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@carrot

Yea, it looks like there's a way to incorporate single sign on with UserVoice, but you've got to pay for a monthly plan. I'm footing the bill for this project for now, so I'm trying to keep costs down :). Maybe if I introduce a "premium supporter"-esque plan in the future, I'll look into better integration w/ UserVoice.
 
@Wingfan

To get something out the door, I decided to not support IE (due to the significant number of edge cases and little bugs it introduces into the picture). I may add support for it in the future, but for now, I've opted to only support Firefox, Safari, Chrome, Opera (basically, non-IE).
 
Wingfan13 said:
Is IE8 not supported ? I get the message when I go to login about the fresh browser.
Click to expand...

Look at is a good opportunity to try out a better browser :) Although,if you're stuck at work/other venue where you can't install Chrome/FF, then that's a downer.

i heart chrome, amazingly fast.
 
I developed this on a Mac, so I'd say so - I actually don't own a real Windows machine.

Because it's in your browser, it should work nicely on almost any desktop operating system (Windows, Apple OSX, Linux) using a recent browser (Safari, Firefox, Opera, Chrome). I won't promise anything regarding your phone :).

The only browser I've explicitly excluded (for now) is Microsoft Internet Explorer.
 
BTW, just so it's clear on an earlier Firefox version note, the 3.6.X line is still being actively maintained by Mozilla. You shouldn't call out 3.6 specifically as older, but check against Mozilla's site to see if the end user's 3.6 minor version is old. As of today 3.6.23 is the latest: http://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/all-older.html -- though you are correct in assuming it's going to go away soon.

Your site is looking really good, giving my copy of Beer Alchemy a run for its money. I just learned that BA 2.0 will require Lion to be installed, which won't be happening for me any time soon. Best to start my move to a web-based solution. :)
 
Which raises another point: if something happens, and you can no longer host the site, will this be something which the user community could have migrated to another maintainer? I always look for ways to continue projects if I can't finish them, give people an "out" for their data, at least.
 
@torque2k

Valid point on FF 3.6. It's hard to keep up these days with their version numbers changing (what seems) weekly :).

In the event that I no longer maintain this in the future, I plan to provide the source to another maintainer. I might even open source it so that anybody can do with it as they wish.

Also, I'm currently working on BeerXML export so that if people want to, they can get their recipe data out.
 
I don't know if you're actively developing with Firefox or Safari. In Firefox 3.6.x, under 10.6, I see some odd display justification on the lefthand side. See the attached pics. The Fermentation section displays properly in Safari 5, but not FF. I haven't tried on my other Mac (running 10.6 with FF 7), but I'll try that later, see if it's an issue with the 3.6 series only.

Screen shot 2011-10-01 at 12.41.10 PM.jpg


Screen shot 2011-10-01 at 12.42.07 PM.jpg
 
rpetrello said:
@torque2k

In the event that I no longer maintain this in the future, I plan to provide the source to another maintainer. I might even open source it so that anybody can do with it as they wish.

Also, I'm currently working on BeerXML export so that if people want to, they can get their recipe data out.
Click to expand...
Both points are great news! If you're not asking for money, you should. This is a great start to a site, and the fact that you regularly let us know what bugs have been fixed and when new features pop up, shows you're a true professional who cares about your work. Thank you!
 
@torque2k

While the service is in beta, it's going to be totally free. I haven't determined how long the beta period will last yet, though it'll likely be for some time to come.

In the long term, I hope for *most* of the app to remain free, or maybe include some form of timed trial. I'm afraid that restricting access to recipe creation too much will stifle the community aspect of it, so I want to be careful. As you can see, I haven't really determined how I want to monetize it yet. I'm not aiming to make a notable profit from this; I primarily just want to cover my operating expenses. I've also considered donations, but in my experience, nobody really donates to free software (at least, not enough to matter).

In the end, there will definitely be some form of incentive for having participated in beta, though I'm unsure of what that is yet.

My biggest goal right now is just to build a really useful software package.
 
You are off to a really good start.
You mentioned beer.xml export.
What about beer.xml import. We have lots of recipes in other apps.We already had to type those in once.
Is this feasible? I could see where it might be tough to match things up in your database of ingredients.
But on the other had it would encourage me to contribute to the site if I don't have to type them in again.
 
@nate

Yep, import is planned at some point, too. I just planned to do export first because it's a lot easier (for the reason you mentioned). The hard part about the BeerXML standard is that ingredients (hops, fermentables, yeast), etc... are all really just random strings. Since DraughtCraft has a set of ingredients (which I think is important for a community-driven app like this), it's kind of difficult to correlate ingredients in imports (that could come from anywhere) with the set list of ingredients in DraughtCraft. At the very least, there would probably need to be some form of import wizard that let you map imported ingredients to ones in DraughtCraft (and made good estimated guesses to get as close as it could).

It's on my radar, though :).
 
I think an import map would be essential, similar to how most contact managers (like Outlook, Thunderbird, Address Book, etc.) do this. They make decent first guesses, but ultimately it's up to the end user to fine tune it.

As for donations, think of how HomeBrewTalk does this, with the Premium Supporter tag. $25/year is not too much to ask. Figure you normally upgrade your software once every two years, and something like this would normally be $40-50 for a license... $20/year wouldn't be too much to handle for most homebrewers.

Some options for supporters: picture uploads attached to recipes, a voting system which only applies to recipes by supporters, a different print layout, maybe even a "call me" button on supporters' recipes (contact the creator for hints, recipe mods, etc).
 
Another display issue in FF, and a couple of requests...

First, the requests. Let's say I add an item, like Briess Light Liquid Extract. I later decide I wish to change that to DME (maybe I need more mouthfeel). Would it be possible to click on the item in the recipe and, instead of getting more info about it, have the Extract items list pop up so I could pick DME instead? Maybe have the info off to the side in a little info icon instead? AND, if I DO do something like the above, could the site flag me and say, "Changing from LME to DME will affect the OG of the wort. Would you like to change the amount?"

EDIT: Also, how do you call out which fermentables are steeped? I only see the option to Boil...

Second, in the Hops section, could we have more times? 5 minutes as the last addition leaves some room for more additions. I like to have 1 minute, as well, maybe others would like 2 minutes?

Also in the Hops section, I note that, when I add another hop addition, it gets mixed in with the existing ones (probably because you are defaulting to 60 minutes, so that's the sort order). Maybe you can put it at the bottom of the list, and highlight it (or frame it) while it's being added?

Finally, attached is a pic of the initial recipe entry page in FF 3.6. Things are floating all over the place! :tank:

EDIT: Also, the Boil and Ferment sections are showing on the same page, and adding yeast is not working. After firing up Safari, I now see why; in FF, when I click on Ferment, I get nothing, so no yeast options show up. Safari shows it correctly.

Otherwise, I really enjoyed adding my first recipe. Everything seemed to be there, once I go into Safari.

Screen shot 2011-10-01 at 2.27.01 PM.jpg
 
Can we have our nickname show on the recipe instead of our full name (if we've filled that part of our profile out)? I like people to see my nick, which I use here...

EDIT: Also, can you make the large FEEDBACK button larger, and flash red and yellow, for idiots like me?! Sorry, I didn't even think to post these reports that way. My bad. :)
 
OK, I did find a good reason for using this forum: I wasn't able to upload screenshots of the interface to UserVoice. :)

See attached. This is Google Chrome in OS X 10.6.8 on the left, overlapped with FF 7.0.1 on the right. Chrome version looks tight; FF version looks all loosey goosey, even though I've enlarged each browser's window to the same size.

Screen shot 2011-10-01 at 5.29.24 PM.jpg
 
I think an important thing also is to be able to comment on the recipe's and link to your personal adjusted recipe's too. Something like a matrix of changes would be kinda neat but not required.

Also, the ability to comment on others recipes (but moderated by the recipe creator) would be helpful in a similar vein to the above suggestion.

Also, I think that'd be nice to have something where if you're stuck for a yeast that you can create a "suggest a yeast" button from other users. So, right now you have a listing in find recipes but I found a recipe without a yeast chosen, maybe a listing for unfinished or incomplete?

Possibly a user finder :) ? And the ability to "move" a recipe to another user, just in case they weren't on the site to begin with but you know they came up with it and when they do join you can give them the recipe without loosing stats.

I also think $20 a year would be worth it with a bit more tweaking. What I think is great is that you keep the interface nice and clean but allow those with more experience to have additional tools at their disposal, maybe and "advanced" interface?

And when I view my own recipes to see how it looks printed, the "views" goes up. Maybe this will lead to artificial stats? I don't know if this was requested but perhaps the ability to sort by final gallon size of recipe; ie 1-4,5-9,10 and up?

Oh and thanks Ryan for all your hard work!!
 
I was thinking about it today and perhaps a great asset might be metrics of recipes that say they are a certain style/substyle. For instance what if I want to brew a pale ale but I'm unsure of the amount of malt for a 10 gal batch, the site could suggest that I use between X and XX lbs of base balt, showing my boundaries based on other user recipes that say they are pale ales.

OR maybe if you're doing a stout to suggest adjuncts/specialty grains based on other user recipes. The great thing is that the more recipes there are the more metrics you can gather to fine tune the amounts.

Oh and more on the "suggest a yeast", perhaps marker on the recipe that says "incomplete" but also says "suggest XXXXXX" whether it be a malt, hop, yeast, other for other users to help out with. PM would be helpful with that too or a special "notes to recipe creator" area?

I don't know just thoughts :)
 
rpetrello, while I've just gotten into home brewing I've been a web developer for a rather long time. If you need any help just let me know. By guess I'd say you're probably using Django or RoRs and I can help with either or just on HTML/CSS if needed.
 
I apologize for my complete lack of understanding of brewing software, but is this good for a beginner that has, ahem, never used brewing software ever? I'm still in single digits in number of batches, and all but one have been extract kits, the most recent using someone's recipe and partial mash. A big reason why is I really don't know where to start in taking 'the next step' in creativity and manipulation.
 
natewv said:
I apologize for my complete lack of understanding of brewing software, but is this good for a beginner that has, ahem, never used brewing software ever? I'm still in single digits in number of batches, and all but one have been extract kits, the most recent using someone's recipe and partial mash. A big reason why is I really don't know where to start in taking 'the next step' in creativity and manipulation.
Click to expand...

This software is basic and really so far only good for sharing. If you want help with what amount of water to use for mashing and boiling etc. along with changing bittering and color etc use Beersmith 2. Or some other.
Beersmith 2 seems to be easier for someone new to creating or starting with a good recipe and changing it to what you like.
That is where I am at the moment. Still trying to figure it all out.
It shows you graphically what is happening to your beer as you change ingredient amounts. Which is really helpful when you are not totally sure what will happen when you reduce or increase certain grains or hops.
 
Thought of a few more really small suggestions:

1. on the Ferment tab, when you add dry hops, the drop-down has two options - add them to primary or secondary. What about a "keg" option for keg hopping?
2. a petition to add Wyeast 1764 Pacman Ale yeast to the list - there are online places that do sell it year-round and it seems like lots of people use it as a house yeast

Thanks!
 
nate456789 said:
This software is basic and really so far only good for sharing. If you want help with what amount of water to use for mashing and boiling etc. along with changing bittering and color etc use Beersmith 2. Or some other.
Beersmith 2 seems to be easier for someone new to creating or starting with a good recipe and changing it to what you like.
That is where I am at the moment. Still trying to figure it all out.
It shows you graphically what is happening to your beer as you change ingredient amounts. Which is really helpful when you are not totally sure what will happen when you reduce or increase certain grains or hops.
Click to expand...

I think the simplicity is its biggest strength. It is excellent for sketching out ideas. I disagree that BeerSmith is easier. I've used it pretty extensively and I would contest that for a beginner, BeerSmith is a lot to take in all at once.

This software also does an equally nice job at showing you what the result will be in your recipe if you change variables - it's all right at the bottom. If you want a tool to try to tailor itself to your exact equipment and mash profiles and water and inventories and all that - then there are certainly better tools, but I don't think that's what this is trying to be.

:mug:
 
@Burgs

My thoughts exactly (on your analysis). Also, I'll catalogue your feedback.
 
This may have been answered.. but..

When I click on one of the tabs such as Extract or All Grain, etc.. I would assume they would do a sort and just show the specific types. I seem to get the same list no matter what. I did find out that if I click on Extract the major list comes up, I think All Styles.. but then I click on AG and MM and they then go dark, leaving only the Extract.

Am I doing something wrong or is there a setting I need to change?

Thanks, Bill
 
I just put my first recipe in and I am really liking this. There were 2 things that came to mind when I added a pale ale.

Could you put an option in for defaulting to Pellet hops. I never use leaf and right now that is default.
I also would like to see a 0min hop addition for flame out hops.

Thanks
 
Choosing pellets as default would be cool - I agree! Could go in the preferences where the default can be set for all-grain/extract?
 
Great ideas and feedback, everyone!

I'm currently on working out some performance optimizations on my hosting platform as part of the next update. Once I'm done with it, I'll be posting a list of new features and tweaks at:

http://blog.draughtcraft.com/
 
I like to use Palisade hops and I didn't see them in the ingredient list. I was also playing with an amber ale recipe and didn't see pale chocolate malt on there. Thanks!
 
Great idea. The other software providers are OK, but suffer from clunky interfaces and horrendous time wasters in terms of additions/copies, changes to IBU, etc. Perhaps their biggest fault is that they are installed software!

I've always felt that there was a niche for a service provider/cloud solution but never got off my butt-kudos to you for trying. I hope you make a million dollars.

Some ideas:
-No one seems to be able to predict dextrin formation as a function of mash temp...I know, I know too many variables. But even getting a bead on dextrin formation has a lot to do with F.G. and we're all concerned about that!
-Export/Import? XML, didn't see it anywhere?
-Perhaps add in a few tooltips so people know what to enter in certain fields. One of my issues with the 'other guys' is that the mash schedule is a bit hard to figure out exactly what they are asking.
-Mobile device integration--again the 'other guys' don't seem to have this..as a hosted service should be easy enough for us to store XML files and for you to serve them in mobile java applet.
-Final SRM (glass icon) could be a bit clearer. I would love to see a real looking glass with color, but this seems to be a wishlist I've always had

Anyway, good stuff...keep it up.
 
I was looking at BeerSmith 2 and your site. Side by side the info I get when looking at style guide lines is prity close. I made sure to select like ingredients and AA and the such. I like your descriptions of the ingredients more than BeerSmith. Yours are more descriptive :) Guess I won't purchase BeerSmith, will let the trial run out.
 
Any thoughts on scaling the site for use on a mobile device?
This could be handy for brew day.
It is pretty easy to add to blog sites.
when the site sees a mobile device it automatically changes template.
Is your site as flexible?
 

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