BTW, looking at Mash Made Easy I am wondering what are the 2 input values Actual Grist Buffer Multiplier and Kolbach Ca Mg pH Shift Multiplier. More generally is there some guide for the use of this tool?
Kai Troester (Braukaiser) observed that extant BC (buffering coefficient or capacity) data is derived in what is referred to as a "Congress Mash" utilizing
pulverized malts and unmalted grains. He further observed that for grains that were crushed to various real world mill gaps that are nowhere near pulverization, the measured BC is noticeably lower than for pulverized, and he quantified as to how much lower BC is in relation to "mill gap" settings for crush. Thus MME uniquely offers (again via user choice) to allow one to modify BC with respect to mill gap, via the application of Kai's relationship. An included
mill gap "calculator" worksheet section on the main page (running horizontally across the lowest level of the page, and asking for mill gap input)
, suggests the modification multiplier to be applied based upon ones mill gap, but (for end user flexibility purposes) the user must choose to manually enter this value into the
"Actual Grist Buffer Multiplier" cell. The observation here is that the release of malt acids is nominally somewhat akin (or corollary) to the release of malt sugars within the mash. The finer the crush, the greater the yield or release.
MME does not automatically deviate from Kolbach's method of determining the downward pH shift induced by calcium and magnesium in the mash water. The user must request MME to deviate via altering the
"Kolbach pH Shift Multiplier" value manually. The reasoning and logic behind this is twofold. First, a number of years ago AJ deLange noticed that Kolbach did not measure calcium and magnesium induced pH drop within the mash at all, but rather he quantified it post boil and cooling at "knockout". The real downward shift AJ said he was measuring "during the actual mash" from additions of calcium and magnesium was often only in the ballpark of 50%-60% of what Kolbach predicted for knockout (and which "other instruments" apply mistakenly to the mash). Then in June of 2015 two research Chemists, Roger Barth and Ramaaz Zaman published a paper titled "Influence of Strike Water Alkalinity and Hardness on Mash pH" in the "Journal of the American Society of Brewing Chemists 73(3):240-242" that totally blew Kolbach out of the water, and for some malts went even further than did AJ in measuring downward pH shift deviation for calcium, whereby for certain common malts the downward calcium induced pH shift within the mash proper was observed to be on the order of only as little as 1/4 of what Kolbach predicts, and for others about half of what Kolbach predicts, and values in-between. By default (at download) MME sets this multiplier value to 0.50, or 50%, in line with AJ deLange.
For both of these if you do not want to allow for the level of quasi-empirical nature which they introduce, simply set them to a value of 1 whereby to negate any impact. I don't recommend this, but the end user has this full flexibility. Along with the flexibility to enter any fractional valuations (within reasonable permitted ranges) that may assist in bringing MME output more into line with valid measured observation.
Also, MME uniquely permits manual overrides for malts, unmalted grains, and adjuncts DI_pH and BC, for those who actually expend the time and effort to measure/quantify these values for their own lots of malts, etc... via pH meter and titration respectively.
As to a full manual, I've never written one for MME.