Brew Tracker

Use the Brew Tracker to guide you through each step of your brew day with countdown timers, automatic step notifications, and multi-device sync.

The Brew Tracker is Brewfather's guided brew day timer system. It automatically generates a step-by-step timeline from your recipe's mash schedule, boil additions, and hop stand, then walks you through each stage with countdown timers and notifications.

Enabling the Brew Tracker

The Brew Tracker must be enabled in your settings before it appears on batch pages.

1. Go to Settings

2. Under Features, toggle Brew Tracker on

When disabled, the brew tracker section and all associated timers will not appear on your batch pages.

Starting the Brew Tracker

The Brew Tracker appears on the Brewing tab of any active batch. Once you change a batch's status to Brewing, the tracker is initialized from the batch recipe.

To start the timer:

1. Open your batch and navigate to the Brewing tab

2. The Brew Tracker section shows the stage bar at the top with your brew stages

3. Press the Play button to begin the first stage

The tracker records a start time when you first press Play, so you have a log of when your brew day began.

Stages

The Brew Tracker generates stages automatically based on your recipe. The possible stages are:

Mash

Appears for All Grain and Partial Mash recipes that have mash steps defined. The mash stage includes:

• Heat mash water -- Prompts you to heat mash water to the strike temperature with the calculated water volume

• Mash step timers -- Each mash step (e.g. Saccharification Rest, Mash Out) runs as a countdown with the target temperature displayed

• Ramp times -- If your mash profile includes ramp times between steps, these are tracked as separate sub-steps

• Mash additions -- Any fermentables, hops, or miscs with a "Mash" or "Steep" use timing are shown at the appropriate countdown point

• First Wort additions -- Hop and other additions marked as "First Wort" appear as steps within the mash stage

• Sparge water reminder -- If sparge water is configured in your equipment profile (with a reminder time set), the tracker notifies you to prepare sparge water during the mash

• Sparge step -- At the end of the mash, the tracker prompts you to sparge with the calculated water volume and temperature. For batch sparges, the individual batch volumes are listed

• Mashing Complete -- A final confirmation step at the end of the mash stage

Boil

Appears when the equipment profile has a boil time greater than zero. The boil stage includes:

• Top-up water -- If the recipe calculates a top-up water amount, the tracker prompts you to add it before starting the boil

• Boil timer -- A countdown for the full boil duration

• Boil additions -- Hops, fermentables, and misc additions timed during the boil (60 min, 30 min, 15 min, 5 min, 0 min, etc.) appear as steps at the correct countdown time

• Flameout additions -- Additions marked as "Flameout" appear at the end of the boil

• End of Boil -- A final confirmation step

Hop Stand

Appears when the recipe has a hop stand/whirlpool time or "Aroma" use hop additions. The hop stand stage includes:

• Start Hop Stand -- Prompts you to begin the hop stand at the target temperature (from your equipment profile or the hop stand temperature setting)

• Hop stand addition timers -- Timed hop additions during the hop stand period with their temperatures

• End of Hop Stand -- A final confirmation step

Stage Navigation

At the top of the Brew Tracker, a stage bar shows all stages with their names and a progress indicator. You can tap on a stage name to jump directly to that stage (after confirming). The current stage is highlighted.

Timer Controls

The Brew Tracker provides five control buttons below the stage bar:

Button	Action
Previous Step (skip backward)	Go back to the previous step. If you are at the first step of a stage, it moves to the previous stage.
Restart Current Step (refresh)	Restart the timer for the current step from the beginning.
Play / Pause	Start or pause the countdown timer. When paused, the timer holds its current position.
Set Time (pencil)	Manually set the current timer position. Enter a value in MM:SS format to jump the timer to a specific point.
Skip Forward (skip forward)	Skip to the next step. If you are at the last step of a stage, it advances to the next stage.

Step Types

Within each stage, the tracker shows a list of steps. Each step displays:

• A description of what to do (e.g., ingredient additions with amounts, temperature targets)

• A progress bar showing time remaining for the current step

• A checkmark for completed steps

• A Continue button for steps that require manual confirmation before proceeding (such as "Mashing Complete" or "Start Boil")

Some steps pause the timer automatically and wait for you to press Continue before proceeding. These include stage transitions and events that require your action (like adding sparge water or confirming end of boil).

Notifications and Alarms

When the tracker is running and a new step is reached, Brewfather can alert you with:

• In-app notifications -- A toast notification appears in the app with the step name and description

• Push notifications -- If enabled, a push notification is sent to your device

• Audio alarm -- An audible alarm sounds when a new step begins

You can toggle notifications and the alarm on or off per tracker using the buttons in the Brew Tracker section header:

• Bell icon -- Toggle push/in-app notifications on or off for this tracker

• Volume icon -- Toggle the audio alarm on or off for this tracker

• Power icon -- Turn the entire tracker on or off

Active Trackers Sidebar Widget

When one or more Brew Trackers are running, an Active Trackers widget appears in the sidebar navigation. This widget shows:

• The number of active trackers

• For each active tracker:

  • The batch name and number

  • The current stage name (Mash, Boil, Hop Stand)

  • The remaining time in MM:SS format

  • The current step description

  • A power button to turn off the tracker

Clicking on an active tracker in the sidebar takes you directly to that batch's Brewing tab. This is especially useful if you are navigating elsewhere in the app during a brew and want to quickly return to your active batch.

Multi-Device Behavior

The Brew Tracker state is synced to your Brewfather account in real time. This means:

• If you start a tracker on one device (e.g., your computer), it appears and updates on other devices logged into the same account (e.g., your phone)

• The device that is actively controlling the timer is tracked. When you interact with the timer controls (play, pause, skip, etc.), that device takes control

• Alarm sounds can be stopped from any device -- when you dismiss an alarm on one device, it stops on all others

• If you close the app and reopen it, active trackers resume from their synced state

Tips

• Start the tracker when you are ready -- The tracker does not auto-start. Press Play when you are actually ready to begin your mash or boil.

• Use Set Time if you get ahead or behind -- If you started a step early or late, use the pencil button to adjust the timer to match reality.

• Keep your recipe accurate -- The tracker generates stages directly from your recipe's mash steps, boil time, hop additions, and hop stand settings. The more accurate your recipe, the more useful the tracker will be.

• Check sparge water reminder settings -- In your equipment profile, you can configure when the sparge water reminder appears during the mash. This is controlled by the Sparge Water Reminder time setting.

Related Pages

• Brewing -- The batch Brewing stage where the Brew Tracker lives

• Equipment Profile -- Configure boil time, whirlpool time, sparge settings, and other values that affect tracker stages

• Settings -- Enable or disable the Brew Tracker feature

• Notifications -- Configure push and email notification preferences