AHA or BeerSmith?

my wife wanted to know what i wanted for my birthday, and i am having a hard time deciding. I looked at AHA and I am not sure that the benefits are worth the cost. I tried the trial version BeerSmith and really liked it. is there any advantage to AHA that would make it more useful than BeerSmith?

I have both and am happy. My suggestion would be look to see if they have good Pub discounts in your area. If it is only average I would go with the beersmith now and get the membership later. I usually get my membership renewed every Christmas as it is a good cheap gift.

Yeah, the real benefit of AHA is getting pub discounts. If there are great ones in your area at breweries you frequent a lot, then that's the way to go. Beersmith is an extremely powerful tool for formulating and adjusting your recipes. It's overwhelming at first and some things aren't laid out very intuitively, but I wouldn't want to brew without it.

Beersmith.

+1 Beersmith

I can't argue that Beersmith wouldn't be more useful to you personally. I will point out that supporting the AHA helps grow the hobby and ensure that someone is speaking up for homebrewers across the country.

BrewKnurd said:

I can't argue that Beersmith wouldn't be more useful to you personally. I will point out that supporting the AHA helps grow the hobby and ensure that someone is speaking up for homebrewers across the country.

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THIS^^^. Not only do you get Zymurgy when you join the AHA, the Member Discount Program can be a benefit. Not to mention the Members Only content on the AHA website, like audio recordings from NHC. But the real benefit IMO is the lobbying power of the AHA and the BA. Not only has it been instrumental in getting the homebrew laws changed (like here in OR), but the BA has been a real power in making sure that craft beer is available and the taxes kept low. Beersmith is great, but in the big picture the AHA makes a real difference.

Beersmith first. It is a brewing tool that will be very useful.

+1 for BeerSmith... an invaluable tool

I have not used the AHA tool, but I have BeerSmith and like it a lot. I especially like the visual "Style Guide Comparison" graph which changes dynamically as you make changes to the recipe.

take whichever one is more expensive

Until reading this post, I did not even know that AHA had brewing software. So, I went to take a peek. Maybe my Google-Fu skills are just lame, but I can't even find it on the AHA website. At the very least they do a really poor job of promoting it.

Can someone post a link for me?

Curtis2010 said:

Until reading this post, I did not even know that AHA had brewing software. So, I went to take a peek. Maybe my Google-Fu skills are just lame, but I can't even find it on the AHA website. At the very least they do a really poor job of promoting it.

Can someone post a link for me?

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He was just asking about an AHA membership vs buying beersmith.

Curtis2010 said:

Until reading this post, I did not even know that AHA had brewing software. So, I went to take a peek. Maybe my Google-Fu skills are just lame, but I can't even find it on the AHA website. At the very least they do a really poor job of promoting it.

Can someone post a link for me?

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There's no AHA software. Membership gets you very little - Denny mentioned most of it. Zymurgy, while a cool magazine, is nearly the same as BYO.

Regarding the AHA membership, I don't care about the mag, I don't enter comps, and as far as I know there's nowhere near me that offers a discount with that card. NHC podcasts are nothing compared to the hundreds of more useful podcasts from other sources.

BUT, I've been a AHA member for several years. I'm a member for the same reason I am a member on this forum. If you don't know the reason, you probably don't want to join anyway.

BrewKnurd said:

He was just asking about an AHA membership vs buying beersmith.

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Ah, so my Google-Fu skills are probably OK....now I need work on reading comprehension!

passedpawn said:

...
BUT, I've been a AHA member for several years. I'm a member for the same reason I am a member on this forum. If you don't know the reason, you probably don't want to join anyway.

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I've downloaded a couple of Zymurgy collections on my Kindle, as well as a couple of Papazian's books, and it has been interesting reading, but nothing that makes me want to rush out and join.

I agree supporting the hobby is a good thing. AHA does not make much sense for me, but I really should sign up for a paying forum membership -- definitely a worthwhile resource.

The LHBS gives 10% off brewing ingredients here so that should make up for the cost if you brew at least once a month.

>>Not to mention the Members Only content on the AHA website

What material is there that isn't also here? Maybe articles/ideas appear there first, but don't they then pop up here a few months later?


>>The LHBS gives 10% off brewing ingredients here so that should make up for the cost if you brew at least once a month.

I order on line, do online shops give AHA discounts? If so, then I'd consider it.

ArcLight said:

>>Not to mention the Members Only content on the AHA website

What material is there that isn't also here? Maybe articles/ideas appear there first, but don't they then pop up here a few months later?

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I don't think so. I've never seen anyone but me post anyting from there and I never post entire articles. Links wouldn't do you any good unless you were a member.

Denny said:

THIS^^^. Not only do you get Zymurgy when you join the AHA, the Member Discount Program can be a benefit. Not to mention the Members Only content on the AHA website, like audio recordings from NHC. But the real benefit IMO is the lobbying power of the AHA and the BA. Not only has it been instrumental in getting the homebrew laws changed (like here in OR), but the BA has been a real power in making sure that craft beer is available and the taxes kept low. Beersmith is great, but in the big picture the AHA makes a real difference.

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Denny beat me to it. Very well said.


Thing is, if you're marginally good at math (and have the internet to access Beer Calculus), you don't need BeerSmith, so the AHA is the way to go.

Denny said:

I don't think so. I've never seen anyone but me post anyting from there and I never post entire articles. Links wouldn't do you any good unless you were a member.

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I liked your article in the last Zymurgy issue Denny. (or was that 2 issues ago). I need to make that bourbon vanilla porter soon.

Beersmith is $21.89 at Birdman Brewing, which is the cheapest I could find it:

http://www.birdmanbrewing.com/categories/Brewing-Software/

AHA Membership is $38.00 a year:

http://www.homebrewersassociation.org/pages/membership/join-or-renew

I would tell your GF that you can't put a price on your beautiful love together, but if you could, it would be about $21.89 + $38.00!! :rockin:

>>Members Only content on the AHA website

Can you give some examples of material more than 6 months old, that is there, that isn't here?
I'm just curious.

I took a very brief look at the AHA Forum, and that seemed no better than here.

ArcLight said:

>>Members Only content on the AHA website

Can you give some examples of material more than 6 months old, that is there, that isn't here?
I'm just curious.

I took a very brief look at the AHA Forum, and that seemed no better than here.

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Well, I can't link to it, since you need to be a member to see it, but the seminars from NHC 2012 are well worth it to me. I had a blast talking with awesome people at NHC, and I missed a bunch of the seminars. Since I'm a member, I can have both the audio and the slides.

As for the AHA Forum, I personally find that forum to be a place where I can learn from experts in the field. And there are certainly less "OMG!! I infected my beer!" or "Oh no! It's been 3 hours and my airlock isn't bubbling!!!" threads there. That being said, I do spend more time here. So take that as you will.

Oh, and only more thing good about the AHA... you get discounts on Brewers Publications books. For instance, if you were a member, you can get in on the pre-sale for Mitch Steele's new book IPA. And you would get 40% off the book, so you'd be saving $10.

>."OMG!! My beer is infected!!"




>> I see more in depth discussions about technical issues there (case in point: the German Lagers thread)

OK - this is what I am interested in. Maybe I'll join, to see how it is. (no brew pubs near me that have the AHA discount )

passedpawn said:

I liked your article in the last Zymurgy issue Denny. (or was that 2 issues ago). I need to make that bourbon vanilla porter soon.

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Thank you! It was a couple issues ago.