Price: $30.00
Pros: built for the mac; willing to refund money
Cons: calculators aren't as accurate as other programs; coding problem with units when switching between plato and SG; recipes fail to update; customer service rude
Recommended? No

Comments: Would have rated this program as average, as there is nothing exceptionable about the software. In my experience, the calculators are probably not as accurate as other programs, nor the interface consistent with the intuitive nature of mac products. Also, the sync app for your iPhone displays adds, despite paying for the program. I am glad I got my money back.

Pros: Great toolset, native mac all nice
Cons: A little confusing for a newb like me
Recommended? Yes

Comments: I would like to see more help on this product, It seems like there are just two topics, but maybe I should read it from start to finish. I do get how to use it fairly well now after playing around a lot, but I still think there's more power to it I may be missing. I also tried to import some recipes and some of the ingreds didn't exist, so I wasn't quite sure what to do.. I could import them, but it didn't seem to ask for information on what impact that item may have on the SG or whatnot of the brew. Bulk import would be nice too. BUT those are all tiny nitpicky things, overall it rocks.

Price: $30.00
Recommended? Yes

Comments: I like the software. There are a couple of things that I haven't figured out whether it is a software deficiency or my lack of practice (capturing a split fermentation plus a few others) and I haven't had time to ask many questions to judge the support level. I would have liked to try it side by side with beer tools pro, but BTP did not have a trial period. Oh Well.

Pros: Designed for OS X, feels like OS X, easy to use, exports to ProMash, PDF,HTML
Cons: finding what you need not always intuitive
Recommended? Yes

Comments: The biggest plus for me (like other users) is that Beer Alchemy is native OSX. I wanted to get ProMash, but since there isn't a version for OSX, that would have meant running ProMash on a Windows simulator. YUK! What self-respecting Mac user wants to run a Windows simulator if they have an OS X native alternative?

I'm brewing with someone using ProMash, so we were both excited to find that Beer Alchemy can be used to export recipes directly to the ProMash format (.rec, a recipe file), as well as .pdf, .html, and XML.

Comparing to ProMash (since my friend and I are using them alongside each other), the DB of ingredients could be bigger, but adding your own is easy enough. We've come up with pretty much the same results for each recipe we've created in both programs, and we seem to be able to go back and forth easily.

As far as negatives (counterintuitive calculators), I think that's a drawback to most software: the way you or I want to do things isn't always how someone else (the programmer) does them. I'm glad to hear the developer is so responsive (this has been my experience with other OSX developers as well!).

I've been using it for extract brewing only so far, and it has been fine- no reason to expect otherwise really! I am excited to see how it works with AG as we make the switch!

Pros: I like the Mac "feel" of it. I like matching my recipes to my system to the BJCP standards.
Cons: Well, it's not perfect, but it is close.
Recommended? Yes

Comments: If you're a Mac user, get Mac native software. The Windows stuff is always so darn clunky. I can't say enough good stuff about this software. I can only ech what the previous two guys said.

Cheers

Pros: feels like a Mac app, not a Mac-version of a PC app; excellent recipe editor; great Brew Day log(s)
Cons: more flexibility in the Mash Editor, i.e. duplicate some of the Brew Day features there
Recommended? Yes

Comments: Outstanding product. If you are a long-time Mac user, or a zealous recent convert, this is the only homebrewing app that feels like a native OS X app, because it is. And, it happens to do just about everything you'll need.

Although, I would like some of the features/calculators to be placed (redundantly, I concede) with other features. For example: I'd like the water/grain ratio feature in the Mash Editor as well as in the Brew Day. I might even suggest a "Sparge Editor" to be placed within the Mash Editor, though most, not all, sparging-related calculators are found elsewhere. And, well, a couple of similar things like that. But, the features you need are all there. Perhaps I just think of things out of order, and am looking for them in the wrong place.

Yet, even when I fire off an e-mail questiong this-or-that, I receive a same-day reply every time from Steve. When considering the time difference (he is UK-based; I'm in the US), I'm doubly impressed.

Not sure about the AG bias over extract. I've entered a few extract w/grain recipes...the numbers look fine. PM is also an option.

At first, I was hesitant to buy Beer Alchemy, hoping instead for a demo of Beer Tools Pro to be released before I made a decision. Well, I'm glad I didn't wait. I'm sure BTP is equally capable, but this is an OS X app written by a homebrewing Mac user, who happens to be very obliging and helpful. You can tell the difference.

Price: $29.95
Pros: Works on a Mac, very intuitive, easy unit conversion & scaling, EXCELLENT customer support
Cons: Designed for AG, not extract brewing
Recommended? Yes

Comments: Seems like great software so far -- I've only used it for a couple recipes. Best brewing software I've seen for the Mac. The unit conversion & calculators are great. It supports importing & exporting recipes from other software, and exporting HTML to post on the web.

The software seems to be designed for AG brewing, and since I've only used extracts there seems to be a few features I don't use. But, that's not a big problem.

I can't say enough good things about the customer support. The developer is VERY responsive to feature requests.