StrangeBrew has a simple interface that lets you use most features with a single mouse-click. The following topics cover the basics of using StrangeBrew:
This section will take you step by step through formulating a new StrangeBrew recipe, and illustrate how simple the interface is to use.
All these steps use the StrangeBrew main screen.
When you start StrangeBrew, the Main window appears displaying a new, blank recipe.
Enter your name. You're the brewer!
You can quickly jump to an item in any list in StrangeBrew by typing in the first letter or two.
Change the Date (if you want to) - this field is automatically set with to date the recipe is formulated.
Edit the recipe size and the time it is boiled. You can do this one of two ways: enter the amount you want to collect before the boil, or the amount you want to put into the fermentor. Entering one value will recalculate the other, based on the evaporation rate set in preferences and the amount of time the wort is boiled. Hold the mouse over one of these edit boxes to view the evaporation rate. The default recipe size and units is set under Preferences .
Select fermentables and hops. Click the + button to add a malt or hop. Choose an ingredient from the long list of available items. As a shortcut, press the first letter of the item you wish to select to jump to that letter. Malts that are mashed are indicated by a check in the M column. You can delete ingredients by selecting them, and clicking the - button.
The default units for malts and hops are set under Preferences, as is the default method used to calculate IBU.
Notice that as you add malts and hops your recipe is recalculated so that you can see exactly the effect adding or changing an ingredient has on your recipe.
Adjust settings. You can fine-tune your recipe by adjusting efficiency (%Effic ), original gravity (OG ), attenuation (%Atten ), and final gravity (FG ). Here's what happens when you adjust each of these items:
%Effic: calculates the amount of fermentable sugar you obtain from mashed malts, which affects the OG. Steeped and extract malts/sugars are not affected by this setting.
OG: calculates the measured efficiency of the recipe. Enter your measured OG here to see what your actual efficiency is.
%Atten: calculates the FG of the recipe, and the % alcohol. Alcohol is calculated by the difference between OG and FG.
FG: calculates the attenuation and alcohol. Enter your measured FG here to see what the actual attenuation and alcohol for the recipe is.
Comments: enter any generic comments you have about the recipe. You can enter more detailed notes under the Notes tab.
Now you're ready to use some of StrangeBrew's advanced features.
To add a malt to your recipe, click on + , then select a malt from the list. Type the first few letters of the malt to find it quickly in the list. Malts that must be mashed are checked in the M column. Malts that can be steeped (crystal malts) are checked in the S column.
To add more malts, click on the add button (+ ) under the malts grid. To delete a malt, select the malt on the grid, and click the delete button (- ) under the malts grid.
You can enter or change values in the following fields: Amount , Units , Points , Lov , and Cost/Unit .
is the theoretical maximum yield (in specific gravity points) one pound of malt has in one gallon of water. The actual yield is calculated by multiplying the points by efficiency.
If you change the Units , StrangeBrew calculates a new Cost/Unit based on the malt's cost/unit in the ingredient database, and converts the Amount .
is the degrees lovibond measurement of the malt. This is used to calculate the beer's colour.
To add a hop to your recipe, click on an empty "Hop" box in the Hops grid, and select from the list that appears. Type the first few letters of the hop to find it quickly in the list.
To add more hops, click on the add button (+) under the hops grid. To delete a hop, select the hop on the grid, and click the delete button (-) under the hops grid.
You can enter or change values in the following fields: Type , Alpha , Amount , Units , Add , Min , and Cost/Unit :
can be "leaf," "pellet," or "plug". Pellet hops typically have more bittering power than whole hops or plugs; the percentage of bittering is set under Preferences on the Calculations tab. The default for pellet hops IBUs is 20% more than leaf hops IBUs.
is the percent by weight of alpha acid. This value is selected from the Hops database, but it may be changed for the recipe.
is the way hops are added. You can add hops to the boil (default), to the mash, during the sparge (FWH or First Wort Hopping), and to the fermenting beer (Dry or dry hopping).
is the minutes the hops are boiled with the wort. Longer boil times will yield more bitterness.
If you change the Units , StrangeBrew calculates a new Cost/Unit based on the hop's cost/unit in the ingredient database, but does not convert the Amount .
StrangeBrew makes it very easy to confirm that your recipe will match a BJCP style. To view style conformance, click the Style tab. You can adjust malts and hops while viewing this tab until your recipe meets the criteria of a BJCP style.
You can easily resize your recipe, scaling it up or down and converting to different units. To resize a recipe, select File > Resize / Convert Recipe...
Select the new size and units for the recipe. At the same time you can convert the malt and hops units by checking Convert Malts and Convert Hops , and selecting new units from the list.
StrangeBrew allows you to track comments about different stages of the brewing process in the recipe's notes area. To view the notes for the current recipe, click the Notes tab. If you brew a recipe, a note is added to the notes database with the date.
To add a new note, click the + button. To delete the currently selected note, click -. Double-click a note to view a dialog with a larger editing window for the note.
To view miscellaneous ingredients for your recipe, click the Misc tab.
Use this tab to add items from the Miscellaneous database. Select items from the list, enter an Amount , Units , Cost , and Notes for how the ingredient was used. A description of the ingredient appears at the bottom of the main screen.
Enter the time that the ingredient is added during the recipe for the ingredient to show up in the recipe timeline. Select a Stage and a Time . For example, Irish moss is typically added during the last 20 minutes of the boil. For this ingredient, set the Stage to "boil" and enter 20 for the time.
To view the cost for your recipe, click the Cost tab.
The Cost tab displays the total grain cost and total hops cost, as well as yeast and miscellaneous ingredient costs. Enter an amount for miscellaneous costs (such as propane, equipment, etc).
The default bottle size is set on the See Cost and Carbonation tab under Preferences. The number of bottles required and the cost per bottle is calculated automatically.
The Find Recipe dialog shows all the recipes in a directory. Click Open to open a selected recipe.
To view the mash schedule for your recipe, click on the Mash tab.
Add mash steps by clicking on the + button; delete mash steps by clicking on the - button. Select a step Type for a typical step temperature, or enter a step temperature under Start Temp .
Select a step method under Method . Note: the first step must be an infusion step.
Enter the step duration in minutes under MIN .
The mash schedule is automatically updated as you enter or change information. To see the calculations StrangeBrew uses for the mash schedule, refer to See Calculating Mash Steps.
You can view a graph of your mash schedule by clicking Mash Graph.
: the starting temperature of the grain - usually room temperature.
: the final volume of the mash, useful to know if you're mashing in a limited space!
: the units used to measure water additions, decoctions, and water use.
: the temperature units you want to use, either Celsius or Fahrenheit.
: the qts/lb or l/kg ratio for the first infusion. A thick mash is 1 qt/lb. A thin mash is 2.5 qt/lb.
: Total time for the mash in minutes.
: Total weight of grains being mashed.
: Temperature lost during mash-in. Set this number on the See Cost and Carbonation tab under Preferences.
Sparge: The number and type of sparges you'd like to add to the mash schedule.
Enter the amount of wort left in the kettle (lost in hops, trub, etc) and left behind at the bottom of carboys to calculate the total water needed, and the final beer volume. The amount of water used for infusions, lost when the hot wort is chilled, and absorbed by the grain is automatically calculated. You can change the Collect and Post boil amounts as well (these are determined by the evaporation rate as well, set under preferences).