FAQ
Numbers
Section titled “Numbers”A number looks wrong. Where do I start?
Section titled “A number looks wrong. Where do I start?”Open its explain popover on the vitals rail. It names the formula, lists every input that went into it, and usually makes the surprise obvious — it is nearly always an input rather than the maths. If it still looks wrong after that, the popover has a link to ask the assistant, and support is the next stop.
Why is my efficiency lower than the recipe assumed?
Section titled “Why is my efficiency lower than the recipe assumed?”Efficiency is mostly a property of your rig and your crush. Set your own figure on your equipment profile and every recipe on that profile follows. Brew a few batches, record the actuals, and Insights will tell you what your real number is.
The grist matters too, though, and some beers run below your usual number no matter how good the rig is — a big imperial stout, a very high proportion of wheat, a bill full of flaked adjuncts. For those, put the lower figure in the Efficiency field in the recipe header. It overrides the profile for that one recipe and leaves every other recipe on the rig alone, so you never need a duplicate equipment profile just to hold a different number. Clear the field to follow the profile again.
Why is my predicted final gravity different from another app’s?
Section titled “Why is my predicted final gravity different from another app’s?”Most likely the mash temperature. We adjust attenuation by how warm you mash — about 1.2 percentage points per °C away from 152 °F — and collapse a step mash to the duration-weighted mean of its saccharification rests. Apps that use the yeast’s published attenuation and stop there will differ, and they will differ most on a step mash.
Why does my IBU differ from another app’s?
Section titled “Why does my IBU differ from another app’s?”Three reasons, in order of size: which model (we use Tinseth; the bitterness reference shows what Rager and Garetz say about the same hops), whether whirlpool additions are counted with a temperature-decay model rather than a flat guess, and which volume the number is expressed against.
Does mash pH really matter that much?
Section titled “Does mash pH really matter that much?”It moves more than most numbers on the rail and it is the one most people never measure. The prediction is only as good as your water report, though — a wrong bicarbonate figure poisons everything downstream of it.
Why can I not see a color or efficiency bump from my decoction?
Section titled “Why can I not see a color or efficiency bump from my decoction?”Because we do not model one, deliberately. Both effects are real and both are process-specific enough that the published figures disagree, so a confident number would be a worse answer than none. Decoctions explains what we do and do not claim.
Your data
Section titled “Your data”Do I have to sign in?
Section titled “Do I have to sign in?”No. You can build recipes as a guest and they stay in your browser. Sign in when you want them on more than one device — anything you made as a guest comes with you.
Where is my data?
Section titled “Where is my data?”In your browser, and — if you are signed in — on our servers, so your devices agree. There is a nightly backup of the server copy.
Does archiving a recipe free up my recipe count?
Section titled “Does archiving a recipe free up my recipe count?”No. Archiving takes a recipe out of the list so you stop scrolling past it; the recipe is still in your workspace, still synced, and still counted. The cap is about how much you keep, and an archived recipe is kept.
To get back under the cap you delete, or move to a plan without one.
Can I get my recipes out?
Section titled “Can I get my recipes out?”Yes, and without asking us. Any recipe exports as BeerJSON from its overflow menu, and Settings has a full data export.
What happens if I stop paying?
Section titled “What happens if I stop paying?”We delete nothing. You drop to the free plan’s limits, which affect what you can add rather than what you already have, and your existing recipes stay readable and exportable.
Can I delete my account?
Section titled “Can I delete my account?”Yes, in Settings, and it erases what is on the server rather than flagging it.
Offline
Section titled “Offline”Does it work offline?
Section titled “Does it work offline?”Yes, properly. Install it and the whole app — the shell, your workspace, every calculation — works with no network at all. See Offline.
What does not work offline?
Section titled “What does not work offline?”The assistant, the gallery, publishing and billing. Everything else, including every number in the editor, is computed on your device.
What happens to edits I make offline?
Section titled “What happens to edits I make offline?”They are queued and sync when you are back. Editing the same recipe on two devices while both are offline is the one case worth knowing about, and it resolves per field: change the batch size on one and the hop schedule on the other and both land. Change the same field on both and the later edit wins, rather than one device’s whole recipe overwriting the other’s.
Recipes and brewing
Section titled “Recipes and brewing”What is the difference between a recipe and a batch?
Section titled “What is the difference between a recipe and a batch?”A recipe is a design; a batch is one brew of it. A batch freezes a copy of the recipe and the equipment profile, so redesigning the beer later never rewrites what you actually brewed.
If I edit a profile, do my old recipes change?
Section titled “If I edit a profile, do my old recipes change?”Equipment: yes. A recipe points at its equipment profile and re-reads it, so changing your boil-off rate recalculates every recipe on that rig. That is the whole point of a profile.
Water, mash and fermentation: no. Applying one of those copies the values into the recipe. See Profiles.
Can I import from Brewfather or BeerSmith?
Section titled “Can I import from Brewfather or BeerSmith?”Yes — BeerXML and BeerJSON files both, and you can paste a link to one rather than downloading it first. See Importing.
Why did my imported recipe’s numbers change?
Section titled “Why did my imported recipe’s numbers change?”Because they are recalculated against your equipment profile rather than copied from the file. An efficiency or a boil-off rate from somebody else’s rig is not a fact about your beer. The import screen shows both figures side by side so you can see what moved.
Can I share a recipe without publishing it?
Section titled “Can I share a recipe without publishing it?”Yes. A share link is unlisted and revocable; publishing puts it in the gallery with your byline. See Sharing.
What Beerwright does not do
Section titled “What Beerwright does not do”Is there a mobile app?
Section titled “Is there a mobile app?”Not a separate one. The web app installs to your home screen and works offline, which is most of what a native app would buy.
Can it control my fermentation chamber?
Section titled “Can it control my fermentation chamber?”No. It reads from Tilt, iSpindel and RAPT; it does not send temperature profiles to hardware.
Is it in other languages?
Section titled “Is it in other languages?”Not yet. Units are — metric, US customary, and a few per-field choices — but the interface is English only.
Why does the assistant refuse to name an ingredient I know exists?
Section titled “Why does the assistant refuse to name an ingredient I know exists?”Because it can only name what is in the catalog or in your own custom ingredients. If something is genuinely missing, add it as a custom ingredient and the assistant can use it — or tell us and we will add it properly.
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