Brew Pal software in the iTunes App Store

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

nurlabys

Active Member
Joined
Jan 1, 2009
Messages
25
Reaction score
2
Location
Madison, WI
Just wanted to let everyone know that my new, fully featured all-grain homebrew application "Brew Pal" is available for free on the iTunes app store... it will run on both the iPhone and iPod Touch. This is a big update from Sparge Pal, my first app (Brew Pal does everything Sparge Pal does and a heckuva lot more!) Please see http://nurl.knowfear.net/iphone/brewpal for more info on the current version.

There are BIG changes coming that will address the most common complaints: lack of grain and hop data! The next version, which is under review by Apple now, will have predefined grains with points and lovibond (hence automatic SRM calculation) AND predefined hops, so you can see your estimated IBU.

Sparge Pal will always be free, but Brew Pal will be $0.99 starting next week.

Thanks to everyone here that bought Sparge Pal!

EDIT: I've subscribed to this thread, so I'll see any questions or comments you post here. Also, please feel free to contact me via the link on the Brew Pal website! Hope this doesn't sound like a sales pitch, I just want to get the word out and make sure that everyone who bought Sparge Pal gets a shot at Brew Pal while it is free.
 
what is the easiest way to figure the sparge section of brewpal to do a no mash out double batch sparge? Does it take into account the temp loss of a cooler mash tun?
Thanks
-Ben
 
This app is fantastic. I particularly love the timers. One question, though (which I also e-mailed from the website): What IBU formula does BrewPal use? I have ProMash set to Rager, and it told me I would have 31 IBU, but BrewPal said 25. I am not a super-detailed brewer, but I think this information would help me plan better. Thanks again for the nice work.
 
bdavanza, sorry it took me so long to reply here! I didn't see any email notification for your post but I got one for gregs765 :(

To answer your question, no, Brew Pal does not take into account the temp loss of the mash tun. I'm realizing that more and more users want complete control and I am rethinking how the "Settings" tab works so I may try to add that (as well as many other) new variables in the future. For now the interface is about as simple as I could make it. When I brew I throw a gallon of boiling water in the mash tun to preheat it.

Brew Pal probably won't tell you exactly how to do a no mash out double batch sparge, but you can use the infusion calculator to get an idea of what temperatures your infusions should be at assuming no heat loss, which you will have to compensate for.

Dave
 
gregs765 I replied to your email, but I will post it here as well because it is a recurring question:

Brew Pal uses the Tinseth equation which will give different results than some other calculators. I am planning to add other selectable equations to the next version. I've heard from other brewers that Tinseth is the most accurate for full boils, and that other equations can give artificially high results. I have no way to directly measure IBUs and I am by no means a pro brewer and I love options as much as the next guy, so look for selectable IBU equations soon!

Thanks for the compliment, glad you like Brew Pal!

Dave
 
deepsouth,

I hope to submit the next version of Brew Pal (1.5) to the App store in the next couple of weeks. It includes the two most requested features: metric and extract support! Hopefully it will be available for download by early June at the latest.

Dave
 
deepsouth,

I hope to submit the next version of Brew Pal (1.5) to the App store in the next couple of weeks. It includes the two most requested features: metric and extract support! Hopefully it will be available for download by early June at the latest.

Dave

awesome dave! thanks.
 
Great App Dave,
On the additions that were added to the last version. Is there any thought to allowing the user to add our own ingredients ?

thanks Dan
 
Thanks, I really like this app. I've been horrible about notes/planning just because of the pain of keeping a notebook around. Sooo useful to have this with e-mail export.

Tasting notes (with timestamp, perhaps BJCP judging sheet?) would be a nice feature, or at least a misc/notes area.
 
I downloaded this app earlier this week, and it's frickin' amazing. Among the best apps I've downloaded on my iPhone. I've recreated several of my recipes from Hopville in Brew Pal, and the numbers match up pretty well. There are some great additional tools that I appreciate in this app:

-Export via email. This is one of the coolest functions. It creates a great-looking printable report that you can use as a reference while brewing, or share with friends. I hear that it's going to get even better in the next version, but I don't know how that's possible!

-The style matcher. After you've entered your recipe, it'll show you some suggested BJCP styles that the recipe might fit, and what you need to change to fit into the style.

-Lovibond swatches to get an idea of just how dark or light your beer is.

-Brew timers, with hop additions right on the face of the clock. Count down and see what's coming up next.

-Carbonation guide. Figure out how much psi to apply to the keg at your current temperature to get the carb you expect, and/or is appropriate for the style.

One thing that was cool is that I contacted Dave the developer to ask about adjusting customized fermentables/adjuncts, and he got right back to me within a few hours. I did find a workaround to what I wanted to add, but he mentioned that the new version will have a notes section for making detailed, exportable notes. That's cool!
 
Bought the app a few days ago. Very nice, and intuitive to use.
 
Hi everyone, I wanted to let you know that I submitted 1.5 to the App store last week. Based on previous releases, it takes 1-2 weeks to actually become available. I'm just as surprised as you are when it actually shows up for sale :)

Re: entering your own grains/additions... that is probably going to be the big new feature in 1.6, which will probably take a month or so (sorry, "real" job is taking a lot of my time right now!) It will require changing the way things work behind the scenes, and I don't want to break any recipes that people have already entered.

khiddy, thanks for the review! As I mentioned in an email exchange, I don't do any advertising of my own; I think word-of-mouth like this goes a long way. Much appreciated.

Dave
 
I don't have an iphone, but it looks awesome. Nice work.
 
FWH made it into version 1.5, which is available now in the App Store. Looks like Extracts made it in, as well as Notes. This is a solid update - thanks, Dave!
 
replacing my old beater phone with a new shiny ( or matte black if rumors are true ) iphone.
this will be the first app I download.

:ban:
 
I downloaded the Brew Pal app and I like it.

I have a two questions:
1) Pitch rate calculator does not match with Mr Malty Pitching rate calculator (Ales Vs. Lagers Vs. Hefas).
2) I am supposed to be able to download my recipes from Brew Pal. What file format it emails the recipe? Am I out of the luck with ProMash?
 
Hey Dave, I just downloaded your app and am so stoked to start using it. Just in checking out the screen shots and reading the description - i know that this will be spot on. Thank you so much for making this app. I also have a mac and this will be the first brew software that i've bought. I've always used the timers on my iPod touch in brewing, so this will be a no-brainer. thanks
 
Hi everyone, just back from a little vacation...

I've got quite a list of features (and yes, some bug fixes) for 1.6... I'm going to try to update the website (Brew Pal for the iPhone and iPod Touch) next week with details so stay tuned there for updates. I'll be explaining some issues with 1.5 and listing what I am working on for 1.6.

vtbrew: It should work fine on an iPod Touch... I don't have one myself, but others are using it. khiddy is right, you will need WiFi for recipe exporting or emailing me from the app, but everything else is self-contained.

jogntangus: You're welcome! Glad you like it (I assume... you DO like it right? :) )

Users who emailed me in the past two weeks: Sorry for the delay, check your inboxes!

PS. I just picked up my iPhone 3Gs, and all apps (including Brew Pal of course) load WAY faster than on the 3G...

Dave
 
Great app. Should come in handy for reminding me or hop additions and whatnot. For $.99 this is quite amazing. Keep up the good work.

Can't wait to be able and add malts/hops.
 
looking at your website this app looks amazing - are there any thoughts to doing an e-mail based xml file and/or an xml paste so that you can go to and from the desktop based brewing programs to this?

I think the new cut/paste feature of 3.0 would definitely be well used here...I could e-mail an xml file from beersmith, copy it from the e-mail message, and then paste it into a window on your software for import.
 
i make ciders right now. But i am going to try some beers as well this year. The main calculators i need are how much sugar to add per volume to raise the SG to the needed initial SG. Can Brew pal do these calculations as well for wine stuff?
So far i am using Winecalc for the PC.
 
I haven't seen that in Brew Pal.


I just wanted to add that I love this program. I used the trial of beersmith for my previous two brews and just used Brew Pal on my last Centennial Blonde. So much better than beersmith! I mean obviously Beersmith is functionally superior, but the ease of use for Brew Pal combined with the excellent value made it better. I am more inclined to keep my iphone right next to me during the brew than my laptop. I love the built in timer, and I love being able to keep notes and track my gravity's etc.

I must say I was real close to buying beersmith, but thought for $.99 I'd try an iphone app first. Best decision I've made. Can't wait to see what the new version has in store!
 
I use brewsmith software. Is this app a replacement for brewsmith or can they both be used together for different purposes. From the comments, it appears to be some overlap. However, I brew in my garage and don't have my PC handy so I need to keep going back and forth between PC and garage to update as I brew. Also, I do use my touch for timers and have used sparge pal. Does it do inventory and all the calculations that brewsmith performs?
 
Some things...

first, the app is amazing. i just started brewing about 5 batches ago, did the first batch off of a friends recipe and have pretty much used the app to "create" a recipe for the last 4 batches, and have had very good luck. thanks for extract support, its really nice.

1. Did you remove Danstar Nottingham(and Windsor) from the lists of yeasts? I don't notice them listed anymore, and I was wondering why.

2. Push notifications for hop schedules. And maybe even custom reminders...outside of hop schedule, but more like reminder at 7 minutes before flame out to sanitize fermenter...just a thought...

Lastly, my recipes always turn up with what I think are much higher IBU's than other calculators. For example, I made a light citrus beer which on BrewPal came in at 48IBU, SNPA is 37, and it doesn't seem right. Regarding this though, it is important to have a relative understanding of IBUs, so I haven't had any problems, especially as I use it more, because I can just get a number that is where I want it to be relative to the light beer and the IPA that I've brewed. Has anyone else noticed this? And to the developer, please do not change your formula, and if you do, see if you can do a conversion for other recipes saved already. I fear as I start putting more recipes in, and you decide to change a formula, or some of the logic, that my recipes will no longer be relative any more.

I hope this makes sense, and thank you so much. BrewPal seriously makes it easy to get beyond "Beginner" stages of brewing.
 
I thought of a couple of features I'd like to see.

1. Bottle priming calculator. Now I know there is some variation in publications on how much priming sugar/fermentables to add, but it would be awfully nice for those of us who bottle condition.

2. Add Volumes to Results. In the same way you track gravities. Mash volumes, start & end of boil, end of fermentation, etc. In fact, it would be really nice if I could enter the gravity and volume of my preboil wort coming out of the MLT and not have to go find a calculator to figure out if I'm on target, and also calculate my efficiency right then and there.

3. Display the Recipe Name. Maybe I've missed it somewhere, but the only place I see the recipe name is in the save/load screen, but that's not helpful once I've loaded a recipe, turned off my phone, and forgotten about it for a day or two. Then when I go back into Brew Pal and look I can't figure out which one I'm looking at.

4. Brew Log/Journal. What I mean is, rather than having just a random collection of recipes, I'd like to be able to track everything I might need to fill out a BJCP competition entry form. So for example, right now there really isn't a way I can find to go back to an earlier batch and figure out how long the boil was, what day I brewed, pitched, transferred to secondary, bottled, etc. For that matter, if I've brewed the same recipe multiple times there's no way to track all the little variations that occur between batches.

5. Fix the Timers. I don't currently use the timers page because it's not useful to track all the stuff you have to do throughout the brewing process. I know hops schedules have already been mentioned, but there's other stuff, too. Like, dropping in my chiller, adding spices, adding irish moss or whirlfloc, stirring in extract or other fermentables if I'm doing a late addition (I know this will affect the IBU calculations, though). Also, so far as I can tell, the timers are only adjustable via the settings, which doesn't let me account for variations due to my recipe. For example, I normally use a 60 minute boil, but use a 90 minute boil if I have a significant amount of Pilsner malt. Likewise the timer doesn't really help in a multi-step mash, even though I can enter the information and calculate the volumes on the mash tab.


Don't take the above as a list of complaints so much as constructive criticism. It is a law of nature that no matter how good something is, you can always come up with new ways that you'd like to improve it. I really love the app, and use it every time I brew.
 
So I talked to a developer friend of mine and apparently push notifications for timers seems like an unnecessary pain to implement, unless you have (or want) to have your own server running all the time for them.

Anyway.

Thank you again.
 
This is one of the coolest looking apps I have downloaded ever, I can't wait to use it for a brewing session. I am on my trial version of Beersmith and have a strong feeling this app will do everything I need it to do. Huge kudos to Dave, this thing rocks. You could charge a LOT more and I would have paid it.

The app is pretty straight-forward, but a little tutorial would be welcome. Maybe there is one out there, I might have missed it. You might want to film one for Youtube Dave, nice free publicity, and would definitely get picked up by the homebrew crowd.

One last thing, is there any way you can make this app run on your mac while your iphone is connected or even stand-alone and then sync? That would be cool.

Keep up the great work!
 
So after doing a few recipes, it seems that BrewPal is not accurately predicting the colors of my final product. My Tripel recipe it shows up as 5.0L in BrewPal, but the same recipe in BeerSmith is estimated at 6.3L. Looking at the final product vs. test cards, BeerSmith is almost right on the money.

Same thing happened for a Wit I made a few weeks back. I thought it was a fluke, but looking back at all the beers I've done using BrewPal so far, it seems to consistently underestimate the SRM.
 
I am really liking the new version of the app, but did some yeasts disappear? I can't find nottingham or the fermentis Safale us-05?
 
Back
Top