Brewing Software

[Siborg]

Hey

I've had a bit of a play with Beersmith for a while, but I can't find myself liking it. It seems like everything's there, but I don't know, I just can't get my head around it easily enough.

I've downloaded Beer Tools Pro and Pro Mash and have been playing around with BeerTools for a little bit today. I've found the ingredients DB is far more diverse and I have everything in the units of measurement that I want. I know Beersmith does this as well, but beer tools seems to make more sense and is laid out better.

I haven't tried Pro Mash yet, but I will soon.

Can anyone recommend any other programs besides these ones or give me any pointers re: these programs? I wanna try a few out before I outlay the money to purchase a full version.

I'm also looking for a half decent iPhone App for a similar function.

 

[manticle]

Everybody seems to swear by beersmith. I use the spreadsheet from this: http://hbd.org/recipator/

Online spreadsheet suitable for extract through to spec grains through to full mash. To use it for a kit, you'll need to know the specs of the kit and put it through as an extract. Free and fairly easy to navigate. It probably doesn't have the same number of options and calcs as some of the others but if you understand what you are doing (and I never said I did) you can make it work for your system.

 

[RdeVjun]

Licences for bought apps aren't all that expensive (just 30 clams for BS) however StrangeBrew is free and more than adequate for my needs, albeit a few things such as post- boil dilution are still clunky. Another freebie is qbrew but it is quite basic. There are more and more online apps too, an AHBer even has one.

 

[user 11560]

Beer Engine satisfies my needs, but bear in mind I'm by no means an advanced brewer (quite the opposite )

But the great thing is it's free. Free as in free beer

 

[Screwtop]

When it comes to measurements/units in beersmith you can enter any unit and it will be converted to the units you have set in the preferences. IE: if entering a US recipe enter 5Gal in the Batch Size and it wil be converted to 18.93L. Same with Malt enter lbs for the result in Kg and hops enter oz and this will convert the amount to grams. Beersmith is great when you learn to brew, but there are a few nice-to-haves that are missing. Have been helping out with beta testing a new application BrewMate which is very promising and heading in the right direction, but still early days.

Screwy

 

[randyrob]

Give BrewMate a spin (linky in my sig)

It's based on user feedback, so if you see something that needs improvement chances are it can be sorted

Cheers Rob.

 

[bradsbrew]

Give BrewMate a spin (linky in my sig)

It's based on user feedback, so if you see something that needs improvement chances are it can be sorted

Cheers Rob.

+1 , I am really liking Robs Brewmate. Is very user friendly and has helped my brewing both in recipe formulation and also brewday mode. The regular updates and feedback response is a credit.

Cheers Brad

 

[Siborg]

Give BrewMate a spin (linky in my sig)

It's based on user feedback, so if you see something that needs improvement chances are it can be sorted

Cheers Rob.

Downloaded. I'll give it a whirl and let you know how I go.

 

[mxd]

there's also one from Paul (sosman)
http://brewiki.org/

 

[hefevice]

[snip]

I'm also looking for a half decent iPhone App for a similar function.

Brew Pal (http://www.brewpal.info/)

Find it a great tool on Brew day as it has timers and most of the conversion tools required. Only thing missing is the ability to import recipes from desktop tools (like BeerSmith), but this is a minor inconvenience.

I also use BrewMath (http://www.kentplacesoftware.com/products/BrewMath.html) for the more esoteric calculations that need to be done from time to time.

 

[chris.taylor.98]

And don't forget Brewtoolz

Free online recipe calculator and logger.

Developed by a couple of AHB members.

Have rolled out no-chill support in the last month or so.

Working on open sourcing it so hopefully we can pick up the pace of development a bit.

 

[Daniel.lear]

Give BrewMate a spin (linky in my sig)

It's based on user feedback, so if you see something that needs improvement chances are it can be sorted

Cheers Rob.

I was a long time Promash user and Ive just started using BrewMate. I must say it seems to suit me very well. Rob has been very accomodating in the couple of changes I suggested.

I'll be giving it a real workout this weekend.

Thanks Rob

 

[banora brewer]

I was a long time Promash user and Ive just started using BrewMate. I must say it seems to suit me very well. Rob has been very accomodating in the couple of changes I suggested.

I'll be giving it a real workout this weekend.

Thanks Rob

Nothing works for a mac, only beer alchemy

 

[barls]

+ one for beeralchemy

 

[randyrob]

Nothing works for a mac, only beer alchemy

BrewMate was written in .NET so should run on a Mac or Linux under Mono (tho i haven't given it any real world testing)
I could easily cross platform it if the need ever eventuated.

Rob.

 

[Scruffy]

Use Beersmith - ports nicely to Linux/Wine.
Like BrewPal for iPhone (I've only run it on the SDK...).
Use Brewzor for Android (just a bunch of really practical tools like brewpal + brew day timers coming soon).
Also use BeerTools.com as a reference...

You could always open a spread sheet and type your own - i.e.

Utilization = (1.65*0.000125^(OG-1))*((1-2.72^(-0.04*Hop Boil Time))/4.14)

IBU = Utilization *(oz*(AA% / 100)* 7490) / Volume of Batch in Gallons

 

[hefevice]

Nothing works for a mac, only beer alchemy

....and BeerTools Pro (http://www.beertools.com)

 

[Screwtop]

I was a long time Promash user and Ive just started using BrewMate. I must say it seems to suit me very well. Rob has been very accomodating in the couple of changes I suggested.

I'll be giving it a real workout this weekend.

Thanks Rob

Beersmith user here but would like to echo Leary's comments. Brewing tomorrow, and really wish the step mash had been available in BrewMate as it is shaping up so very well. Never mind, Beersmith for tomorrow and roll on the step mash version :beer:

Screwy

 

[mercle]

+1 for beer smith

 

[user 10246]

Hey Guys,

I'm sure I saw recently some info about kit info to use in beersmith. Anyone remember or know where I could get them so I can use it for just kit brewing for now.

Thanks
Goldy