Free Beer Software

Was just reading brew your own magazine and they had a write up on open soucree Brewtarget. I use ProMash which has its bugs imo. Will give this one a shot and thought I would share, for free can't hurt: http://sourceforge.net/projects/brewtarget/

I've been using this...been working out for me so far. Just read it in my copy of BYO on the work today. The mash schedule has a few bugs, but for free, it's doing great!

What bugs did you both find using brewtarget?

The $20 or $25 it costs for Beersmith is well worth it.

dshaggy said:

The $20 or $25 it costs for Beersmith is well worth it.

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I didn't dig it, honestly I think Brewmate (free) or Brewpal (.99) are just as good, same features etc.

+1 to Brew Mate

I had no bug issues with brewtarget as i've not used it yet. I've had a few bugs with promash such as remembering directories and crashing when closing. will check out the others. I would love to have a total gallons brewed feature from brew sessions.

Anyone using it on Mac? I downloaded the Mac version and it says that it doesn't work with the version on OS X. I'm 10.6.7 (Snow Leopard) which is the latest.

The developer is on here, he posts updates, the Mac install instructions are in this thread here. Also there is a software forum.

jetmechG550 said:

Anyone using it on Mac? I downloaded the Mac version and it says that it doesn't work with the version on OS X. I'm 10.6.7 (Snow Leopard) which is the latest.

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I have been using it for a couple months now. I have used it for my last 9 batches. Just used it for an American IPA yesterday.

mikeho said:

The developer is on here, he posts updates, the Mac install instructions are in this thread here. Also there is a software forum.

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Thinking of using BeerSmith after the article review because:
ProMash is outdated
BeerSmith is working on a new release

The only issue I am having is getting a realistic stike temp. I am using a 36qt coleman xtreme cooler, and for roughly 10 lbs of grain, for a 153 mash, it says I need to strike in the high 170 range....that seems a bit high. Instead of saying my cooler is 70 deg F, I am just putting 153, or whatever my mash temp will be, and then when I brew, I will add water that is 20 deg hotter than my mash temp, and then when it cools to 13 deg over mash temp, add the grains. Does this sound like a logical plan?

I add 185F strike water to my cooler first, the cooler will absorb a lot of the heat and I wait 5 or so minutes until I get it down to 168F then dough in, stir, close lid, wait 5 mins. Usually always at the temp I want about 152, if need be adjust with hot/cold water. I got this from Bobby's all grain primer and it usually always works. I tried with a lower than 185 temp once because I had to wait for it to drop to 168F, but I had nothing but trouble getting it back up, adding more boiling water etc so now I just stick to the 185 temp into my cooler. Check out Bobby's primer, works for me:
http://www.suebob.com/index.php?opt...in-primer&catid=40:brewing-articles&Itemid=66

I bought beersmith a while back and have been using it since. It is my preferred software.