what's the best beer calculator

Hi folks. What is the most complete and specific beer calculator I can get online. Free or paid. Don't care if I have to pay a few bucks.

The best beer calculator is a cash register.

Suppose it depends on what you're calculating?

JustLooking said:

Suppose it depends on what you're calculating?

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I have a can of Alexander wheat four pounds. Would like to get some potential info/numbers for using it add a base for a 2.5 gallon batch of american hefe style brew

So, you want brewing software, not a calculator? Try Beersmith.

Yep I was under the impression that a beer calculator was software that calculates entered products/numbers / gallons and such and did the math calculations for you.

frankjones said:

Hi folks. What is the most complete and specific beer calculator I can get online. Free or paid. Don't care if I have to pay a few bucks.

Yep I was under the impression that a beer calculator was software that calculates entered products/numbers / gallons and such and did the math calculations for you.

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Not to get lost in semantics; brewing software incorporates several different calculators into an integrated package for developing, analyzing or modifying recipes. Calculators are used to accomplish individual tasks. A “complete and specific beer calculator” is an oxymoron. It can’t be complete and specific at the same time. Here are examples of several calculators, but isn't it a brewing software package that you are looking for?

Not to get lost in semantics.

Seems like Beersmith is a very popular pay program. I use Brewers Friend with their free online calculators. I like to keep my brew log in an Excel spreadsheet.

Check out Beersmiths site. They may still have a free trial period of their software.

They still do. I have Beersmith 2.1 & it's great after you learn to set everything up for your different brewing styles, equipment,etc. They also have add-ons for hops,all malts,etc whether they be grains,DME, LME,sugars, etc. The program is pretty accurate once you get used to it. We have a forum on here for that too!

solbes said:

Seems like Beersmith is a very popular pay program. I use Brewers Friend with their free online calculators. I like to keep my brew log in an Excel spreadsheet.

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Yep, Beersmith is great for putting it all together, but for simple calculations like ABV, IBU, OG/FG, how much priming sugar to use, Brewer's Friend is very handy. Their mobile app works well too.

Thanks guys/gals! I'll get beer Smith

When you get Beersmith look at all the instructional videos and work on your equipment setup. It is a great tool but it has a learning curve. Don't expect your first couple of brews to be totally accurate. You will have to make some adjustments to fine tune things.

If you want a plug and play, there are several online programs that don't go into as much detail. I used one that has been turned into Brewtoad. I liked it better before they "upgraded" it.

I use brew target. It's free, easy to use and is very robust. Has really helped me dial in my system


Sent from my iPad using Home Brew

Beersmith is very good for recipe building and brew logging, and has good tools for use while brewing (the mobile app is particularly useful if you don't want to drag a laptop to the brew area), but its water chemistry tool is a bit lacking, and it can't predict mash pH. Bru'n'water or the Brewer's Friend advanced water chemistry calculator are good though, so you can supplement Beersmith with that.

I like Brewtoad online, but I use the BrewPal app on my smartphone more. It even has timers w/alarms for everything from your mash to your ferment.
Oh, and they're both free!

I have brewers friend app love it

I tried every tool out there and I landed on Beersmith. It takes a bit of getting used to if you aren't used to those kinds of interfaces, but create a practice "folder" and start downloading and modifying recipies with your customizations until you get the hang of it.

However, for water calculations, I have found at least three other tools on the internet that seem to work better for my BIAB set up. it took some tweaking, but you'll likely use more than one tool to create your beers.

good luck!

I've been using the Brewers Friend web site and it seems to do a good job.


--
th Cap'n in Portland, Oregon

I want to get the beer Smith app but think $7.99 is a bit high for an app

Most apps are $2.99 I think they have is jacked in price because it's beer related the same way lhbs sells a five gallon bucket for $15 when the same bucket and lord can be bought for $4 at Lowe's or home depot

frankjones said:

I want to get the beer Smith app but think $7.99 is a bit high for an app

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You'll be happy with the Beersmith app but and you won't miss the money. It bugs me that it's a little slow but it's an awesome app and I like the brew day timers... aside from how easy it makes it to create recipes


Sent from my iPhone using the sweet Home Brew app, cuz I'm a ****** and I need everyone to know that I have an iPhone as if everyone else in the world doesn't have one.

frankjones said:

I want to get the beer Smith app but think $7.99 is a bit high for an app

Click to expand...

You won't miss the money. It's an awesome app.



Sent from my iPhone using the sweet Home Brew app, cuz I'm a ****** and I need everyone to know that I have an iPhone as if everyone else in the world doesn't have one.

7.99$ is about the price of a sixer... this software will keep your recipe, keep your ingredients inventory, remove it from inventory when you brew ect... good deal in my book...

I have the app for my Kindle. It's good but not as complete as the Mac/PC version. I have also lost all my recipes on it before with no way to recover them.


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The app seems to have issues. $7.99 is allot for a buggy app.

zach976 said:

I have the app for my Kindle. It's good but not as complete as the Mac/PC version. I have also lost all my recipes on it before with no way to recover them.


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If you save them to the cloud you should be good.


Sent from my iPhone using the sweet Home Brew app, cuz I'm a ****** and I need everyone to know that I have an iPhone as if everyone else in the world doesn't have one.

I guess but I boy five star apps. For $2.99 that are far more reliable. I don't mind paying the $7.99 but if it's going to have bugs and not be full featured what's the point? I use my phone almost exclusively for internet and if it's going to frustrate me I'd rather not. Is there a free trial?