Hey Matthias - great, thanks for clarifying that for me! That makes a lot of sense.
I think the full, complete functionality here would be to add more control over which readings are required, how often, and at which stage of the batch they are required. For example, Breww currently allows you to choose which built-in readings you’d like to see and also whether that reading is required (Settings → Production settings → Fermentation readings form section). Then you can choose how often you’d like those required readings to be taken (the Daily batch readings required section).
However, I know some would love to see the ability to add conditions such as “Require reading if batch is conditioning”, e.g. Ability to turn off daily batch readings for none FV's.
A combination of that functionality, and the ability to specify custom batch reading types, sounds like it would allow you to achieve what you’re looking for here - and it would also set Breww up nicely to cover any future reading requirements that come up!
However, I just want to mention that although custom batch readings (and custom fields in general) are obviously extremely useful and flexible, they do have a downside. Because they are custom-defined by the user, Breww doesn’t have an in-built understanding of what it is and how it relates to the brewing process. Whereas if we build the reading type directly into Breww, we can more easily add dedicated functionality that uses that field in the future.
So if you wouldn’t mind letting me know which microbiological tests you use, we can look at potentially adding them as an in-built field into Breww, and then you won’t have to define them as custom fields at all!
Let me know if that sounds like it will cover what you’re looking for, and if so, I’ll split this out for you into a feature request 