Typical Brewing Yeast

I currently have my second batch of rice wine fermenting with the "magical" yellow-label Angel Yeast from China, and wanted to share some of the more unusual aspects of using it. If you've never seen or used this yeast, I suspect you're not alone. It ships in a 500 gram package that looks like this: What makes it "yellow label" is that yellow box you see in the upper left corner of the package. This implies that it's yeast for distilling (though you do not need to have a still or distill the output to use it). As I understand it, inside the package is a mix of yeast and other materials which will convert starch into sugar and directly ferment it, without the need for a traditional mash step. This can radically shorten your brewing time. For my most-recent batch of rice wine, I heated 3 gallons of water to 155F, poured it over 13+ pounds of uncooked rice straight out of the bag, let that soak for an hour, rehydrated some of this yeast in warm water,

Things I've Learned Brewing with The Grainfather, Part 2

In the last post, I shared an overview of The Grainfather, recommended equipment to use with it, and an overview of the brewing process. In this installment, I'm going to talk specifically about mashing and sparging. Having brewed over a dozen batches with it, I'm finally becoming very comfortable with the device, the mash process, and how to get what I want out of it. I don't consider myself a "master" of it yet, though. For those who have never done all-grain brewing, I want to provide a quick overview of the mash process itself. Mashing - With or Without The Grainfather The goal of mashing is to turn the starches in the grain into sugars. More specifically, you want to turn the starches into a mix of fermentable and unfermentable sugars that provide the flavor profile associated with the beer you are brewing. A sweeter beer might warrant more unfermentable sugars. A more dry beer will demand few unfermentable sugars. To a great extent, controlling the

Begin Brewing!

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