Beer Tools Pro

Brewpastor · Feb 21, 2007

Anybody have the skinny on the new Beer Tools Pro as compared to Promash and BeerSmith? I have Promash and BeerSmith and really prefer Promash, mostly because it is what I know. But it has its limits.

I have seen a couple screen shots of Beer Tools Pro and it looks interesting, but before I waste any more money I thought I would turn to the masses for any insight. I have a recollection that Dude was doing some beta testing on it or something like it, but I could be wrong.

What do people know, what's the word on the streets?

Yuri_Rage · Feb 21, 2007

I bought it, tried hard to use it, and went right back to BeerSmith. It's prettier, for sure, but I find the interface a bit cumbersome in comparison to BeerSmith. I think it might even have some sweet functionality with scheduling complicated mashes and hops schemes, but I couldn't get past the awkwardness. Also, it seems a bit rough around the edges - it does this weird screen updating thing where the window flashes rapidly while it calculates. I haven't completely given up on experimenting with BTP, but I still use BeerSmith for creating and storing recipes.

Dude · Feb 21, 2007

I find it is MUCH better than Promash. I wish it had an inventory function (it may now, I might have an oder version). Yuri is right on the flickering. It also has some oddities that are cosmetically hard for me to accept. If you save a recipe, sometimes the hops go above the grains in the order...that is really stupid.

The recipe database and the ability to duplicate an ingredient right from the recipe page is a nice feature--where as in Promash you can't o that.

Another nice feature of BTP is the session isn't separate like it is in Promash. If you used sessions in PM you know what I am talking about. Very difficult to keep the two (recipe and session) straight.

I use Beertools exclusively now.

Tony · Feb 21, 2007

Im a Beer Tools Pro user as well, and love it. I like it over BeerSmith as well. Its been a decent tool for me.

brewman ! · Feb 21, 2007

You might want to check out QBrew. Its free. See my sig. They'll have a new version out shortly with more features.

Lord Sterrock Hammerson 8 · Feb 21, 2007

It looks pretty fancy never used it.

brewman ! · Feb 21, 2007

Edit: Oops... I think you were talking about BTP.

It does everything I need. An updated version is coming out that will do mash in temps, mash volumes and RECIPE VOLUME SCALING !

It has worked well for me.

Here is a screen shot for the Mac version.
http://www.usermode.org/code/qbrew-osx.png

user 574 · Feb 22, 2007

I looked quickly but it doesn't appear that BTP has a trial version?

brewman ! · Feb 22, 2007

I'd love to know that Beersmith and BTP do that qbrew doesn't. We can add functionality to qbrew without much trouble. Anyone care to compare qbrew to their software ?

Dude · Feb 22, 2007

Did you design it or something? I'd check it out, but I'm not really all that thrilled with learnign a new program. I'm just now getting comfy with BTP.

Drunk Monkey · Feb 22, 2007

I have been wanting to get BTP, but they seem to have a lot of bugs and issues right now. Think I will wait until ver 2 comes out, unless they are good about free upgrades.

Dude · Feb 22, 2007

Drunk Monkey said:
I have been wanting to get BTP, but they seem to have a lot of bugs and issues right now. Think I will wait until ver 2 comes out, unless they are good about free upgrades.

Everytime they update to a new version, the upgrade is free.

Drunk Monkey · Feb 22, 2007

Thanks for the info.
Does the program work well with using extracts? That is my last concern.

brewman ! · Feb 22, 2007

Dude said:
Did you design it or something? I'd check it out, but I'm not really all that thrilled with learnign a new program. I'm just now getting comfy with BTP.

No. I now know the guy that wrote it. I'm wondering what its missing compared to the other packages.

Dude · Feb 22, 2007

brewman ! said:
No. I now know the guy that wrote it. I'm wondering what its missing compared to the other packages.

I'll take a look at it.

One thing right off the bat that I think is VERY important...ingredient inventory. BTP doesn't have it yet, but I was a beta tester so I seem to have some pull with the creators--and I think I've got them thinking about it.

RichBrewer · Feb 22, 2007

Dang you guys. Just when I thought I was set. More software to look at! :mug:

I noticed that ProMash hasn't been upgraded in quite awhile so I might just have to look at Beer Tools Pro.

user 574 · Feb 22, 2007

FWIW on Promash and an updated PM. This is a comment from Jeff Donovan (creator) I saw on their forum. I'm suspecting a full re-write.
---------------------------------------

12/08/06 at 03:04 PM
Sometime in 2007 is all I can say at the moment. I understand the needs and wants of the new rev and I would say it's about 70% done at the present. As I have stated previously, I want 2.0 to last another 10 years down the road and as such I am not going to rush it out the door until I am 100% satisfied with it. The big problem for me right now is that my beautiful wife is having some major medical issues that will keep me off of it (and anything else) for the next month or two but hopefully soon the crisis will be over and I will be back onto it full bore in late January to finish it up.

- Jeff

__________________
Beer Engineer

Brewpastor · Feb 22, 2007

I have downloaded BPT and it looks interesting enough. I like the descriptions about the hop varieties for example. But I will have to play with it for a while before I can say more.

rdwj · Feb 22, 2007

I bought PBT a few weeks ago. I really like it. The schedule portion takes a little getting used to, but it is pretty flexible.

It seems like the developers are on the ball as far as updating and working out any kinks that are left. I'm very satisfied with it.

RichBrewer · Feb 22, 2007

Brewpastor said:
I have downloaded BPT and it looks interesting enough. I like the descriptions about the hop varieties for example. But I will have to play with it for a while before I can say more.

One thing I don't like about ProMash is that it doesn't have descriptions about the ingredients. I used to use Brewer's Workshop and their program had excellent descriptions. Too bad they went out of business and their program doesn't work so well with XP. :drunk:

Drunk Monkey · Feb 22, 2007

I emailed the BTP and asked about updates. This was his response:

The next significant update to BeerTools Pro will be v1.1. All
current users receive that update free, and can download it using
their personal download manager at the site. Bug fixes and minor
changes have all been made available the same way. Currently BTP is
at v1.0.20. Version 1.1 will include several major enhancements that
make it a significantly improved over 1.0. Likely the next paid
upgrade will be v1.5, but that is a long way off.

drunken clown · Feb 22, 2007

i think b.t.p. is a well put together program but, it did to take me a while to get used to it! now that i have ahold of things, i like it alot! all in all it isnt really that bad in price either! i say go for it!

Geologist · Feb 23, 2007

Does anybody use StrangeBrew? I've tried Brewsta and found it somewhat counterintuitive. Switched to ProMash and was somewhat satisfied but I can't figure out how to make it calculate batch sparging. So I got StrangeBrew and it seems to meet my needs for now. Recently downloaded BeerSmith but haven't used it yet.

Brew-boy · Feb 23, 2007

I also have BTP and I like it alot. There are a few features I like about Promash better, but I like th interface of BTP. For the money you can't go wrong.

megavites · Feb 23, 2007

Geologist said:
Does anybody use StrangeBrew? I've tried Brewsta and found it somewhat counterintuitive. Switched to ProMash and was somewhat satisfied but I can't figure out how to make it calculate batch sparging. So I got StrangeBrew and it seems to meet my needs for now. Recently downloaded BeerSmith but haven't used it yet.

How much is the Strangebrew software. I can't seem to find any reference to price on their webpage.

faber · Feb 23, 2007

For the money, especially with the BYO promotion, you really can't go wrong with BTP.

I still prefer Beer Alchemy, not just because I'm a Mac user, but it just does things in a way that I like.

But, my friend has BTP, I've seen it, and I may get a copy myself.

Does anyone else use two programs since everyone seems to agree that no single program does everything?

Desert_Sky · Feb 23, 2007

hmm...

so many recipes on promash though......will it convert them over?

Bobby_M · Feb 23, 2007

Exactly what is the BYO promotion? Discount? I am about to buy it.

Drunk Monkey · Feb 23, 2007

I bought a copy last night and I started entering in some of my recipes. The hop utilization seems to be all messed up, as it calculated my IIPA to have an IBU of 250. Also the boil volume doesn't seem to have any effect on it. I am sure there is some setting that I am missing.

mysterio · Feb 23, 2007

I'm keen on BeerSmith.

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