Brew Software Advice

[markp]

Hi,

I have two AG brews under my belt now, so I think I need to move on a little with my understanding of the process of recepie formulation and water tratment calculations etc.

Up to now I have used a couple of recepies from one of Wheelers books, the AG guide that BrewStew posted on the forum and mathematical help from the ever patient Aleman........and I've also been grateful of support from the chat room too :thumb:

So, my question is about brewing software......Beersmith, Promash etc etc.

I'd be grateful if people could post up some of their experiences with the software they are currently using......recommendations, ease of use etc etc. Not just limited to the two I mention above as I know there are more and am open to any of them at present.
I'm reasonably computer minded, but not overly so.

My aim with the software I purchase is to be able to get my water treatments correct for the style I am brewing, check recepie formulations, gain an understanding of bittering units and how to substitute different hops at the appropriate levels.
Please post anything you may think is of use and thanks in advance

 

[jamesb]

I use QBrew as it's simple and free. It doesn't however, have all the bells and whistles of Beersmith et al. I've been tempted lately to upgrade to either Promash or Beersmith. I use Promash occasionally for some of the tools and calculators, but I don't use it for recipes.

Best advice I can give is just to play around with them. They should all have trial periods where you can evaluate them and then you can settle with whichever one you feel comfortable with.

 

[Aleman]

This Online Calculator is pretty good, the developer is really quick at responding to any problems . . . usually user error.

There is a rumour that he is working on an online water calculator as well

I use promash a lot, and it is a great piece of software . . the one thing that counts against it is that the developer is no longer taking it further which is a shame. . . . but it suits me . . . although I do have a spreadsheet that I have with a tweaked version of Tinseths formula to calculate my hop additions . . . before putting the amounts into Promash . . . But that is because the formula consistently underestimates the IBU extraction on my system, so I end up with an under bittered wort.

 

[llannige]

After sampling various free trials,I went for Beersmith.Great value for the price and I must be honest I'm not all that computer literate,but find it very easy to use.

A brill asset to my set up. :thumb:

 

[markp]

This Online Calculator is pretty good, the developer is really quick at responding to any problems . . . usually user error.

There is a rumour that he is working on an online water calculator as well

I use promash a lot, and it is a great piece of software . . the one thing that counts against it is that the developer is no longer taking it further which is a shame. . . . but it suits me . . . although I do have a spreadsheet that I have with a tweaked version of Tinseths formula to calculate my hop additions . . . before putting the amounts into Promash . . . But that is because the formula consistently underestimates the IBU extraction on my system, so I end up with an under bittered wort.

Glad I posed the question.......you learn something new every day they say, and I didn't realise the database was editable
The author sounds like an okay guy ......particularly if he's looking at getting a water treatment calculator going

Thanks for the other responses.....that's just the type of thing I'm looking for.

 

[Varnish]

I like Beer engine.
I found beersmith a little complicated, and Qbrew is a bit clunky.

Mostly I like the the fact it's free.

 

[EskiBrew]

There is a rumour that he is working on an online water calculator as well

Ok, twist my arm :lol:
I have enabled it tonight - click on the Calculators button in the header and then you will see it in the Quick Links near the top of the page. It is in beta test at the moment...

 

[Wez]

Well done EB, hats off to you. Must have taken loads of time, i'm sure it will be well recieved by the forum!

Check it out guys :clap:

 

[EskiBrew]

Thanks Wez, I've posted more details in the "Grain, Hops, Yeast and Water" forum. :

 

[markp]

There is a rumour that he is working on an online water calculator as well

Ok, twist my arm :lol:
I have enabled it tonight - click on the Calculators button in the header and then you will see it in the Quick Links near the top of the page. It is in beta test at the moment...

Looks just the job eskimobob :clap:
Hopefully I'll be giving it a trial run at the weekend.

I decided to purchase Beersmith in the end.
I'm still working through it.......if someone could clarify on the following I would be very grateful.

I want to take part in Forum Brew III - Big Kenny.
Grain Bill:
Pale 97%
Dark Crystal Malt 1.5%
Roasted Barley 1.5%
Choc Malt 0.5%
Tor. Wheat at up to 5%

I can not get Beersmith to recognise in units of anything less than 200g or 250g......thus, the minimum inclusions I can get for the crystal, the roasted barley and the choc are all around the 5% mark for the brew length I want.
The only way I can get the ratios correct, is by using a massive brew length or by having an OG that would floor an elephant.
Does anyone have any idea what I might be doing wrong? Are my settings up the spout?
I thought that I would just be able to specify the percentage and it would magically work everything out?.........perhaps it does/can??

ATB

 

[Varnish]

Tools
Options
Units

Set grain/extract ingredient increment to 0.1 for increase of 100g,
or 0.05 for increase of 50g.

 

[markp]

Tools
Options
Units

Set grain/extract ingredient increment to 0.1 for increase of 100g,
or 0.05 for increase of 50g.

What a guy Varnish, thank you :thumb:
I was hoping it would be something as straight forward as that. Thanks again.