The Brew Timer keeps track of your boil and reminds you when to add hops or other ingredients. Each addition alerts you without stopping the countdown, and a final alert tells you when the boil is complete.

You can start with a saved recipe or set up an ad-hoc brew. While the timer runs, minimize it to a small floating clock and keep working on your recipe.

Brew Timer

Start from a recipe

1. Open My Recipes and select the recipe you want to brew.
2. Click the clock icon beside Boil Time in the recipe details.
3. Review the boil duration and the hop additions loaded from your recipe. The addition names include the hop quantities. Dry hops are left out because they are not boil additions.
4. Adjust the timer setup if needed, choose your alert sounds, and click Start brew when your boil begins.

Opening the timer does not start it. Changes to the timer setup do not change your saved recipe. If you already have another brew configured or running, the timer asks before replacing it with a different recipe.

Start an ad-hoc brew

1. Choose Brew Timer in the site menu, or use the button above. On a phone, open the navigation menu first.
2. Enter your total Boil time in whole minutes.
3. Use Add addition to add as many reminders as you need. Give each one a name and enter its timing as described below.
4. Click Start brew.

An ad-hoc timer does not require a recipe or an account. If an existing timer opens, use New ad-hoc brew to clear it and start a fresh setup. Confirming this replaces the current timer and its additions.

How addition timing works

Enter the number of minutes before the end of the boil, just as you would read a hop schedule. For example, a 15-minute addition in a 60-minute boil alerts after 45 minutes have elapsed, with 15:00 remaining.

You can schedule several additions at the same time, and you can use reminders for items such as finings as well as hops. Each due addition appears in the alert message. A value must be between 0 and the total boil time; correct any out-of-range recipe timings before starting.

Set up your additions before starting. To change the schedule after starting, use Reset brew; this returns the timer to its full duration and schedules all additions again.

Choose and preview alert sounds

1. Expand Alert settings in the timer.
2. Leave Sound alerts checked for audible reminders.
3. Choose an Addition sound and a Brew complete sound. They can be the same or different.
4. Use the Preview button next to each choice to hear it and check your device volume. Preview also turns sound alerts on.

The choices are Classic Chime, Gentle Bell, Kitchen Beeps, Rising Tones, Bright Alarm, School Bell, and Old Telephone. School Bell has sustained metallic ringing; Old Telephone has a longer “ring-ring” pattern. These are useful when you want a more attention-grabbing alert.

You can change sounds while brewing. Your choices stay with the timer when you refresh or move around this site in the same tab. If a flameout addition and brew completion happen together, the completion sound plays once and both alerts are shown.

You can also choose Enable browser notifications and allow the browser's permission request. Availability depends on your browser and connection. Your browser or operating system controls any separate notification sound.

Minimize the timer while you work

Click Minimize in the timer. A compact clock floats in the lower-left corner of the website, showing the remaining time, the brew status, and the next addition. The page is available for editing again, and your unsaved recipe fields stay in place.

• Pause while minimized: click the two-bar pause icon on the compact timer.
• Resume while minimized: click the play triangle that replaces the pause icon.
• Expand again: click the rest of the compact timer to return to the full panel in the center of the screen.

The countdown and alerts continue while minimized. The compact timer changes color when there are alerts to review. You can also minimize a setup before starting it; its status will say Ready.

Pause, resume, and finish

In the full panel, use Pause and Resume brew. Pausing holds the remaining time and delays the remaining addition alerts until you resume. It does not reset the brew or repeat additions that have already alerted.

When an addition is due, the countdown keeps running. Use Acknowledge alerts to dismiss the current alert messages; this does not pause the timer.

At zero, the timer shows Brew complete and alerts you to turn off the heat. Use Reset brew to repeat the same duration and additions, or New ad-hoc brew for a fresh setup. Both ask for confirmation before replacing the current progress.

Keep alerts working

• Keep this tab open and your device awake. A closed or suspended browser cannot reliably deliver an alert on time.
• Use Preview before brewing. Check your volume and make sure the browser tab is not muted. After refreshing or navigating to another page, open the timer or use Preview again to enable sound on that page.
• Use Keep screen awake when supported. The setting asks your browser to keep the screen awake during the brew, but it may not be available on every device.
• Stay in the same tab. The timer can restore its progress after a refresh or navigation on this site. Timers are not synchronized across tabs or devices.

If the browser delays an update, the countdown catches up when it runs again and shows any additions that became due. If the timer says it cannot save progress, keep that page open until the brew finishes.

More help: How To Create A Recipe · Help Center · Site Index