record keeping

boston_waterproofer · Post by **boston_waterproofer** » Sat Dec 09, 2006 4:32 pm

does anyone have a xl spread sheet or something that would make it easer or where I could get one or some of the things you should keep a record of I am new to this have two stills now and started my 1st wash

Post by **Tater** » Sat Dec 09, 2006 5:33 pm

You really need to read over sights in my signature.Most of what your asking is in there .

stoker · Post by **stoker** » Sun Dec 10, 2006 1:27 am

the homedistiller site hase calculaters but if you want to record your runs and such, I think you'll have to make your own

goose eye · Post by **goose eye** » Sun Dec 10, 2006 4:15 am

a while back a ole boy round here use to keep records an when they caught him they believed him course it wont in code

speedfreaksteve · Post by **speedfreaksteve** » Sun Dec 10, 2006 5:34 pm

You have to remember you care about different things in different phases. For example..

Fermentation - keep track of the SG at the start, and check it every day or two and write that down. You can also check temperature if you want.

Mashing - if you're making a whiskey and doing mashing you want to check the SG at the end and measure the total volume of liquid. Then if you want you can calculate how much extra sugar may need to be added.

Distilling - that is all in the main website. Obviously you want to look at the temp constantly, and check the alcohol % coming out periodically to know when to make your cuts.

Of course you can just wing it and not write down anything and still make good booze.

Most important thing to me is to write down your recipes when you're trying something different. Then if it turns out really good you won't forget what you used, and how much.

pintoshine · Post by **pintoshine** » Sun Dec 10, 2006 6:57 pm

I record everything.
Since I do a lot of consulting on fuel ethanol, I am always fermenting and distilling something, I keep lots of records so that I can show others recipes, fermentation times for different sg and distillation efficiencies.
One of the major things fuel people are intersted in if efficiency. It is always a search for nearly free fuel.

I make up my spreadsheets as I go along depending on the goal of the project.

I have made a few things easier though by adding logging to my computer controls. I am able to track energy input and and two temps to a file and then I can import that into a spreadsheet. This has helped me to measure and track efficiencies.

On the other hand when I am distilling for flavor, I collect in small samples. I keep a running log of the vapor temperature, the time I changed containers, the starting proof of each container and my acessment of flavor and scent of each container.

It allows me to mix my heads, hearts, and tails to whatever proportion I want.

When I am stripping I am mostly interested in throughput. How fast am I collecting. But when I am doubling I want to determine the cuts.
General when I am making a large run, I ferment two 39 gallon batches to about 9%. This allows me to run 6, 13 gallon stripping runs. With everything collected this is about 14 gallons of 100P. This I run again and make my cuts. I will usually end up with 9 gallons of 80% or 45, 750ml bottles to measure and record. This gives me lots record keeping to do.

I guess the question to you is what are you interested in remembering later? The spread sheet should be based on that.

boston_waterproofer · Post by **boston_waterproofer** » Mon Dec 11, 2006 4:19 pm

Thanks for all the help I put together a spreadsheet for fermenting and distilling so I can track in put and out put this hobby sounds interesting my wife can’t understand why every hobby I have isn’t legal

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record keeping

record keeping

Record keeping for efficiency's sake