Which Software to purchase

[Reverend JC]

Ok, I have read the discussions between two or so programs, but here I would like to include the three I am thinking about getting.
Im not sure what to do.

I like the ease of promash, but the detail of beer tools pro. Beer smith I have only slightly played around with.

What would you do if you were about to purchase one program?

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

Bobby_M is the BTP guru here and I think he's got a few tutorials for it. And I am convinced he is the only existing user that understands and can trust it. :cross:

Personally, I think BS is a nice median combination of BTP and PM. But, if PM ever see's a decent update I'll be going back to that.

 

[HairyDogBrewing]

I don't have any experience with the first two.
I bought BeerSmith because the it came in first in the last
"which software" poll.

I know this doesn't help you,
but now I can keep track of this thread for future reference.

 

[flyangler18]

I really enjoy using BTP; it gives me the attention to detail that my OCD requires.

 

[The Pol]

I have tried them all (trial) in the past day or so and ProMash is the ONLY one that I could create a recipe with and calculate my water AND mash volumes with in 15 minutes.

I STILL cannot get BTP to do a fly sparge.

My issues with BeerSmith are these:

My "Water Needed" tool on the left never updated when I changed my grains or mash.

Under MASH and DETAILS... the "Tun Volume Required" ONLY calculates the WATER volume, not the MASH volume and the true "tun volume required" for the mash.

It calculates boil off as a %... which is like calculating beer color based on the moon phase. Boil off is never a %, it is always a constant, I have no idea why anyone would calculate it as a %.

ProMash is the only software trial that updated continuously and that would calucualte water and mash volumes automatically with little or no intervention. Running a HERMS, I need to be able to nail down my water and mash volumes to within a quart.

 

[ArcaneXor]

Pol,

something is wrong with your configuration or installation of BeerSmith. It calculates the required tun volume just fine for me, matching the various online calculators out there.

As for the water needed tool, I haven't used it, but I think the tools are just standalone calculators that don't interact with the recipe. The BrewSheet will tell you how much water you need for a specific recipe.

What bugs me is that when you tell it that you are doing a late extract addition, it still adds the late addition when it figured the pre-boil gravity. I hope that gets fixed with the next release.

I found BeerSmith to be much more intuitive and useful than BeerTools Pro. I haven't tried ProMash, but I believe it hasn't been updated in quite some time. I prefer to support software that is being actively improved and developed.

P.S. I am using the trial version, but I just ordered my registration key from Amazon.com. Hopefully they'll send it out soon.

 

[The Pol]

Well, ProMash calcualtes my water needed automatically, which is very important with how my HERMS operates. Thier trial version also, after creating a few recipes, has no noticeable glitches, which is more than I can say about the other two software choices. Heck, BTP 1.5 I spent 3 hours trying to do JUST a fly sparge, still no luck... so I give up. If it is that hard, it should be free. Hell in three hours I can make $210 at work, and they want $22 for the software that in three hours I cannot even get to work? heh no.

I dont know why my BeerSmith wont calculate things correctly, but obviously if I cannot do it with the trial version, I am not going to drop $22 HOPING that it will work in the real version.

I dont like that the tools on the left dont auto update with my recipe changes.. and the boil off thing seems elementary to me.

If this is a situation of the trial is not the same as the REAL version, that is too bad for them, because I wont drop a dime on something HOPING that the real version will work better.

 

[Boerderij_Kabouter]

I like Beersmith the best of those listed. It just made the most sense to me.

 

[McKBrew]

I have BTP and for what I use it for it works. However I am only doing the recipe design functions with it, and I haven't had the time to sit down and play with the advanced features like inventory and equipment, or to watch Bobby's videos.

If I did it over again, I think I'd go with Brewsmith, because it seems more widely backed and the developer is a member here at HBT as well.

 

[Denny's Evil Concoctions]

I haven't uses BTP yet. I havve PM and BS. PM seriosly needs an update, but I doubt they ever will. Sad, it looks like 1980's software.

I am waiting for beersmith update.. a major update that is, with all the siggestions added to it. (see there forum...) No word when that will happen.

 

[thedude123]

"Working on V2.0 of BeerSmith now, which is basically a complete rewrite of the program on a cross platform base (Windows and Mac). Its a large project - but my hope is I might be able to wrap it up for a fall release. No promises yet...still much to do.

Brad"

This is what the guy said about an update for beersmith.

 

[TwoHeadsBrewing]

BeerSmith seems like the best solution for the following reasons:

1. Price - $21.95 is a bargain for this product.
2. Interface - a much better interface that either ProMash(yikes!), or BeerTools Pro (some areas are just hideous).
3. Functionality - Recipes, BJCP Guidelines, Ingredients, Mash Schedules, Equipment Definitions, Brew Log, Calendar, Inventory, etc.

Bottom line: BeerSmith has all the tools I need to get me from recipe design to glass. And it manages to do that with a decent, pretty intuitive interface. It could certainly use some new features and overall polish in some areas, but for $22 I'm not expecting an enterprise-level application.

Jeez...is it just me or does ProMash have the worst interface ever???

 

[The Pol]

I cant find a single one of these that will do what I want....

I am really pissed that BeerSmith apparently does not work in the trial version... because I have no idea if it is worth it for me or not.

Promash has not been updated in YEARS
Strangebrew looks like it has been abandoned
BTP is just a mess of an application
BeerSmith, in MY trial version wont update any of the calculations automatically among other things. OMG... I am pulling, well I have no hair, disregard!

 

[The Pol]

I have BTP and for what I use it for it works. However I am only doing the recipe design functions with it, and I haven't had the time to sit down and play with the advanced features like inventory and equipment, or to watch Bobby's videos.

If I did it over again, I think I'd go with Brewsmith, because it seems more widely backed and the developer is a member here at HBT as well.

Who is the member that created BTP? Maybe HE can tell me how to get a fly sparge out of the darned thing... no one else seems to know how.

 

[vfinch]

I tried a few programs and went with Beersmith for it's layout, inventory features and ease of use. It also works great on my old-ass laptop under Linux using Wine

 

[ajf]

I like Promash.
It may not be as pretty as the other two, but it does most of the things that I (and I suspect most other amateur users) want it to, and a whole lot more, and it comes with an excellent tutorial that shows you how to get started.
What I really like about it however is that after reading the tutorial, and taking a few minutes browsing the menu bar, it is very easy to use. The other two may have some more bells and whistles, but first you need to work out how to ring or blow them.
Just look at the number of posts in this forum asking how to do things in BTP or BS, and compare that to the number of questions on Promash usage.

-a.

 

[The Pol]

ProMash has EXCELLENT tutorials built in, I will say that!

 

[The Pol]

Okay, I am sold, after about 5 hours of messin' I am going to get BeerSmith, I have all 20 of my malts, my yeast and spices loaded in the inventory...

I am good to go.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

ProMash is excellent at it's core. I do love the layout, the interactivity (autofill), and the floating tools. My copy has some quirky bugs that effect notes and such. Aside from an antique interface it really is still a perfectly solid tool.

The other guys just have more, cool new features.

There are only two things I love about BTP. The designers actually listen to owners and read the forum suggestions. And units of measure are selectable on a field by field basis. I do wish BS had that!

Oh and yeah the % boil off thing is, .

 

[BierMuncher]

Software preference is driven heavily by initial exposure. Like any new video game, once you're past the strangeness, it becomes more familiar and user friendly. After a few hours of dicking around...you're invested.

I use Beersmith but cannot attest to its advantages because I have not given the other programs enough of my time to judge them against Beersmith.

That said, BSmith is where I start all my recipes and having won a few medals in comps, I can't say ther's any reason to doubt it.

 

[AFAJ Brew Guy]

"Working on V2.0 of BeerSmith now, which is basically a complete rewrite of the program on a cross platform base (Windows and Mac). Its a large project - but my hope is I might be able to wrap it up for a fall release. No promises yet...still much to do.

Brad"

This is what the guy said about an update for beersmith.

That would be awesome, back when I was PC user I used and really liked BS. I was sad when I found out that it would not run natively in OS X. Right now I use BTP just because I liked some of the added functionality over Beer Alchemy. I like BTP and every time I use it seems to get easier and more intuitive.

 

[Reverend JC]

I had a chance to play around with the programs. BTP is a bit cumbersome. Promash is so easy to use, but, as has been stated multiple times not updated frequently. I have been playing with beersmith (at work) and am starting to lean that way.

I am having some difficulty trying to get my water volumes all measured out for a fly sparge. Promash will tell me approx: how much water to use so im not trying to heat much more than I will need.

Anyone know how to do this with beersmith?

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

I don't let BS tell me my water needed but it does have a tool on the left side for that.

Also, when you are adding your mash steps one of the data fields is for water ratio. If you are polaying with the pre-designed mash profiles you may have to to go in and adjust that field to your liking.

Hope this helps. Also, the BeerSmith support section has a downloadable pdf of the manual but, it's lacking, IMO.