BeerSmith - BeerTools - Promash. - Which is best? What do you have? - Page 12

vincemash · 08-12-2010, 02:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by petep1980

I have used beersmith and promash(just the demo) and so far I much prefer Promash, so much so I ordered it online yesterday even though it hasn't been updated in 7-years.

I do not like though in Promash how you have to create a recipe before you can create a brew session.

actually one of the features I like about promash is that I keep my base recipe files updated as the .rec files, and when I am ready to brew I create a brew session (.brw), and pick the appropriate recipe. Once you pick the recipe within the brew session, you can edit and tweak your recipe without changing your original recipe (.rec) file. This way you can do grain / hop substitutions without changing your base recipe.

**petep1980** · 10-12-2010, 05:44 PM

Beer tools Pro is my new fav.

It calculates carbs which is good because I have diabetes.

It also can easily engineer a partial mash recipe and account for top up water. I find the mash designer very easy to maneuver.

fc36 · 10-24-2010, 05:45 PM

Beersmith is where it's at.

Sean · 11-12-2010, 02:27 AM

Like some others, I just use the online "Recipricator". I don't need a database or an ingredients inventory. I just want to make better, more consistant beer.

.Does the software have features above that improve the formulation of recipes?

**3 Dog Brew** · 11-12-2010, 03:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sean

Like some others, I just use the online "Recipricator". I don't need a database or an ingredients inventory. I just want to make better, more consistant beer.

Wow, deja vu all over again. I was listening to archives of the Jamil Show from the Brewing Network and instead of talking about Eisbock, Jamil went off on a tangent about "making better beer". If you will allow me, I will pass on this little golden nugget of wisdom from Jamil.

Take a known quantity recipe that you can get from a "reasonably qualified" resource. I use "Brewing Classic Styles", you should use what you are comfortable will brew good beer. Then, ...and here is the tricky part... Focus on the process. Don't change your equipment or recipes, just tweak the process. If your final gravity is always too high, make sure you are pitching enough yeast. Make sure you are controlling the fermentation temps. As a last resort increase your mash temp by 2 degrees (if you brew all-grain) to increase long chain dextrins.

This just happens to be on my mind right now, because I need to do this. I change my equipment and my recipes all the time because I see improvements that I can make. I need to stop doing that and work on my brewing process, from grain milling to racking. You just stumbled into my current dilemma, so I've gone off on this preachy, soap box rant. For that I apologize. However, having written it down for someone else forces me to be more compliant to these words, so there's something therapeutic about it and someone else just may benefit from it.

Sean · 11-12-2010, 03:13 AM

Thanks for the post, you may have just talked me OUT of software!!

jason-v · 12-15-2010, 01:58 AM

I just released a free, online recipe tool (http://brewershub.com/recipe_builders/new) in large part to help me understand how different hops/grains/yeasts might affect my end brew or how I could tweak a recipe to for certain characteristics. It also has ingredient recommendations based on beer style and recipe type along with the standard calculations based on ingredients.

We're planning a bunch of new features and would really appreciate any suggestions/comments.

**Sudz** · 01-25-2011, 03:21 PM

I've played around with BS and PM. They both have their attributes and shortcomings.

I was going to give BTP a try but ran into something comparing their basic package and Gold Membership which confuses me.

I gather the GM provides access to recipes which doesn't interest me. I think the Basic Package would be what I need. However, apparently the basic package only permits you to store one recipe in memory?

This cannot be correct can it? What good is a tool like this if you cannot keep your efforts on file.

I think I'm miss reading or misunderstanding the BTP website because in reviewing the comparisons of the Basic and Gold offerings, I'm not impressed with either. They both appear to limit what you can save to a level which is basically worthless. I'm assuming I'm not understanding what I think I'm seeing.

Comments?

beerrepository · 01-25-2011, 03:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sudz

I've played around with BS and PM. They both have their attributes and shortcomings.

I was going to give BTP a try but ran into something comparing their basic package and Gold Membership which confuses me.

I gather the GM provides access to recipes which doesn't interest me. I think the Basic Package would be what I need. However, apparently the basic package only permits you to store one recipe in memory?

This cannot be correct can it? What good is a tool like this if you cannot keep your efforts on file.

I think I'm miss reading or misunderstanding the BTP website because in reviewing the comparisons of the Basic and Gold offerings, I'm not impressed with either. They both appear to limit what you can save to a level which is basically worthless. I'm assuming I'm not understanding what I think I'm seeing.

Comments?

You don't need a membership at all to use BTP. If you buy a license, then you are good to go. The membership is for interfacing with their online database to pull down recipes. I never use it. However, after watching some of Bobby's videos on getting the most out of BTP, I love it. It takes some time to get used to where things are and how to get where you want to go, but once you do, it is extremely powerful. Also helps that it works on both Windows and Mac. They also do a good job of responding to feedback on their forum, which is also a plus for me.

**MonsterBrew** · 01-25-2011, 04:43 PM

Great thread; great comments and feedback.