homebrewandbeer.com

As I move into partial mashing etc I thought I'd look at some of the software around to help with recipe generation etc. The two I've looked at are ProMash and BeerSmith, both seem good however I've noticed that while they carry details on grains, yeast, hops etc they don't have details for beer kits. For example if making a partial mash you can tell the s/ware which grains you are adding and which yeast but not what beer kit you are starting with.

That is unless you know the details of that kit, (expected gravities etc), Where can you get those details so that the software can be fully used? Also if you guys use these packages which do you find better? Both appear very similar to me in function etc but is one more widespread or easier to use etc?

cheers

Grabman

You might want to add qbrew, it's free.
http://www.usermode.org/code.html

cheers kitkat, will look at it this arvo!

have been searching for software myself and came across one called "Home Brew Log2". Looks like just what the doctor ordered.
http://www.djsoftware.co.nz/

What about "making it up as you go along" ?

Greg.

gregb wrote:What about "making it up as you go along" ?

Greg.

How do you mean Greg? I've got an xl sheet I use to track what I've done but I'm looking to go to next level.

Grabman

I go the spreadsheet for kits, but I've done one extract, and about to do another, and it's easier to keep track of ingredients with qbrew (for example) than with excel, in terms of user-friendliness and re-useability. Of course you can write everything down in word, but after a few brews it gets tiresome

Qbrew was the only program I found that was completely free. The author indicated to me when I asked that he was intending to support the BeerXML format, but I have no idea when the updated version will be out. The BeerXML format would allow someone to save a recipe from beersmith (for ex.) and then open it again in another program like promash or qbrew, ie. facilitate the exchange of recipes on the internet.

edit: link:
http://www.beerxml.com/

I use this

http://www.beertools.com/

Am in the process of building my own which will be more friendly towards kits (Why I was asking for the IBU's on kits earlier) although still allow the all grain and partial mashes. It will have a cost centre associated with it to (how much to make a batch) and allow you to store the recipies on file. (Using Access) Would also do strike calcs.

Dogger

Having looked at the software around I like BeerSmith for it's layout but as I referred to earliar and as Dogger and others just pointed out they don't allow for easy use of kits unless you know the IBU's etc for the kit. It would be great if companies put this info on their labels to help us out.

Would be interested to see you package Dogger when done

"Hey fun-boys, get a room !"

So what sort of things do all these "packages" do ? I mean I could download and find out, but it's easier this way. I'd be more interested in writing my own. That way I can take all that's good from each "package" and write it into my own.

Evo, all these packages provide a two main functions:

1) Acting as a log of brews you've made (I have an xl sheet that I use for this)

2) Allowing you to calculate/formulate recipes prior to the brew to get an idea of what dhould happen in terms of IBU's, % Alcohol, colour etc when you provide various grains, yeasts, hops etc

They then as an aside give extra features like mash time calculators, water profiles, databases of ingredients etc.

As I've said the main drawback I can see is that with hundreds of kits out there no one can list them all in their package. This means if using package to do an extract of partial brew with a kit included you have no idea of IBU's etc because kit makers don't show these details on their label. If they did all would be easy!

But hey if you want to write a package, sling a copy my way I'll be a beta tester for you

as an addition most packages have the beer guidelines incorporated, so you can check that your recipe for, say, a pale ale, falls within the guidelines. That's probably more useful if you want to enter competitions and the like, but even without that it's handy to check that extract recipe you got off the net, for example.

i use promash to check my calculations and it made my planning stage about 2 hours shorter, i was spending about 2/3 hours with my desighning great beers book and a pen some paper, now i can lock ratios and up the gravity wilst keeping an eye on the ibu`s and colour, it also has many guidlines foe eah style so you know ware your brew is going,

http://www.promash.com

beersmith. tried promash but couldn't figure out how to change the boil volume.. i found beersmith easier to use.

when i use kits i put it in as 1.7kg of LME & estimate the colour & bitterness of the kit & add to the end result..

instructions?????? its all there in the pull down menus, i find yu can alter absolutly anything you want and if your struggeling to figure out what each option thers a picture aided help screen you just click the ? button and it shows you with pictures what to do and wht it does,

you may have tryed and earlyer version or something cos its realy made for idiots, and i found beersmith less feature ritch and intuative,

just my oppinion but i think its the best proggy i found.

"you may have tryed and earlyer version or something cos its realy made for idiots" - jeez thanks munkey - what are you trying to tell me?

each to his own as you say..

db,

I'm not sure but I think you have been had

Dogger

Whoah !

Maybe I'll just stick to what I've got. Mash time calculators, water profiles etc are a bit superfluous to my needs at the moment.

IBU's and alcohol content I can understand, but do people REALLY brew to colour specs when they are making something to drink at home with mates ? Too much spare time I say. I can see one of my beer-pig mates refusing a glass due to it not being within guidelines.

Just my two bobs.

had?!..

evo, your probly right.. i do have too much time on my hands but i just find it interesting working with new grains etc. & knowing what colour your gonna get (it also gives recommended percentages of grain types). i never do a full boil either.. so beersmith helps by working out the ibu calculations (in relation to boil volume etc)... so i guess it actually saves time

having said that most of the mentioned programs do all of the above.. i just chose beersmith because i dont have a decent enough net connection to access beertools at home (that site has a great recipe database btw) & i prefered the screen setup & recipe printout over promash.. just my 2c

Digging this one out and dusting it off.

I've had a brief dabble in partial mash and later realised I'd missed a stage in the homebrewers curriculum - extract brewing. After a bit of eugooglizing, I came across beertools.com.

Gotta say, great site. A lot of content. Anyhoo, registered and had a bit of a go of the recipe generator. It fricken rocks. Definitely takes the guess work out of extract brewing.

I can even tell my mates that the beer they are swilling is within style guidelines.