Check out our guide on easy water chemistry to help you along. It’s not as complex as Bru’n Water, for example, however it does require a bit of background knowledge. I recommend reading their instructions before using this feature. This is where all of the water chemistry inputs and outputs are detailed. It’s a bit annoying to move to another page, but it works fairly well and quickly once you get used to it.Ĭlicking “Link” brings you to a separate page for detailed water calculations. The water chemistry calculator is not part of the recipe editor directly, but it’s connected by linking another page within the site. Water chemistry calculations can be done completely through Brewer’s Friend. That makes it easy to tweak the recipe to hit all the targets. Clicking “More” expands the page to show the range of beer characteristics within the style. The guidelines are as per the Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP).
If designing a beer within a certain style guideline, first select the specific style from the “Style” and “Sub Category” drop down menus. It takes some getting used to the layout and ingredient lists, but after 10 minutes of playing around, the whole process is relatively pain free. This helps easily monitor your OG, IBU, and SRM during the design phase. Once an ingredient is added, the beer’s specifications automatically update. Searching for your ingredient is the simplest way to find what you need. In the dropdown menu, hundreds of options are available to choose from. Simply click “Add” and a new blank item instantly appears. You can also easily scale up or down recipes – great for those brewers looking to go pro!Īdding ingredients to a recipe is quick and straightforward. Parameters can be adjusted for each brew, such as boil length and brew house efficiency. Recipes can be created for all types of brewing – all grain, extract, or partial mash. If you desire another profile, simply change it from the drop down menu “Equipment”. Your default equipment profile should automatically load. You can easily edit pre-existing recipes, copy recipes to a new file, print brew sheets, and control the visibility of the recipe online.Ī blank recipe editor is quickly loaded after clicking “New Beer Recipe” from the upper toolbar. It’s where the majority of the calculations happen. The recipe editor is the main feature of Brewer’s Friend. Any recipe that you choose to share publicly will also be visible on your profile. Since Brewer’s Friend is also a community of brewers, you can set a profile picture, a bio, and links to your social networks – if desired. You can also easily add in your own water report values for a more accurate calculation. Select from a massive library of various municipalities around the world. Water can also easily be loaded into your profile. After you brew on your own system a few times, you can make precise adjustments to ensure you consistently and accurately hit your numbers. If you’re unsure about your specific equipment profile, Brewer’s Friend has several pre-loaded profiles to choose from (BIAB, Anvil, Grainfather, etc.). Setting up your default equipment profile is an important step to make sure you calculate your numbers accurately. You can use gallons, liters, or a mix if you prefer (for you Canadians). Within your profile, you’ll need to specify your equipment, water, and default units. User Profileīefore you start creating and editing recipes, the first step is to create your user profile. From the mash and boil, all the way to packaging, integrated and easy to use features make brewing calculations a breeze. Featuresīrewer’s Friend has everything you need to design a beer recipe.
This option is great for homebrewing clubs and professional brewers looking to collaborate on recipes.įor our review, we’re taking a look at the most popular option, the Premium subscription.
Premium Plus: All of the premium features, plus the ability to create groups and edit recipes with other users.
Advertisement free and full integration of brewing devices. Premium: Unlimited number of recipes in the cloud. And you can’t integrate brewing devices such as a Tilt hydrometer. Trial: Free to sign up and can save up to 5 recipes in the cloud.
If you’re not sure about committing to a subscription, we recommend trying out the free Trial membership to get to know if the software is right for you. Hands-on Reviewīrewer’s Friend has a few tiers of memberships. Many added resources, like water chemistry and priming sugar calculators, round out the website for a full user experience. Along with the recipe designer, Brewer’s Friend is a web-based community where brewers can share, critique, and discuss recipes.