best software for just starting all grain

ok, here it is, the question that has proably been asked a millon times. i'm going to switch to all grain real soon and want opinions on which software would be best to use for a first timer. i want something that i don't have to spend hours and hours playing with to figure it out. simple and easy to use at first but easy to figure out as time passes. i know the answer is based on what different people like, and skill levels. i guess the question i'm asking is what you would have used if you could look back and say MAN i wish i had that when i started out.

Beersmith is probably the best for beginners and good for the experienced, although ProMash is great too...

I use Beertools, but it was a gift way back when. I believe it is updated the most. I'm sure I will be corrected if I'm wrong. if I had to buy software right now, I would buy Beersmith since polls show that most HBTs use it. The only reason I would do that is because more people to help troubleshoot any problem you might have with it. Also, I've never tried to open up a Beersmith file with Beertools and don't know if it would work so recipe swapping might be easier.

Look at the sticky above: "Which of the big three do you use"

+1 for Beersmith.

+2 for beersmith, the best $20 I have spent on brewing

beersmith is quite useful

+3 on Beersmith. I downloaded the trial when I went all-grain and bought it soon after

I use ProMash... so I say ProMash.

It just seems better linked than the others, all of which I have tried. In ProMash if you change ANYTHING in the recipe, it automatically updates all of the brewing pages.

From the mash page to the water needed to the eff. pages... if you add a single pound of malt, all quantities are updated throughout the software. OG, FG, water needed, strike temps and volumes etc. It does it all for you without intervention.

ProMash also has a pretty decent inventory tracking system.

Beersmith does this also - change the recipe and OG, FG, temperature and quantities of strike water, etc change.

The Pol said:

I use ProMash... so I say ProMash.

It just seems better linked than the others, all of which I have tried. In ProMash if you change ANYTHING in the recipe, it automatically updates all of the brewing pages.

From the mash page to the water needed to the eff. pages... if you add a single pound of malt, all quantities are updated throughout the software. OG, FG, water needed, strike temps and volumes etc. It does it all for you without intervention.

ProMash also has a pretty decent inventory tracking system.

Click to expand...

Pappers said:

Beersmith does this also - change the recipe and OG, FG, temperature and quantities of strike water, etc change.

Click to expand...

See, when I used thier trial, it didnt... I even posted here about it. When I changed anything, and went to the water page... I had to input values all over again.

You are probably right, but I judged on the trial version, which for me seemed a little badly connected between applications.

On the Mac side, there's Beer Alchemy, which I think it pretty good. I haven't tried the Windows side.

Pappers said:

Beersmith does this also - change the recipe and OG, FG, temperature and quantities of strike water, etc change.

Click to expand...

Yes, but in BS you are forced to close th current window before opening a tool. When the tool opens you are forced to key the figure in yourself.

In ProMash, the tools open in a floating window and update themselves from the open recipe or session. My PM went all buggy at a time when support was inexistant and I switched to BS. For no other reason than the above, I miss ProMash. After a year of updates to BS and a well tended inventory I loathe the idea of going back to ProMash but, I will gladly buy it again if it ever see's an update.

For the raw calculation power and simplified GUI, ProMash wins hands down.

For the single screen bling and neat extras, BeerSmith.

I have tried BeerTools a few times and keep it updated but, every time I go into it and play I get and nothing looks right.

GilaMinumBeer said:

Yes, but in BS you are forced to close th current window before opening a tool. When the tool opens you are forced to key the figure in yourself.
In ProMash, the tools open in a floating window and update themselves from the open recipe or session. My PM went all buggy at a time when support was inexistant and I switched to BS. For no other reason than the above, I miss ProMash. After a year of updates to BS and a well tended inventory I loathe the idea of going back to ProMash but, I will gladly buy it again if it ever see's an update.

For the raw calculation power and simplified GUI, ProMash wins hands down.

For the single screen bling and neat extras, BeerSmith.

I have tried BeerTools a few times and keep it updated but, every time I go into it and play I get and nothing looks right.

Click to expand...

Yes that is what I hated.

thanks for all the input it gives me a little better idea:rockin::rockin: