Which brewing software?

I downloaded Beer Smith the other day and I've been having a bit of a play around with it. It seems pretty good but I've never used brewing software before so I don't have anything to compare it to. And I'm still getting ready for my first AG so a lot of the details I'm not familiar with anyway. It's only $20 so it's not a lot of money but before I spend some time using it, what do you all think is the best software?

Check out the demo of promash as well. It's what I use and am used to. I've used Beersmith too but the screen is just WAY too cluttered for my taste (promash isn't a lot better). Promash has a free trial as well so give it a look see, it's the same price if I recall.

I've got an extra $20 around as well. Everyone has their favorite. My 1st purchase will either be Beersmith ot BeerToolsPro>

Of the two big ones (BeerSmith and ProMash) I much prefer BeerSmith. The interface is a lot easier to figure out for me and looks a lot more modern. ProMash's interface reminds me of some old school shareware from the Win 3.1 days.

Buford said:

Of the two big ones (BeersSmith and ProMash) I much prefer BeerSmith. The interface is a lot easier to figure out for me and looks a lot more modern. ProMash's interface reminds me of some old school shareware from the Win 3.1 days.

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No argument there. They don't seem very interested in maintaining it either. If I were to purchase again I'd go for something that is still being looked after (Beersmith, BeerToolsPro, etc.).

Beersmith for me.

The programmer is always on the beersmith forum to answer questions about the program.

I found it heaps easier to use, promash I had to refer to the instructions often.

I would have liked to try beertoolspro but no demo version.

I use Beersmith and can say the software makers are very helpful. I've demoed Promash and didn't like it as much as Beersmith...

Hey, basic brewing radio did a show on this a little while back here is a link to the podcast.

http://media.libsyn.com/media/basicbrewing/bbr04-26-07software.mp3

They also put out an excel spreadsheet that does most of the math for you. I have used this one for a couple AG batches and stuff has come out fine. I have not tried to replicate any of the batches I made using the excel sheet, so I can't say how it is on consistency.

http://basicbrewing.com/radio/xls/012-Hefe.xls