Getting Started with BeerCalc.

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A quick guide in how to get started using BeerCalc. For detailed information, see BeerCalc Reference.

Start BeerCalc by clicking her.

1. The first step is to register yourself as a user (you can browse recipes without doing this, but let's assume you want to use the tool for real). Click on New Brewer, and then type in the requested information, and click Submit. Remember the login name and password, you'll need these next time you use BeerCalc.
2. Click on "New Beer" from the main menu. You will see a blank recipe, with all values initialized to zero. Note that the field marked "Public" is checked by default.
3. Choose a style for your beer, from the dropdown list. Note that you can also choose a Style Guide: this is the compendium of styles that you want to use as a list to choose from. This may depend on a personal or geographic preference, for example in Denmark, where BeerCalc is developed, there are style guides derived from the competitions. Note: the choice of style has NO impact on the calculations.
4. Type in the amount of beer you are going to brew in the Volume field. This is the amount of work you are going to ferment.
5. Malt. Fill out one of the "Malt" rows. Choose a type, e.g. "Pale Malt 7 EBC". The EBC (colour) field will be filled with a default value - you can change this if the malt you use has a slightly different colour. Next fill in the Weight (grammes - 5000 gives 5 kg.). As soon as you exit this field, you will note that the "Gravity" and "Colour" fields look a bit more interesting. Try and see if you can make up the desired OG and colour by adjusting the various malt ingredients.
6. Hops. Choose some hops for the boil. Note again that the Alpha values have a default, which you may well want to change according to the hops you have on hand. Fill out the weight and boil time, and see how the bitterness changes. Hops that are boiled for a short time do not affect bitterness much.
7. You will also see a number marked "BU/GU" - typically between 0.3 and 1.2. This is a concept introduced by Ray Daniels (se Designing Great Beers) and can give an indication of how the "strength" of the beer (residual sugar and alcohol) balances with the bitterness for a particular beer style.
8. Alcohol. The alcoholic strength is calulated, based on an estimated Final Gravity. You can adjust the attenuation factor if you expect something different from the default, and you can also directly type a measured FG value in after your beer is finished, to see how alcoholic it is.
9. Save. To save a recipe, you have to be logged in (all the above can be played with while looking at others recipes for inspiration!). Use Save As if you used the New Beer button, as your beer will have a default name. Try and think of an inspired name!.
10. For more detailed information, see BeerCalc Reference.