What software is missing for home brewers?

I'm a home brewer (very much a novice) and I also write software.

(I've been brewing different beers, ginger ale, kombucha, water kefir, and milk kefir. I'm about to embark on trying a liquor brew with Turbo yeast. A lot of what I brew is just experimentation on my part - I do much of my brewing from "scratch" and not kits.)

I'd like to know if there's a niche in the home brewing software space that isn't filled.

I see no point in writing software that's already been written, so that's not of any interest to me.

However, if there's something that hasn't been done, I might be interested in filling that void.

A large part of my motivation is to just learn more so that I can improve my own brews.

So, please let me know if there are problems that you face that software could help solve. Please specify the problem and what would help you solve that, as well as whether you'd want that on a mobile, desktop, or web-based platform.

Also, please don't post for any kind of automation software for Arduinos or Raspberry Pis as I don't have the kind of equipment needed to actually pursue that kind of software. I'm just a novice.

Thanks in advance for any responses.

I have seen a lot of posts asking basically the same question "what can I brew with the ingredients I have on hand".


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raysmithtx said:

I have seen a lot of posts asking basically the same question "what can I brew with the ingredients I have on hand".

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Hmm... Funny enough, that's a question that I've had both for brewing and simply for cooking, though I've had that question for cooking for a long time. I've thought quite a bit about how to create that software as well, but never managed to get anything started.

My gut tells me that for regular cooking recipes that it's probably not doable for me as the time and financial investment in doing it right wouldn't pan out. I can clearly "see" what needs to be done, but... way too much effort without some serious backing.

But, on the brewing front, it's a much more limited question for a few reasons, and could be doable. I'll need to mull it over & think about it some more.

Thanks for the input!

I'm currently working on a version of my GTbrew2 (see http://www.jstrack.org/brewing/ for more information - note that the version there is out of date and will be updated soon). GTbrew2 (the desktop version, written in Tcl/Tk) is free. The Android version will probably be $1.43. For MS Windows users, there is an executable that removes the need to install Tcl/Tk, and will run GTbrew2. Among other things, both will let you reformulate (scale up or down) beer recipes to adjust for batch size and/or mash efficiency. It also allows you to do a "reverse" calculation on your hops (part of reformulating brews plus useful when alpha acid percentages change). You simple change it from IBU to amt and enter the hop data and the desired IBUs per addition, then hit calculate, and it'll give you the amount of each hop per addition to get your desired results. The new (not yet online) version will import/export to the Android version (see https://www.facebook.com/AndGTbrew2).

So there's another alternative. Oh, and the Android version (and later a newer desktop release) will work (externally, for the UI) with BBLs, Liters, etc.. More complete information on both can be found on the jstrack.org and Facebook sites. Note, there is one bit of bad information in the README on jstrack.org. For re-scaling a brew, you do NOT need to use trial-and-error to get the original's mash efficiency. Just enter the details, and use its actual OG and batch size in the actual data section at the bottom right, and it will GIVE you the mash efficiency. I don't know why I didn't think of that back then... (actually, I do...and it all goes back to my first cancer and chemobrain).

And while I'm here, what units do pro brewers use for the big brews, where US brewers would use BBL?

gtbrewer said:

I'm currently working on a version of my GTbrew2And while I'm here, what units do pro brewers use for the big brews, where US brewers would use BBL?

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For metric brewers (aka "modern"), it's hectoliters. ...Otherwise, it's US barrels or Imperial Barrels for the nostalgic. :rockin:

brewfun said:

For metric brewers (aka "modern"), it's hectoliters. ...Otherwise, it's US barrels or Imperial Barrels for the nostalgic. :rockin:

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Thanks!

they also mostly use plato rather than SG

TipsySaint said:

they also mostly use plato rather than SG

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As do I.... But I made GTbrew2 use both, because it's not intended to be limited to any specific level of brewing. A professional brewer friend of mine taught me to brew on a professional level, whether at home or at a brewpub. I brewed with him many times before he moved out of the area. I don't even own a homebrew hydrometer anymore.... I have a set of three saccharometers for different ranges (deg P) that he got for me (he uses the same ones) and I have a refractometer. One really nice thing about the saccharometers, aside from far more reliable readings, is the added range I get on the high end, and being able to take final readings on the low end without having to resort to a homebrew hydrometer.

For the math, I stay away from questionable sources like homebrew mags, and instead favor old issues of Brewing Techniques, DeClerk's (sp?) A Textbook of Brewing (bought mine about 12 years ago, have dozens of bookmarks in it, and treat both volumes like they're worth my weight in gold), etc.

The one MAJOR compromise I've had to make, thanks (sarcasm there) to my first cancer and the limits it inflicted on me, is keeping my own yeast bank (I tried to go too far with it---too many yeast strains, and I couldn't keep up on re-slanting, cleaning and sterilizing slant tubes to make new blank slants, and so on. And yes, I do (obviously) mean sterilizing, as in minimum 20 minutes boil at 2 atmospheres absolute (15 PSI in the pressure cooker) for 250 deg. F or 121 deg C.

The only strains I really regret losing are the few Brewtek strains I was nuts about (CL-170, CL-200, the steam beer strain, and the hefeweizenbier strain---CL-920, if I remember correctly). Oh, and CL-450, Kolsch yeast...can't forget that one. Now I'm trying to find equivalents for each of those from Wyeast. And by equivalents, I mean the same results, not just the same style. For some, I'm probably just SOL....

Later,
--jim

brewfun said:

For metric brewers (aka "modern"), it's hectoliters.

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95% of the world uses the metric system and have done so for a long time already.

.

I'm working on an Android app called "Brew Shop" that lets users create and manage recipes. I'd like to add a new feature to let users add a 'local inventory' and reconcile that against recipes to brew. I'd love some help if you're interested. There are a ton of features on the 'todo' list.

If you have an Android device you can get the app here: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.brew.brewshop

The src is available on GitHub: https://github.com/edrews/BrewShopApp

Cheers!

I'm working on kegerator monitoring software that is written Objective-C and runs on iOS devices. The software is called KegCop, and can be found here => https://github.com/ipatch/KegCop You can also watch a demo of the software here => As it currently stands, I'm the only developer of the software, and could really use some help with the project.

cheers
-Chris