So i dont get it

I know I am missing something so I am just going to put it out there "thud".
Why brew software? Is it just to hold recipes? I know I have to be missing something.

Now touch screen comp programs I understand but I dont know any and I would like too. I would also like to know what would be a good touch screen.

While you are manually calculating your IBUs, OG, color, boil off amount, infusion water temperatures and everything else by hand, the rest of us are getting laid. Because the software does it all much faster.

They're great for people still learning how to formulate recipes, like me. I'm not going to know if x amount of y AA hop is going to be enough to give me the bitterness I want. In the software, I can play with the amounts of various additions until I get the right number of IBU's.

As far as touch screens, I'd go with a tablet PC if I wanted one. We have a few at work I get to futz with and they're fun, but kinda limited in their usefulness.

Oh believe me even if I did have software I wouldnt get laid. I have a condition that doesnt let me do that anymore. Its kind of a sad story. You see I got married 5 years agos and I contracted a wife. Hence I dont get it

so what comp program would you run on the touch screen or pc that controls the brewery?

I use Beersmith to help me create recipes and keep a record of beers brewed.

I usually start out with a beer recipe from some trusted source. I enter it into my software, then make the substitutions necessary for the ingredients I have on hand, and make adjustments for the direction I want the beer to go. I get immediate feed back on expected OG, ABV, color and bitterness as i make the substitutions and adjustments.

Then once I'm done I print out the brew sheet with the mash schedule including water temps, amounts and time for each addition. And it has a boil schedule for the hops and adjunct additions.

Finally i can take notes on the brew process and the resulting beer and store it in the softwares database so I can more easily repeat a good result.

Do you need software? No
Is it a nice upgrade? Most definitely

Now if you are talking brewery controls, that is a completely different type of software and requires a much more complicated brewery setup than I currently employ.

Craig

So Craig, it sounds like brew software will also help you determine if you have done everything correctly too, right? Cause you should know how everthing is going to turn out. In theory, you could identify the step if something went wrong right?

It gives you guideposts. A target starting gravity, a target ending gravity. Things like that.

crystalcabot said:

so what comp program would you run on the touch screen or pc that controls the brewery?

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Lets not confuse this with the brew software some of the guys having running there automated systems.
You are inquiring about programs like Beersmith, promash, not Brewtroller and such that monitor mash temps, control valves ect...?


The programs listed suc as beersmith,promash, are for entering recipes, keeping notes, calculating IBUs, solor, SG/FG Helps keep track of inventory and fermentation times and such.

crystalcabot said:

So Craig, it sounds like brew software will also help you determine if you have done everything correctly too, right? Cause you should know how everything is going to turn out. In theory, you could identify the step if something went wrong right?

Click to expand...

Experience in brewing, that will tell you where you made a mistake !

If you brew is too bitter - you had an error in your hop additions/selections
if your brew is to dark - you had an error in your grains
if your gravity is off - you didn't stir,your had crappy efficiency, or your grain bill is off some how

Not everything can answered by brewing software.
I would suggest to you "go and try a few of the out !"

I will not brew with out software.

My software of choice is Brewsmith!

-Jason

I like putting all of my ingredients into promash and then closing out the inventory when I am done brewing a recipe. This helps me know what odds and ends of which type of hops I have in my freezer. So when i am looking at a recipe I can see what I have "in stock" and know that I don't need to buy that without going to the freezer and looking at all the little baggies.

If you are good at remembering to enter your ingredients before you brew it works out nicely.

ProMash is one of those very-essential parts of my brewery. As everyone else has said, it helps you formulate recipes, calculate mash strike temps, volumes, boiloff rates, multi-step/decoction mashes, water chemistry and adjustments, units, etc. Oh, and not to mention that it keeps track of your inventory...I can't imagine digging through my 3 or big plastic tubs and weighing stuff out every time I wanted to brew something, and wasn't sure what grains I had and how much of them I had. Ugh!

All of this is $20 for a lifetime license. I can't imagine brewing without it, unless I were using kits, which I've never done.

Evan! said:

unless I were using kits, which I've never done.

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Well, now aren't we just a big ol' fancy pants...

come'on guys. Here at HBT we alway de-mythify stuff. I'll be honest, my goal is start using Beersmith, but I havnt yet. I can make beer fine without it. Can I make beer better with it perhaps, can I make better beer without it, perhaps. To say that you are not going to brew if you dont have your software is a little puzzling.

Many of us are noobs, I am in IT and software does not scare me away. But lets be honest, while the software could help noobs, do we really need to make them feel like it completely necessary. I'll agree that I should be using it, but its definately not necessary..

I have 31lbs of grain at 67°F and a 30lb SS MLT at room temp. Can you tell me at what temp and volume of water I need to strike with.... off the top of your head?
If you can, kudos to you, but I can't! I rely pretty heavily on my software to give me that info. Otherwise it would be a cheat-sheet of formulas and a calculator.
If I was going to use my laptop to look up the formulas and enter them in an online form, then why not just spend $20 on some really good software like BeerSmith that is devoted to providing me the info I need?

Well a noob wouldnt be doing 31lbs of grain, but I use a calc to calc mash water volume and some online site to tell me ideal temp to heat strike water to. I agree its useful, just saying it cant be considered as necessary as say a mash tun for doing all grain.

JesseRC said:

come'on guys. Here at HBT we alway de-mythify stuff. I'll be honest, my goal is start using Beersmith, but I havnt yet. I can make beer fine without it. Can I make beer better with it perhaps, can I make better beer without it, perhaps. To say that you are not going to brew if you dont have your software is a little puzzling.

Many of us are noobs, I am in IT and software does not scare me away. But lets be honest, while the software could help noobs, do we really need to make them feel like it completely necessary. I'll agree that I should be using it, but its definately not necessary..

Click to expand...

I don't think anyone said that you can't brew without it...just that it's a lot more work and lot less easy to streamline your process and identify flaws and gaps without it.

It's not about whether I can brew without it...it's about whether I'd want to.

I re-read the OP and it actually does sound like he's talking about brewery software. So mayber all of our post about using brewsmith/promash are ot

JesseRC said:

I re-read the OP and it actually does sound like he's talking about brewery software. So mayber all of our post about using brewsmith/promash are ot

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I don't think so. Sounds like his first sentence is regarding promash/beersmith, etc., and the second line is about brewery control software.

Well off topic or not I just think that using a few different calculators on different sites is much less convenient than using a tool that has it all in one nice connected format.

As for software to actually control my brewing equipment... I only wish I could offer advise on that that stuff!

JesseRC said:

Well a noob wouldnt be doing 31lbs of grain, but I use a calc to calc mash water volume and some online site to tell me ideal temp to heat strike water to. I agree its useful, just saying it cant be considered as necessary as say a mash tun for doing all grain.

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That is incorrect. I am a n00b AND mash 30+ lbs of grain.... and have been for years. I am just a better n00b than I used to be!

I think Evan hit the nail on the head in the post right after yours that I quoted here. I never said that it was required either, but rather it is a HUGE convenience and a valuable tool that is worth what it costs. I agree, it is not a necessity.... So I guess we will have to agree to.....well, agree.

IrregularPulse said:

The programs listed suc as beersmith,promash, are for entering recipes, keeping notes, calculating IBUs, solor, SG/FG Helps keep track of inventory and fermentation times and such.

Click to expand...

I already have a BCS 460 to control my brewing process, notes and papers another total mess that gets lost, maid aka wife cleans up everthing around the computer.

IrregularPulse said:

The programs listed suc as beersmith,promash, are for entering recipes, keeping notes, calculating IBUs, solor, SG/FG Helps keep track of inventory and fermentation times and such.

Click to expand...

Answer me this, if you were looking to buy a program which one would be the better choice and why? I'm looking at getting a beersmith or promash.
Is there any limitations or a quirks that make one outshine the other?
I'm not wanting a system needing 3 years of NASA training to operate
it. Not to steal this thread but also want to make the right investment.

BrewBeemer said:

Answer me this, if you were looking to buy a program which one would be the better choice and why? I'm looking at getting a beersmith or promash.
Is there any limitations or a quirks that make one outshine the other?
I'm not wanting a system needing 3 years of NASA training to operate
it. Not to steal this thread but also want to make the right investment.

Click to expand...

All of these have a free trial
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f84/software-available-42935/
test them out to see which one works for you !
look here as well
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f84/beersmith-beertools-promash-best-what-do-you-have-43687/

these are opinions of other brewers


-Jason

Cheeto said:

Experience in brewing, that will tell you where you made a mistake!

If you brew is too bitter - you had an error in your hop additions/selections
if your brew is to dark - you had an error in your grains
...

Click to expand...

This is not necessarily true. The bitterness and color can also be affected by the hardness or pH of your water.
I'm not sure if Beersmith or ProMash take into account the residual alkalinity of the water you use, so even the software might not help you if that's what your problem is.

hexmonkey said:

This is not necessarily true. The bitterness and color can also be affected by the hardness or pH of your water.
I'm not sure if Beersmith or ProMash take into account the residual alkalinity of the water you use, so even the software might not help you if that's what your problem is.

Click to expand...

I think promash does have water profiles to select from. I have not messed around with it but I am pretty sure I have seen it.

MgMt_Home_Brew said:

I think promash does have water profiles to select from. I have not messed around with it but I am pretty sure I have seen it.

Click to expand...

BeerSmith does as well.

Here you go -

WHOA so for sure I am convinced I should have brewing software and I MEAN CONVINCED!

I am interested in the automation of the brewery BUT i am going to start another thread.

So today i downloaded the brewsmith. My equipment is not in the auto load up so I kinda need some help with the tech stuff.
This exact moment in time I am a part mash. I want to go to all grain when I can get my equipment but right now its to much money. So, i wanted to know how to load my information up into brew smith correctly.
I have a 55 gallon kettle. Powered with a 315,ooo btu propane burner.
Soon I will have a HTL but really it wont be for weeks until I can afford my tank.
I would like to know how to set up the brewsmith.
Thanks.

One thing I like about brewing software is that it gives you a lot of little readings on the beer. Not only does it calculate color, but it shows you a little swatch of that color. It doesn't just show IBUs, but also shows BU/GU ratio. Say you decide that you want a bigger beer and add 2 kilos of grain to the grain bill. It will show you the new IBUs, which are affected by gravity, and it will also show you the new percentages of each grain in the grain bill. So, it makes it easy to tweak recipes a lot without redoing all the math for each little piece in the system. Nice bit of software and not so expensive.