Brewfather Workflow Best Practices
End-to-end guide to using Brewfather effectively for consistent, repeatable brewing outcomes
This guide walks through the complete Brewfather workflow from recipe creation to packaging and beyond. The goal is not to document every button, but to show how to integrate Brewfather into your brewing process so each batch teaches you something and every brew is better than the last.
1. Foundation: Set Up Profiles Before You Brew
Consistent results start with accurate profiles. Before creating your first recipe, invest time in getting these right.
Equipment Profile
Your equipment profile is the single most impactful setting in Brewfather. An inaccurate profile means every batch mismatch cascades: pre-boil volumes, boil-off rates, gravity predictions, hop utilization—everything.
Key fields to calibrate:
Batch size
Measure your post-fermentation volume into packaging vessel
Boil-off rate
Time a plain water boil for 60 min and measure loss
Mash tun deadspace
Volume remaining in tun after draining
Trub/chiller loss
Volume left in kettle after chilling
Fermenter loss
Volume lost to yeast cake and trub at bottom of fermenter
Brewfather Tip: After each brew, compare your actual volumes and gravity to estimates. Use Batch → Edit → Adjust to refine your equipment profile over time. Most brewers see noticeably tighter predictions after several well-logged batches.
Mash Profile
Choose a mash profile appropriate for your setup (single infusion, BIAB, recirculating, step mash). Brewfather ships with common defaults; for most ales a single-infusion rest at 65–68 °C (149–154 °F) is sufficient.
Save custom step-mash programs for styles that benefit from it (highly attenuated lagers, wheat beers). See Mash & Lauter Science for enzyme temperature guidance.
Water Profile
Water chemistry can make or break a beer's perceived balance. Build or select profiles in Profiles → Water that match your source water and your intended style adjustments.
Brewfather Tip: Use the Water Calculator inside each recipe to dial in mineral additions and acid adjustments. Brewfather recalculates mash pH in real time as you add salts—watch the pH indicator as you work.
Fermentation Profile
Build fermentation schedules for your most-used yeast strains. A good profile captures:
Ale primary: 18–22 °C (65–72 °F) for 5–7 days
Lager primary: 8–12 °C (46–54 °F) for 10–14 days, with a diacetyl rest at 18 °C (65 °F) before crashing
Temperature ramps signal devices automatically when Brewfather is connected to a temperature controller.
2. Recipe Design
Build from Known Baselines
Don't invent from scratch—clone a known, proven recipe and adapt it. Brewfather's built-in recipe library (and public shared recipes) provide calibrated starting points. Adjust one or two variables per batch to isolate what changes flavor.
Versioning discipline: Use Recipes → Versioning to save a new version before making significant changes. Label versions with a short note ("Increased crystal malt 10 → 15%, batch 8 feedback"). This is your log of what worked and what didn't.
Targets to Hit First
OG (original gravity)
Drives ABV and fermentability
Recipe dashboard
IBU
Perceived bitterness; balance with malt sweetness
Recipe dashboard
SRM / EBC
Color: visual match to style
Recipe dashboard
Mash pH
Enzyme efficiency and flavor clarity
Water Calculator
Attenuation
Predicted FG / sweetness vs. dryness
Recipe → Fermentables section
Hop Scheduling
Brewfather supports established IBU estimation models (configured in Settings), including Tinseth and Rager in many setups. All IBU models are estimates; real bitterness varies with boil vigor, wort gravity, and hop freshness.
Brewfather Tip: Use the Hop Freshness tool (Tools menu) before brew day. Aged hops have lower alpha-acid content—enter the actual AA% from your hop package or estimate based on storage time to keep IBU calculations accurate.
3. Brew Day Execution
Plan the Batch First
When you are ready to brew, convert your recipe to a batch via Recipes → Start Batch. Brewfather copies the recipe snapshot into the batch and generates a checklist-style brew day sheet.
In the Batch → Planning view, confirm:
Scaled grain bill and water volumes
Strike temperature (use the Strike Temperature tool if in doubt)
Hop additions timeline
Yeast pitch quantity (use the Yeast Calculator for accurate cell counts/packets)
Brewfather Tip: Print or keep the batch sheet open on a tablet during the brew. Checking off each step in real time (rather than reconstructing after) ensures accurate time-stamps and prevents missed additions.
Record as You Go
Log actual values—not just planned values—as the brew progresses:
Mash
Strike temp achieved, actual mash temp, pH if measured
Pre-boil
Volume, gravity (use refractometer or hydrometer)
Post-boil
Volume, gravity
Pitch
Yeast type/lot, pitch temp, starter size if used
Fermentation
Gravity readings, temperature, any off-aromas
Use the Notes field liberally. Observations like "cloudier than expected pre-boil" or "yeast lag was 24 h" become invaluable diagnostic data in later batches.
Gravity Readings and Efficiency
Brewfather updates brewhouse efficiency estimates as you log actual gravity and volume readings. If efficiency falls short:
Check sparge completeness and grain crush
Verify equipment profile deadspace and loss values
Review mash temperature and time
If efficiency is consistently much higher or lower than expected for your setup, verify hydrometer/refractometer calibration and review your loss settings before changing recipe assumptions.
4. Fermentation Tracking
Connect a Device
If you have a Tilt, iSpindel, RAPT Pill, or similar gravity/temperature logger, link it in Devices before pitching yeast. Continuous logging surfaces fermentation curves in Brewfather's fermentation graph—useful for spotting stalls, unexpected gravity drops, and temperature excursions.
Gravity Milestones
24–48 h post-pitch: Active fermentation (krausen visible/rising); gravity starting to drop
Day 3–5 (ale) / Day 7–10 (lager): Fermentation decelerating; gravity approaching final third
Stable gravity for 48 h: Fermentation likely complete; confirm FG
Brewfather Tip: Never rely on the absence of airlock activity as a fermentation signal—use gravity measurements. Log at least three readings spread across active fermentation and take a final reading before packaging to confirm FG.
Diacetyl Rest
For lagers (and some clean ales fermented cool), a common practice is raising temperature to about 18–20 °C (65–68 °F) for ~24–48 h before cold crashing. This helps yeast reduce diacetyl before settling. Log the rest in Brewfather's fermentation notes.
Cold Crash and Fining
Cold crash to 0–2 °C (32–36 °F) for 24–72 h to precipitate yeast and proteins. If using a fining agent (gelatin, Biofine Clear), add it at crash onset. Log the crash start/end in fermentation notes.
5. Packaging
Carbonation
Use Tools → Carbonation to calculate priming sugar or keg pressure. Input the actual beer temperature and target volumes of CO₂ for style. Brewfather calculates the exact sugar weight needed for bottle conditioning.
British ale
1.5–2.2 vol CO₂
American ale/lager
2.2–2.7 vol CO₂
Belgian/wheat
2.8–3.5 vol CO₂
Stout/porter
1.8–2.2 vol CO₂
Brewfather Tip: For force carbonation, use the current beer temperature in the keg. For bottle/keg conditioning with priming sugar, use the highest recent beer temperature when estimating residual CO₂.
Mark the Batch Complete
After packaging, move the batch to Completed status. Brewfather locks in your final metrics and adds the batch to your historical records. Use the Batch Notes to record packaging date, carbonation method, and any final impressions.
6. Post-Batch Review and Iteration
This step is where most homebrewers leave value on the table. Brewfather stores everything—use it.
Review Your Batch History
After tasting the finished beer (typically 2–4 weeks post-packaging), return to the batch and add tasting notes:
Aroma, flavor, mouthfeel, carbonation observations
Overall score or rating
Key areas to improve
Tag issues explicitly ("diacetyl detectable", "undercarbonated", "mash pH too high—astringent finish").
Compare Actual vs. Planned
Brewfather shows planned vs. actual for key metrics. Review:
OG actual vs. planned → brewhouse efficiency calibration
FG actual vs. predicted → yeast health and attenuation behavior
Volume losses → equipment profile refinement
Update Your Profiles
If you made changes during the brew (mash temp adjustment, boil extended, extra hops), update your equipment or mash profile to capture the change for next time. Profiles are living documents, not a one-time setup.
7. Repeatability: The Discipline of Logging
The single biggest lever for improving beer quality over time is disciplined data capture. Brewfather provides the infrastructure; the brewer must supply the habit.
Minimum Logging Checklist (Every Batch)
Recipe Versioning Strategy
Tweaking a recipe
Create new version; note what changed
Rebrewing identically
Use same version; log as new batch
Major style change
Clone recipe to a new recipe
Equipment change
Update equipment profile; note effective date
Using Batch Data Across Brews
Use the Library to compare multiple batches of the same recipe. Over time patterns emerge:
Which yeast temperature achieves your target attenuation?
What mash temperature correlates with your preferred body?
How does your actual efficiency compare to plan by grain type?
8. Advanced Workflow Tips
Multi-Batch Planning
When planning a high-volume session or back-to-back brews, use the Inventory system to verify you have sufficient stock before brew day. Brewfather tracks inventory depletion per batch—checking inventory in advance prevents mid-brew discoveries of missing ingredients.
Recipe Sharing and Importing
Brewfather supports BeerXML, JSON, and direct recipe import from popular recipe sites. When importing a community recipe, verify the equipment profile is adjusted to your system. Community recipes are calibrated to the original brewer's setup, not yours.
Styles Reference
Use Styles (sidebar) to load BJCP or Brewers Association style guidelines directly into your recipe target. Brewfather shows whether your recipe falls within style limits for OG, FG, IBU, SRM/EBC—useful when brewing for competition.
AI Brewing Assistant
For recipe troubleshooting, style questions, or ingredient substitution, use the AI Brewing Assistant. It has context about Brewfather features and can suggest recipe adjustments based on your logged data.
Summary
Setup
Calibrate equipment, mash, water, fermentation profiles
Accurate predictions
Recipe
Design from baseline, version changes, hit style targets
Consistent recipe baseline
Brew day
Log all actuals in real time
Accurate efficiency and volume data
Fermentation
Track gravity milestones, log temp excursions
On-time packaging decisions
Packaging
Use carbonation tool, mark batch complete
Correct carbonation, closed-loop batch
Review
Add tasting notes, refine profiles
Iterative improvement
The power of Brewfather comes from treating it as a learning system, not just a recipe calculator. Each logged batch makes the next one more predictable.
See also: Brewing Fundamentals · Fermentation & Yeast Management · Water Chemistry & Adjustments · References
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