In my time before I made the plunge and bought some professional brewing software, I wrote myself a spreadsheet file in Quattro Pro. I have also converted into Microsoft Excel.
If you don't have any sort of software then this is a great way to start.
Its features are :-
Recipe Formulation for OG, FG and bitterness levels.
Mash Calcs enables you to calculate values for strike temperature as well as time required to heat a given volume of water.
Water Adjustment enables you to enter the mineral profile of your local water, the desired mineral content of a given volume of this water to be used in brewing as well as the amounts of various mineral salts that can be used to tune the water supply.
Stock Tracking, better than nothing ! Its up to you to keep it up to date !
Notes For Recipe Formulation gives some help information in using the file.
Hop Utilisation Graphs are included.
Hydrometer Correction Graph is included enabling you to correct readings done at temperatures other than the calibration temperature of your hydrometer. (20°C hydrometer only, sorry !)
The spreadsheet is provided here in two formats, Corel Quattro Pro and MS Excel. I have zipped them both so you will need to unzip them before using them.
DOWNLOAD SPREADSHEET FILE for Corel Quattro Pro : BREWPLAN.WB3
One of the key parts of brewing is being able to reproduce your process from one brew to the next and there's no better way to get a handle on this than via a 'process record sheet' to record everything as you go.
Over the years I have formalised my approach to this with a 2 page sheet. The first page records all the variables in your process using standard blocks and the second page has a section for miscellaneous notes, as well as a table to record what happens during fermentation.
I usually print this back to back on one piece of cardboard and later file it in a ring binder file, usually in a pastic wallet. The plastic is a great idea because I often pull out the previous sheet of the brew I'm busy with and use it as a reference for how much acid solution added etc. The plastic obviously helps keep those inevitable spills from destroying your valuable records !
The original of this sheet is in Corel WordPerfect format and so I have printed it into an Adobe Acrobat format that you can download. The Acrobat format is critical if you are to fit everything on two pages . . . there's a lot on those two pages I can assure you, particularly the first one !
Of course, this sheet reflects the way I brew my beer and may not be 100% applicable to everyone's brew session. At present it does not include sections for you to record decoction mashes etc so its very much a single-temperature infusion-mash sheet.
