Looking for Software Recommendations

[sullydavid]

Hi all. My name's Dave.....and I am soon to be a brewaholic.

I am new to the board here but have really enjoyed reading it the last day or two. I did some really basic brewing (straight boil and ferment kit) about 5 years ago and ended up getting deployed (love the military life) and had to abandon the hobby before I got too much into it. Anyway, I have gone out and purchased the equipment I need to do what most of the books refer to as "intermediate" brewing. Starting the first batch this Saturday :D

Well, enough of the introduction and on to my question.

I am looking for some software recommendations for tracking some recipies as well as calculating values for some new creations. I don't plan on really getting into any of the all-grain type brewing. I have looked at several packages, some listed here: http://hbd.org/brewery/Software.html I am not sold on any particular product nor have I ruled any out.

Suds seemed ok to just store basic recipies but not much more.
ProMash seemed like a decent product, but several of the features are disabled on the shareware version.
HBRCP didn't really excite me too much.
StrangeBrew seemed to be the most complete package (or maybe ProMash).


I am sure that all of them are better than what I have....which is just a notebook. I am also sure that given the time to work with each of the products they would work for me. I just hate to devote a lot of time/energy/money into an inferior product if there is something out there that "all the cool brewers" use. I can't say that money isn't an object, but I also have no problems paying for a solid product if it offers more than freeware.

Thanks for sharing any experiences you may have.

Dave the Newbie

[Fast_Eddy]

Welcome back Dave (to homebrewing that is).....have a looksie at

http://hbd.org/cgi-bin/recipator/recipator

It's pretty cool for free.

I've been seriously considering ProMash for myself.

[quantum24]

this is not something that i have really looked into...but i have used beertools.com to help me formulate brews. thay have a recipe generator and calculator that seems to work pretty well. but im not sure this is what you are looking for. hope it helps

[b3s]

i have to second the homebrew digest's recipator online application. i use it all the time and it is quite good in terms of calculating ibu, hcu, and alcohol content. my only wish is that their database was a touch more extensive, but you can tweak the ppg for all grain recipes.

[YamahaXS]

I posted a thread about software about a week ago. No one REPLIED! *boohoo* :D Anyways, the thread contains several links to various software sites... hope it helps.

thread (http://www.realbeer.com/discussions/showthread.php?s=&threadid=653)

[Tweek]

I use promash. I have tried some others but keep returning to promash. The free ones are good cause they are free and will get the job done. Promash is nice cause it is a professional level application available to end users. It also has a help forum and you have the ability to download updates as well as some recipes.

[Fast_Eddy]

With that recommendation from Tweek, I'm sold.

I'm gonna buy ProMash this weekend.

[Tweek]

here is the one down side to Promash IMO, and it is well worth getting through this in order to use it. When you go buy promash from the store you have to wait a few hours after you register it in order to download the updates. basically he has to get your name and password info sorted. It is just a brewer that wrote this program and not some big company. If you buy it online, same thing. So no instant gratification, which I am a nut for instant grat. but it is well worth the few hours wait. and the guy is extremely helpfull he has always answered my questions in a thourough and timely manner.

I know youll be happy with it. Cheers!

[homebrewaddict]

I have tried Promash and a couple of the other softwares out there, and the one I find most useful is one that a buddy of mine at work made. It is only an Excel spreadsheet, but it is fairly decent. It is very good at predicting the OG (within 2 points most of the time) and it is also good at doing misc. stuff like calories, price per 6-pack. You can find it online at www.jaysbrewing.com. It is under the "Beer Links" page. It is a small, free file and is worth checking out.

[Dougw]

Hi Dave,
Upon reading your enquiry on homebrew software please have a look at Home Brew Log and let me know what you think. the first version was released about 1996, the program has proven popular downunder here in New Zealand and Australia. From time to time the program will be updated with enhancements, new features and patches if required, all these will be free to registered users. It is also supported via e-mail. A free trial is available from: http://www.djsoftware.co.nz
Happy Brewing and Cheers,
Doug Williams