Recipes and Ingredient Lots: Linking Hops, Malt and Yeast to Batches

To link an ingredient to a batch, you need two things written down. One is the lot number from the delivery. The other is which lot went into the brew. Software mostly keeps those two facts joined.

What a lot number is

Wikipedia calls it "an identification number assigned to a particular quantity or lot of material".¹ The quantity comes from "a single manufacturer".¹

It adds that lot numbers "can typically be found on the outside of packaging".¹ So the first step is the humble one. Look at the sack or bag when it arrives, and enter what's printed there.

From delivery to batch

In the program, a delivery becomes a stock line. When you brew, you pick which batch of an ingredient you drew from. That choice is the link. One maker's brew sheet guide says "you can add an ingredient batch using the **+ **button or edit the ingredient batch already assigned".²

Programs can help before the brew as well. The same maker's pre-brew check "will check all your planned batches (and ad-hoc additions) to see if you have the required stock items to brew them".³

Yeast is a lot too, in a way

Yeast often gets reused. The maker's yeast guide covers this. On reuse, it says the program will "increase its current generation by one automatically".⁴

Each reuse links one batch to an earlier one, and it needs recording in the same way as a bag of malt.

The guide adds that "you can view the usage and genealogy of the yeast batch under the Genealogy tab on the yeast batch".⁴

What the link gives you

The payoff is looking backwards or forwards. Wikipedia gives the general reason for lot numbers: they let a maker "issue corrections or recall information to subsets of their production output".¹ Without the link, a problem with one lot means treating every batch as suspect.

Where it breaks

If a lot number isn't entered at delivery, there's nothing to link. If two lots go into one brew and only one is recorded, the trace is wrong. The software can't see inside the sack.

Hop and malt suppliers print their own lot codes in their own style. Copy them as they appear, with no tidying.

Keep the paper too. If a supplier later gets in touch about a lot, the printed code on the delivery note is what they'll ask about. A photo of the label on arrival costs nothing and settles most arguments.

Recall rules differ by country and by product. For what applies to you, ask your regulator or a lawyer. The program doesn't make a brewery compliant with anything.

Related: batch records and packaging runs.