Rooftop Brewer’s Toolbox

This is a collection of tools that have proven quite useful to me as a home brewer. Some I’ve put together myself, some were put together by others. As time passes and I learn more php, I’m sure the list will grow. If you have other questions, try checking the Links page.

ABV Calculator

I developed this while laying on the floor with my dog who had just had knee surgery.

The calculator will take two gravity readings from you, either Specific Gravity or Plato, and the temperature (ºF or ºC) at which you took the gravity readings, correct the gravity for the temperature, and calculate the Alcohol by Weight and the Alcohol By Volume.

IBU Calculator

This will accurately calculate your beer’s IBU by taking the following into consideration: Wort Gravity, Wort Volume, Alpha Acid, Boil Time, and Hop Utilization. It uses either Jackie Rager’s or Glenn Tinseth’s formula depending on your needs.

12 thoughts on “Rooftop Brewer’s Toolbox”

  1. This is a great site. One of my primary references. Enjoy the postings as well. Thanks for all the helpful information.

  2. There are countless homebrew calculators for smartphones. My favorite is Beer Math for iOS. Although I don’t brew as much as I wish I did, when I do, thats the one I use.

  3. I have a question… How can I calculate how much sugar will raise the original gravity by a set amount, say by 0.030?
    Basically the hops I have used for a recipe has a higher alpha value so I thought I would raise the gravity to balance the BU:GU ratio.
    Alex

  4. Alex, I’d suggest using a tool like QBrew. Put in your recipe, then add small amounts of sugar and see how the gravity changes. If the beer is already fermented, it may be challenging to predict what will happen, and you’ll need to boil the water/sugar so you don’t infect anything. However, even the high alpha # might be less accurate and it may not taste as bitter as the calculator suggests.

  5. A very useful site! I keep this in my bookmarks on every PC and Laptop in the house. I’m always referring back to it during my brewing 🙂

    Thanks for sharing with us!

  6. I’m a very new brewer. On my third batch now and still trying to get things right.
    If my Start or Finish Gravity reading is off from what a particular recipe indicates it should be, what kind of things can I do to correct it?

  7. Skot – there are lots of reasons that this could happen. It depends on if you’re using all grain or extract (or a mix). Could be a dilution issue if you’re doing extract brewing, could be a mash efficiency issue if it’s all grain, etc. Fear not, you’ll slowly get used to how things come out with your equipment and figure it out.

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