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StrangeBrew Tasks

Here are some common tasks and questions for StrangeBrew:

Managing Inventory

This is a planned feature for StrangeBrew 2.0 Pro.

Publishing StrangeBrew Recipes

You can easily publish your StrangeBrew recipes on the internet, or send them to others to view and print, using the HTML export feature.

  1. Open the recipe you wish to publish in StrangeBrew.

  2. Select File > Export > HTML .

  3. Select the name and location for the saved file.

  4. FTP or transfer the exported recipe to your web site.

  5. Create a link to the HTML file on a web page.

Importing other users' recipes

You can import the recipes from other brewers or web sites created by these programs:

There are many recipes available at the StrangeBrew recipe archive (bodensatz.com/sb), and on various other websites. To download a recipe, follow these steps:

  1. Find the recipe you'd like to import on the internet.

  2. Save the file to your computer.

  3. Open StrangeBrew, select File > Open , and browse to the saved recipe. (You can also use File > Find to view a summary of all the recipes in a directory).

  4. Click OK .

  5. If the recipe contains malts, hops, or yeast that is not in your ingredients database, you will see a message asking you if you'd like to add the new ingredients to your main database. You can edit the ingredients database and add information about these new ingredients (such as your cost, inventory, and description).

There are some limitations to importing recipes:

Backing up StrangeBrew data

I recommend that you backup your StrangeBrew database and recipes at least once per month, or more frequently depending on how often you add or edit recipes. Backing up your StrangeBrew database is easy, and will save you a lot of grief if you experience a computer or hard disk crash.

To backup your StrangeBrew database, follow these steps:

  1. Navigate to your StrangeBrew data directory (by default it is under src\ca\strangebrew\data in your StrangeBrew install directory).

  2. Select all the files, or the entire directory.

  3. Use an archiving program, such as WinZip or PKZip to archive all the files in the directory.

  4. Store the archive off the computer, such as on a floppy disk or CD Rom.

  5. Repeat this process for your recipes (by default stored under recipes/ in your StrangeBrew install directory).

To restore a backed up database, copy the archived files back to the StrangeBrew data directory.

Calculating recipes that use a mini-mash or steeped grains

From StrangeBrew's perspective, any recipe that uses grains or adjuncts that don't go directly into the kettle (steeped grains or a mini-mash) is considered a mashed recipe. For a mini-mash, simply select your ingredients. The Mash Manager will adjust to include only those ingredients that are checked "mashed" (in the M column) in the fermentables list. Mini-mashes tend to be lower in efficiency, so adjust your efficiency rating downward - 40-50% is probably a good range.

For steeped recipes, select your ingredients. Some ingredients can be mashed or steeped (such as crystal malts). These ingredients will appear in the malts list. Avoid selecting grains that must be mashed (checked in the M column). Finally, adjust your efficiency downward (50% should be in the ballpark) since steeped grains contribute less fermentables than mashed grains.

 

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