A Better Homebrew Calculator?

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ryser2k

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Lately I've been getting into recipe formulation so I've been checking out the various homebrew calculators. Specfically I've tried the HBD Recipator and the Promash demo.

They're both very good... I love that the Recipator is free and I enjoy the completeness of Promash, but somehow when I use either I still feel like there's something missing. The recipator itself hasn't been updated in EIGHT years! And Promash hasn't been touched for three years now. They both just feel so outdated...

Now I don't know if the process has changed much in that amount of time, but I'd imagine that the way we actually think about homebrewing has. Being a computer programmer, every time I use one of these calculators I just think about trying to write one myself from scratch.

I was wondering if anyone else here feels my pain... what things are missing from the currently available calculators that you would like to see? What are your favorite things about Promash or the Recipator, or whichever calculator you use?

My dream homebrew calculator:
  • Would be completely web-based using the latest technology
  • Would allow you to create and manage an account
  • Would hold all your recipes and session info online
  • Would allow for new ingredients and their related info to be submitted by users and approved by moderators
  • Would allow any recipes you create to be published to the public archive
  • Would allow recipes to be browsed by style or searched by name or ingredient
  • Would have threaded comments for each recipe where users can discuss the recipe, make suggestions, get help from the recipe creator, etc
  • Would have a rating system for recipes where they can be rated by other users in the community
  • Would have all the functionality of Promash but with a better user interface
  • Would be absolutely FREE

I'm not saying that I have the patience or know-how to write something this good, but I do feel like we could have it a whole lot better than we do right now :) If there's enough interest though, maybe it's something that we could do as a community.
 
But I'm a child of technology :)

Allow me to add another item to my list above:

  • Makes it easy for new homebrewers to get into making their own recipes
 
Well, I'm a great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandfather of computing (figuring 4 years per generation in computers) & I think my little paper notbook does the job. Then again, I only care about taste, not IBUs or SRMs.

You want it, build it. :mug: I'm certain people will be happy to tell you what's wrong with the design.
 
I certainly didn't mean to put down the work people have done on those two calculators, if that's what you're implying... I just think that there's more that could be done.
 
No program is ever complete until obsolete!

Probably the biggest change needed is to use OSU's bittering curves rather than the approximations used. But I ain't doing it, learning html, PHP and RealBasic all at the same time is enough.
 
ryser:

So you want the best of all worlds, for free? There's a word for that. A "something-loader". Hmm...

I tried the ProMash demo today (after using the stupid Recipator calculator that somehow told me that 10oz of hops = 55 IBU's!), and loved it. I subsequently purchased it---well worth it, to be able to organize my inventory and have all the calcs and measurements at my fingertips.

Yes, it'd be nice if it was all online, but you can't have it all.
 
But I think you could have it all... look at all these great websites like HomeBrewTalk which offer their services based on what are essentially just donations.

You just have to want it badly enough... but it looks like everyone else is content with the way things are.
 
Yes, and updated freeware or shareware app would be nice.
Promash in good but clunky interface. Beersmith is also good but far from perfect. Neither one lets you open more than one recipe, which is handy when you are trying to compare hop additions, etc. Also beersmith will not let you open a calculator and a recipe at the same time.

Glad both of these are available though. In the early 90's you had to do it all by hand. That said, if some progammer type was to develop a new program I doubt it would be unused!

ryser2k said:
Lately I've been getting into recipe formulation so I've been checking out the various homebrew calculators. Specfically I've tried the HBD Recipator and the Promash demo.

They're both very good... I love that the Recipator is free and I enjoy the completeness of Promash, but somehow when I use either I still feel like there's something missing. The recipator itself hasn't been updated in EIGHT years! And Promash hasn't been touched for three years now. They both just feel so outdated...

Now I don't know if the process has changed much in that amount of time, but I'd imagine that the way we actually think about homebrewing has. Being a computer programmer, every time I use one of these calculators I just think about trying to write one myself from scratch.

I was wondering if anyone else here feels my pain... what things are missing from the currently available calculators that you would like to see? What are your favorite things about Promash or the Recipator, or whichever calculator you use?

My dream homebrew calculator:
  • Would be completely web-based using the latest technology
  • Would allow you to create and manage an account
  • Would hold all your recipes and session info online
  • Would allow for new ingredients and their related info to be submitted by users and approved by moderators
  • Would allow any recipes you create to be published to the public archive
  • Would allow recipes to be browsed by style or searched by name or ingredient
  • Would have threaded comments for each recipe where users can discuss the recipe, make suggestions, get help from the recipe creator, etc
  • Would have a rating system for recipes where they can be rated by other users in the community
  • Would have all the functionality of Promash but with a better user interface
  • Would be absolutely FREE

I'm not saying that I have the patience or know-how to write something this good, but I do feel like we could have it a whole lot better than we do right now :) If there's enough interest though, maybe it's something that we could do as a community.
Click to expand...
 
ryser2k said:
But I think you could have it all... look at all these great websites like HomeBrewTalk which offer their services based on what are essentially just donations.

You just have to want it badly enough... but it looks like everyone else is content with the way things are.
Click to expand...

Obviously not everyone is content... or this thread would not exist. :)


I paid for a membership here because I saw it as having value to the brewing community as a whole. The membership fee seemed to be a small price to pay to keep something like this around.

If someone were to make a homebrewer calculator similar to the one described, I'd certainly give it a fair shot and, if it was worth it, I'd pay a fee for that too.

I think 'free' is asking too much for a resoruce as described. But modest opt-in fees to open up some more features--- that would be worth it.
 
I'm not sure that open source is the answer specifically but it is certainly an option.

Something I think would be particularly slick is some sort of mod that would integrate the functionality into a forum package. : )
 
Funny I ran across this thread, Ive been thinking alot about this lately.

Im thinking what i want to start off with is a beer swapping website.

Let me start off by saying this, I want to build an inventory tracking system, both for bottled/kegged beer and supplies as I hate digging around in the garage to see what I have left. As a by-product of this, I want to build an interface which will allow people to view your inventory (which you can allow certain beers to be viewed or keep them in your private stash), and make trade proposals to you. You can either decline, accept or negociate with the pther party for beers in their inventory. After you receive your beer, youll be invited to review their beer(s), so others can decide if theyd like to try as well.

I figure 4 22oz bottles and packing is less than 10lbs. Shipped from San Francisco to Manhattan via UPS ground the cost is something like $13.50.

I have a lot more ideas, but this is just the startings. It would be web based of course, and provide links to great resources like this forum, recipes etc.

From there I was thinking of moving into more "brew calculations", and adding them into the app.

What do you all think? A waste of my time (Im building the inventory app for me anyways), anyone interested in sucha thing? It would be free of course, assuming I could sell a few ads to pay for webhosting.

-=gp125racer=-
 
Yeah, we could do that. I had envisioned that the location will be by zip code or freeform text.

Ive focused the last few days on the recipes portion of the site. Ive got a few finishing touches to put on it, then Im going to get a web host.

I should have something for you all to test within the next days, a week tops.

:mug:

-=gp125racer=-
 
I'm looking forward to trying it. I think I've mentioned this some other places, but it should include the BU:GU ratio (a la Ray Daniels). And even a recommended strike water calculator (put in your water:grain and desired mash temp, it tells you the approximate strike water temp & quantity you'll need for your grain bill).
 
Guys,

So Ive got the finishing touches on the brew stash portion and the recipe portion.

I need to implement some type of an advanced search feature, then Ill be ready to start on the more complicated inventory and calculators. Im still very new to all of this, esp. the IBU calcs, ABV etc. I may need some advice/help on these calculators as I want to make sure I can provide an accurate guesstimate of the actual values. Im in the process of looking for a webhost, and hope to have something operational soon.

A couple screenies:
Recipe Stash:
66124977.Dw08jbKR.Image2.gif


Brew Stash:
66125028.EPlUQjiq.Image4.gif
 
Looking forward to trying it out. I've had awesome luck with this hosting company:
www.dreamhost.com

It's pretty darned cheap...if you go with em make sure I get your referral... :p
 
I'd suggest that if you ever intend to move to a calculator for recipies in teh future you start breaking out the recipies into separate fields now. Instead of one big recipe field, have fields for each type of ingredient so that it lists separate entries for each used.

Otherwise it will be harder to break the data out if its all in a free form text field.
 
Thanks guys! Ill check out that webhost. Im currently looking @ lunar or phpwebhosting.

KornKob, thanks for the input. How many of tese fields would you suggest?

So youre thinking something like:
Ingriedent #1: Ultralight Extract
Amount: 3lbs
Ingriendent #2: Cascade Hops
Amount: 1oz

What makes this tricky is the fact that I may want to have room for 20 ingredients but only 4 are used. Then you have 16 empty fields that just take up space. Any suggestions on this are greatly appreciated!
 
I'd suggest that you have one entry field with a drop down list to select the type of ingredient. (Allow for custom entries of ingredient types) Once you hit SUBMIT it should clear the fields and add it to the recipie area. Then you just have an ingredient entry area.

BTW-- I don't think I echo'ed the 'lookin good' comments of the others. I think this is a great effort you're making.
 
Thanks kornkob!

The current model will require you to type in your list of ingredients, as Im still not well versed enough with brewing to come up with a comprehensive list of items to populate the drop downs with. I do like the idea of being able to create your own tho. Ive got the fields broken down by individual input like you had suggested, seperated by Extract/Grain/Hops/Flavoring/Additive/Carbonation requirements.

Ive also added corni keg, primary and secondary container types so you can track what youve got up and coming. Other recent additions include recipe credits, sort order etc.

Im currently working on the 'view' mode of the recipe stash since Ive broken the fields out into individual elements.

If anybody else has any comments, questions, or suggestions, Id love to hear them!

-=gp125racer=-
 
Thanks Catfish, I figure when Im ready, Ill compile a list and have you fellas tell me if Im crack or not :)

As an aside, were brewing a B3 Berry Beer tonight, my wifes cousins 21st! This stuff looks pretty thick I cant wait!

-=gp125racer=-
 

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