Ingredient batch attributes: alpha acid, extract and colour

Ingredient batch attributes are the measured values that vary from one batch of an ingredient to the next, such as the alpha acid of a hop harvest or the extract of a delivery of malt. Breww lets you record a typical value on the ingredient itself, record the real value for each batch you receive, and then use those values to adjust how much of the ingredient goes into a beer batch.

Which ingredients have attributes

Attributes come from the ingredient's stock item sub-type. The Special ingredient type handling on the sub-type decides which attributes its stock items have:

Other kinds of ingredient, such as yeast, sugar or fruit, have no attributes.

Extract and colour are shown in units that follow your brewery's unit system: extract in LDK (litre degrees per kilogram) and colour in EBC for metric, or extract in PPG (points per pound per gallon) and colour in SRM otherwise.

Setting default attributes on a stock item

The default attributes are the values you expect for a typical batch of the ingredient. To set them, open the stock item, select Edit and fill in the fields under Hop default attribute values or Grain default attribute values. All of them are optional.

The values you save are shown in the Default attributes section of the stock item page. When you add the ingredient to a recipe, Breww fills in the recipe step's attributes from these defaults, and you can change them for that recipe.

Recording the attributes of a batch

Attribute values for a batch are recorded against the stock item's batch code, so the item needs to be batch tracked and the stock needs a batch code. The values apply to all stock of that item with the same batch code, even if it arrived on more than one inventory receipt.

From the stock item page

1. Go to Stock items and open the ingredient.
2. In the list of batches in stock, find the batch and select Edit batch attributes. The button shows the ingredient's icon, such as a hop.
3. Enter the values for that batch and select Save.

The batch list has a column, named after the kind of ingredient (for example Hop), showing the values recorded for each batch. A batch with nothing recorded shows None entered for batch and its batch code.

From an inventory receipt

When you edit an inventory receipt, each batch of an ingredient with attributes has an Edit batch attributes button next to its batch details. It opens the same form as on the stock item page. The receipt also lists the recorded values for each batch.

Using attributes on recipes

When you add an ingredient with attributes to a recipe, or edit one already on a recipe, the step has a section for its attributes, such as Hop attributes. These are the values the recipe is written for, and Breww fills them in from the stock item's default attributes.

To have Breww adjust the quantity to suit the batch you actually use, choose the attribute under Automatically adjust the quantity depending on. When an attribute is chosen here, the recipe step must have a value for that attribute.

On the recipe, the step shows an Adjust for badge naming the attribute, along with the attribute values it is written for.

For hops, see Adjusting the quantity of hops added to a beer batch for alpha acid percentage for a worked example.

How Breww adjusts the quantity

Breww keeps the amount of the attribute the same, rather than the weight of the ingredient. For example, a recipe step of 8 kg of a hop at 13% alpha acid needs 8 x 13 = 104. A batch at 14.2% gives the same with 104 / 14.2 = 7.32 kg, so Breww uses 7.32 kg of that batch.

The adjustment works like this on the brew sheet:

• When Breww allocates stock to the step automatically, using Auto allocate stock or Auto pre-allocate stock, it works out the quantity to take from each batch using that batch's recorded value. If a batch has no value recorded for the attribute, Breww treats it as having the recipe step's value, so its quantity isn't adjusted.
• Under the stock allocated to the step, Breww shows whether the allocated quantity matches what the recipe asks for once the batch values are taken into account. If it doesn't, the note says how much more or less you need, at the value of the most recently allocated batch.
• The step also has an Adjustment calculator button. Enter the original value, the original quantity and the new value, and it shows the quantity to use.

The brew sheet also lists the recorded attributes beside each batch allocated to an ingredient step, and when you edit an allocation the form shows that batch's attributes.

Attributes when importing, exporting and swapping recipes

• BeerXML imports bring in a hop's alpha acid and a grain's extract and colour on each ingredient addition, where the file includes them and the values are valid.
• Breww recipe files include each step's attribute values and the attribute used to adjust its quantity.
• When you bulk swap an ingredient across your recipes for the same kind of ingredient, the steps take the new ingredient's default attributes.

Guest beer production dates

Guest beer stock items use the same Edit batch attributes button to record a Production date for each batch code, shown in a Production date column in the batch list. When Breww creates a packaged batch from that guest beer stock, it uses this date as the packaging date, rather than the date the stock was received.

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