Brewing Master

Question:

I’d like to see the reports come out a little different.  I really hate when anyone posts a ProMash recipe, it takes a ton of scrolling just to figure anything out they used in the batch.  A simple output of the grains, hops, etc should be fairly easy to implement, and then if they wanted the full printout, that could be available as well… If I am not mistaken Strangebrew’s XML/XSL approach means that you can alter the XSL (style sheet) to create your own layout for the reports.

That is true – there’s all kinds of data in the XML recipe file that doesn’t get displayed on the default report – if you know a bit of HTML/XSL you can easily make your own reports.  You can also generate a "Simple Report" which does exactly what Mike suggests above – a simple list of ingredients and some basic recipe data. The only big feature I find that SB has over Promash is that the measurements selector is not global.  In Promash you have to set either Metric or US and then it is global for everything.  On Strangebrew you set it on a per-ingredient basis which is the way I brew.  Most of my recipes will have X lbs of one grain, and Y grams of another, or an ounce of one hop and 35g of another. Whatever tickmark on the scale is closest when I measure is what I use. Most of the folks I know do this as well.

Thanks Alan.  There are several features that are unique to each application, but no-one has compiled a detailed feature-by-feature comparison of all the available apps out there.  The BYO article was more of an overview, thought I thought it wasn’t bad.  Just a couple of unique SB features, aside from the measurement handling you mention: a colour patch that approximates the colour of your beer, an automatic salt addition generator to simulate a brewing water profile, a "simple" recipe report, a brewday timeline report/checklist, and a list of styles that your recipe might match. I’m working on a couple of other interesting features for the next version, including an all-grain to extract recipe conversion wizard for those brewers (the majority, really) who work with extracts and partial mashes. Cheers! Drew

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We’re obviously still in the dark ages: none of the software anybody has suggested will actually *bottle* your beer for you.                                                -dlj.

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Anyone have a recommendations for a Windows software package to create recipes and track the brewing process? There seems to be very little out there. I prefer that the author is still supporting his/her software Right now I just need it for extract brews, but who knows where I’ll end up.

How about recommendations for Palm software?  This seems an ideal palm app… nothing to require a massive processor or tons of storage, and something that would greatly benefit from the ease of enterring data in "the field" so to speak… and also the ability to travel to club meetings, etc. with all your data at your fingertips…

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I agree the GUI isn’t standard but once you get the hang of it, it does everything I need and all the calculators or nice. I would like to see recipes stored in a database format. This would allow searching past batches to see what yeast or ingredients were used. Such a feature would help when planning a batch using ingredients on hand. You out there Jeffrey Donavan? — Bill Bufkin Homebrewing site  http://home.swbell.net/bufkin – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I just recently bought ProMash.  The User Interface isn’t intuitive in many areas and can be clunky until you have it figured out.  I’ve also found the software stubborn.  In some areas I had to "convince" it to do what I wanted because it is oriented towards more experience brewers.  For the newbie like myself it was very frustrating.  I’m getting a better hang of it now. It seems that a lot of people use it and swear by it. Scott

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I’ve been talking to my homebrew club about doing just that.  There’s a ton of local ingredients that aren’t in the default databases.  I’d also like to get some recipes in the database format to share with people. Scott

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I use bolth Promash and www.beertools.com

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – www.promash.com and www.strangebrew.ca are both pretty good

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Don’t forget Suds: http://oldlib.com/suds/index.html Todd – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Anyone have a recommendations for a Windows software package to create recipes and track the brewing process? There seems to be very little out there. I prefer that the author is still supporting his/her software Right now I just need it for extract brews, but who knows where I’ll end up.

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ProMash rocks www.promash.com – Bill Success lies in achieving the top of the food chain. — Jubal Harshaw, 1904-

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Anyone have a recommendations for a Windows software package to create recipes and track the brewing process? There seems to be very little out there. I prefer that the author is still supporting his/her software Right now I just need it for extract brews, but who knows where I’ll end up.

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While we’re on the subject does anyone know of any good brewing software for the Macintosh? Preferably OS X? I downloaded the trial version of BeerMeister X but it’s basically a recipe database with no calculators. I found an old freeware version of The Brewer’s Notebook that has everything, calculators, etc., but I really want something in OS X dammit! That’s what I get for "Thinking Different."

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Anyone have a recommendations for a Windows software package to create recipes and track the brewing process?

I use Promash, and have been very impressed by it. John. —                            *** John P. Kolesar ***                          *** Valley Mead Brewery ***

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While we’re on the subject does anyone know of any good brewing software for the Macintosh?

Can you read MS Excel spreadsheets? If so, get the spread sheet from Hubert’s site at http://www.netbeer.co.at/ cheers, -Alan

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.  The Recipator is an online calculator, which works well for extract batches.

An it works fine for AG as well… Cheers, Mike

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I agree the GUI isn’t standard but once you get the hang of it, it does everything I need and all the calculators or nice. I would like to see recipes stored in a database format. This would allow searching past batches to see what yeast or ingredients were used. Such a feature would help when planning a batch using ingredients on hand. You out there Jeffrey Donavan?

I’d like to see the reports come out a little different.  I really hate when anyone posts a ProMash recipe, it takes a ton of scrolling just to figure anything out they used in the batch.  A simple output of the grains, hops, etc should be fairly easy to implement, and then if they wanted the full printout, that could be available as well… Cheers, Mike

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You out there Jeffrey Donavan?

Here and listening. I would like to mention that the only GUI item not to follow a standard Windows interface is our main screen. If there are some UI elements users feel need improving, send the suggestions our way! We can’t fix what we don’t know is broken… Cheers! – Jeff

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Yes, I tend to agree.  I still haven’t figured out how to tell it to use a thermal mass of anything other than the default of zero (for a mash tun) as it is in every location that I used an uneditable field. Tom Veldhouse – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I just recently bought ProMash.  The User Interface isn’t intuitive in many areas and can be clunky until you have it figured out.  I’ve also found the software stubborn.  In some areas I had to "convince" it to do what I wanted because it is oriented towards more experience brewers.  For the newbie like myself it was very frustrating.  I’m getting a better hang of it now. It seems that a lot of people use it and swear by it. Scott

Response:

I’d like to see the reports come out a little different.  I really hate when anyone posts a ProMash recipe, it takes a ton of scrolling just to figure anything out they used in the batch.  A simple output of the grains, hops, etc should be fairly easy to implement, and then if they wanted the full printout, that could be available as well…

If I am not mistaken Strangebrew’s XML/XSL approach means that you can alter the XSL (style sheet) to create your own layout for the reports. The only big feature I find that SB has over Promash is that the measurements selector is not global.  In Promash you have to set either Metric or US and then it is global for everything.  On Strangebrew you set it on a per-ingredient basis which is the way I brew.  Most of my recipes will have X lbs of one grain, and Y grams of another, or an ounce of one hop and 35g of another. Whatever tickmark on the scale is closest when I measure is what I use. Most of the folks I know do this as well. cheers, -Alan www.bodensatz.com

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Yes, I tend to agree.  I still haven’t figured out how to tell it to use a thermal mass of anything other than the default of zero (for a mash tun) as it is in every location that I used an uneditable field. Tom Veldhouse

Go into "Options" when you first open it, then "System Settings", then "Mash System, Color, Evaporation". Set your default there. Ken A. — Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).

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Actually you can uncheck all the bells and whistle before printing a recipe with Promash.  I’ll take that as a hint and try and remember to do that in the future…;) — Bill Bufkin Homebrewing site  http://home.swbell.net/bufkin

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I agree the GUI isn’t standard but once you get the hang of it, it does everything I need and all the calculators or nice. I would like to see recipes stored in a database format. This would allow searching past batches to see what yeast or ingredients were used. Such a feature would help when planning a batch using ingredients on hand. You out there Jeffrey Donavan? I’d like to see the reports come out a little different.  I really hate when anyone posts a ProMash recipe, it takes a ton of scrolling just to figure anything out they used in the batch.  A simple output of the grains, hops, etc should be fairly easy to implement, and then if they wanted the full printout, that could be available as well… Cheers, Mike

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I like the UI it just takes a while to get used to, same as any software. — Bill Bufkin Homebrewing site  http://home.swbell.net/bufkin

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – You out there Jeffrey Donavan? Here and listening. I would like to mention that the only GUI item not to follow a standard Windows interface is our main screen. If there are some UI elements users feel need improving, send the suggestions our way! We can’t fix what we don’t know is broken… Cheers! – Jeff

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Or maybe Promash.  (grin) Pormash!! Charles McGough

If you are looking for a simple to use sw and don’t need it on your hard drive, the beer recipator at www.hbd.com is great.  I use it and just print out my formulated recipes.  They get pasted into my hard paper log.  Promash is a more thorough package and many people seem to use it.  It has a little more of a learning curve (and does a whole lot more than I need right now). Ed

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www.promash.com and www.strangebrew.ca are both pretty good

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I just recently bought ProMash.  The User Interface isn’t intuitive in many areas and can be clunky until you have it figured out.  I’ve also found the software stubborn.  In some areas I had to "convince" it to do what I wanted because it is oriented towards more experience brewers.  For the newbie like myself it was very frustrating.  I’m getting a better hang of it now. It seems that a lot of people use it and swear by it. Scott

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Pormash!! Charles McGough

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Anyone have a recommendations for a Windows software package to create recipes and track the brewing process? There seems to be very little out there. I prefer that the author is still supporting his/her software Right now I just need it for extract brews, but who knows where I’ll end up.

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I’d recommend ProMash, though Strangebrew comes highly recommended by others.  Both authors are active contributers to this NG.  The Recipator is an online calculator, which works well for extract batches. Regards Mike Sharp

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Anyone have a recommendations for a Windows software package to create recipes and track the brewing process? There seems to be very little out there. I prefer that the author is still supporting his/her software Right now I just need it for extract brews, but who knows where I’ll end up.

Response:

Anyone have a recommendations for a Windows software package to create recipes and track the brewing process? There seems to be very little out there. I prefer that the author is still supporting his/her software Right now I just need it for extract brews, but who knows where I’ll end up.

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