Brew Shop - An Android Homebrew App

[edrews]

​

Hi everyone. First time posting here.

I'm working on a free Android app called "Brew Shop" that helps users create and manage homebrew recipes. I would love to receive feedback from fellow Android-owning homebrewers on what they think of it. Right now you can create recipes, add ingredients, select a BJCP style, etc. It calculates the basic recipe stats for you and can serve as a reference during brew day.

The next step is to create a 'local inventory' section and support recipe creation based on what you have at home already. I often want to create recipes based on the broad variety of stuff I already have and right now that's kind of a pain. I want to make this the most user friendly recipe creation/management app available.

Here's the link for the app - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.brew.brewshop

... and the GitHub repo if you're interested in helping - https://github.com/edrews/BrewShopApp

Thanks everyone!

 

[burninator]

Thanks. I'll check it out.

 

[danthebugman]

Installed. I'll test it out a bit and report back for ya .

 

[danthebugman]

Well the first thing I spot is that it would be handy to have some way of either adding your own ingredients or you need to work on increasing the database of ingredients. The first recipe I tried putting in calls for Challenger hops and they're not on the list. I didn't see any way of adding them either...or did I miss something?

 

[kaconga]

The drop down menus don't work on my HTC rezound. There are options but it is all white and I cannot tell what I am selecting or have selected. I appreciate the ability to read up on the style guidelines in the app itself.

 

[LabRatBrewer]

Installed on my s4. I'll check it out.

 

[edrews]

Well the first thing I spot is that it would be handy to have some way of either adding your own ingredients or you need to work on increasing the database of ingredients. The first recipe I tried putting in calls for Challenger hops and they're not on the list. I didn't see any way of adding them either...or did I miss something?

Hey, good call. I only added "Domestic Hop Varieties" from this HopUnion page http://www.hopunion.com/hop-varieties/ because I figured those were most popular. I'm adding a "Custom Entry" selection for hops, malt, and yeast right now though as a catch all. I should be able to push that to Google Play later today. Cheers!

 

[edrews]

The drop down menus don't work on my HTC rezound. There are options but it is all white and I cannot tell what I am selecting or have selected. I appreciate the ability to read up on the style guidelines in the app itself.

That's curious. Maybe the font style somehow defaulted to a white color. I'll set it specifically to black in the next update later today. Can you let me know if that fixes it? Thanks for your help!

 

[LabRatBrewer]

Custom entry will fix it, but I'd add White Labs yeasts as well

 

[edrews]

Custom entry will fix it, but I'd add White Labs yeasts as well

Thanks for the suggestion. Just finished adding White Labs and Fermentis yeasts to v1.4. Should hit Google Play later today.

 

[kaconga]

That's curious. Maybe the font style somehow defaulted to a white color. I'll set it specifically to black in the next update later today. Can you let me know if that fixes it? Thanks for your help!

The update fixed it. I found another issue though. The efficiency number is affecting the candi sugars and LME options.

 

[edrews]

The update fixed it. I found another issue though. The efficiency number is affecting the candi sugars and LME options.

Hey, good eye. I excluded the extracts and sugars from the efficiency calculation. I also added a "[X] Mashed" option to custom fermentables. Uploaded v1.4.1 to Google Play.

Thanks again!

 

[kaconga]

I got the latest update and plugged in one of my favorite recipes. The layout is nice and the attenuation is significantly more accurate than the Brewr app. One thing I would like to see is having the grains percentage. Like if you wanted to do 90% pilsner and 10% crystal 60 it would be easier to get exact if there was a percentage on the right as well as the amounts on the left. Beyond that I really like it. What IBU calculations are you using?

 

[edrews]

I got the latest update and plugged in one of my favorite recipes. The layout is nice and the attenuation is significantly more accurate than the Brewr app. One thing I would like to see is having the grains percentage. Like if you wanted to do 90% pilsner and 10% crystal 60 it would be easier to get exact if there was a percentage on the right as well as the amounts on the left. Beyond that I really like it. What IBU calculations are you using?

Hey, cool. The grains percentage should be a simple addition. Look for it to be added soon. I'm using Glenn Tinseth's equation but I think we're incorrectly basing it off of the boil volume instead of the batch volume. I'll fix that this week.

Cheers!

 

[sandyeggoxj]

Can you add fwh support?

 

[kaconga]

And late boil additions for extract/sugars? Thanks for the percentages/ibu numbers!

 

[edrews]

Can you add fwh support?

I'll be adding support for FWH, Whirlpool, and Dry Hop options this weekend.

And late boil additions for extract/sugars? Thanks for the percentages/ibu numbers!

I'll look into adding this one too. The change in gravity during the boil will drop hop utilization after the addition. I'll try to account for this in the IBU calculation.

Thanks again for your feedback. It helps a lot!

 

[kaconga]

I have tomorrow off so I will plug in a few new recipes to see how they look, overall though I have been liking the apps style and with the speedy improvements it is really becoming my go to recipe app. Keep up the good work edrews!

 

[edrews]

Can you add fwh support?

Just added support for First Wort, Whirlpool, and Dry hopping in version 1.6. Will hit Google Play in a few hours.

 

[sandyeggoxj]

Awesome. I'll look for that shortly.

 

[sandyeggoxj]

Looks good! How about a section for the recipe where we can add observed values such as OG, FG and such. Maybe have it calculate observed total efficiency and apparent attenuation. Would be nice to be able to see how the beer actually turned out vs what was planned. Also, perhaps a recipe versioning system so that if I run out of a hop and make a version I can track that from the original. Or track a recipe as it evolves.

Also, is there a way to backup the data from the app? What happens if my phone goes the way of the dodo? If I am tracking everything on the phone and lose the data I would be pissed.

Also, It would be cool if the recipe notes would go by brew day. So I could add notes for that date and then go back and look at those and have them sorted by date or brew session. That would I could look at how my fermentation was on the 3rd batch of ipa vs how the 12th batch fermentation went. Did they ferment with the same pitch rate and at the same temperature?

I know that is a lot of added complexity and things can get complicated. Just a few thoughts that I had while working with the app today. I love what you have done so far. I would definitely say that as things develop into a more useful app you should have a "donate" button somehow integrated.

 

[kaconga]

Found the same white text on white background bug in the new hop usage menu.

 

[lazysunday]

​

Hi everyone. First time posting here.

I'm working on a free Android app called "Brew Shop" that helps users create and manage homebrew recipes. I would love to receive feedback from fellow Android-owning homebrewers on what they think of it. Right now you can create recipes, add ingredients, select a BJCP style, etc. It calculates the basic recipe stats for you and can serve as a reference during brew day.

The next step is to create a 'local inventory' section and support recipe creation based on what you have at home already. I often want to create recipes based on the broad variety of stuff I already have and right now that's kind of a pain. I want to make this the most user friendly recipe creation/management app available.

Here's the link for the app - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.brew.brewshop

... and the GitHub repo if you're interested in helping - https://github.com/edrews/BrewShopApp

Thanks everyone!

Hey, I'd love to help! Forked!

 

[edrews]

Looks good! How about a section for the recipe where we can add observed values such as OG, FG and such. Maybe have it calculate observed total efficiency and apparent attenuation. Would be nice to be able to see how the beer actually turned out vs what was planned. Also, perhaps a recipe versioning system so that if I run out of a hop and make a version I can track that from the original. Or track a recipe as it evolves.

Also, is there a way to backup the data from the app? What happens if my phone goes the way of the dodo? If I am tracking everything on the phone and lose the data I would be pissed.

Also, It would be cool if the recipe notes would go by brew day. So I could add notes for that date and then go back and look at those and have them sorted by date or brew session. That would I could look at how my fermentation was on the 3rd batch of ipa vs how the 12th batch fermentation went. Did they ferment with the same pitch rate and at the same temperature?

I know that is a lot of added complexity and things can get complicated. Just a few thoughts that I had while working with the app today. I love what you have done so far. I would definitely say that as things develop into a more useful app you should have a "donate" button somehow integrated.

I like where your head's at. I would like to introduce the concept of having the recipe be a template of sorts for a brew day. I would like to create an 'instance' of the recipe for a brew day and track that independently from the recipe but maintain a relationship between the two. Eventually we could track the evolution of these instances over time and maintain a history. You're right that this would add a good amount of complexity but I would find that personally useful too.

Regarding storage, I have near term plans to support storage back up to some TBD cloud service but we could add a quicker fix by storing the database on the SD card or a place you can access by plugging your phone into a computer so you can copy a backup of it.

My biggest challenge right now is finding a diverse set of users to help test the app and provide feedback. Right now, just reviewing the app on Google Play and spreading the word would help more than any donations. We have 26 users and growing as of yesterday. Can't wait to reach 50! Thanks again for your feedback.

Found the same white text on white background bug in the new hop usage menu.

Yeah, I'll have to keep in mind that each drop down menu needs to have its font addressed. This should be fixed in the next release.

Hey, I'd love to help! Forked!

Sweet! Let's rock this thing on GitHub!

 

[chuckcomm]

Just installed it. Put in my next recipe and it went well. Very nice tool

 

[edrews]

Just installed it. Put in my next recipe and it went well. Very nice tool

Awesome! We just pushed an update today to help a user keep track of the homebrew ingredients they have. Thanks for checking it out. Cheers

 

[kaconga]

With the inventory management tool, will the inventory be automatically deducted when we brew an 'instance' of a recipe in later versions?

Edit: Also I would like support for spices (coriander/orange peel) and kettle finings. Perhaps a boil timer too.

 

[MrTux]

Seriously, I will install and test in the morning. I have to reinstall my os. 😫 I got carried away with trying to use Apple apps. 😎

 

[CJ1]

I don't know that I will be much help, but I will try.

Thanks for making it.

 

[DU99]

.it won't load for me..

This item cannot be installed in your device's country

.

 

[pers]

​

Hi everyone. First time posting here.

I'm working on a free Android app called "Brew Shop" that helps users create and manage homebrew recipes. I would love to receive feedback from fellow Android-owning homebrewers on what they think of it. Right now you can create recipes, add ingredients, select a BJCP style, etc. It calculates the basic recipe stats for you and can serve as a reference during brew day.

The next step is to create a 'local inventory' section and support recipe creation based on what you have at home already. I often want to create recipes based on the broad variety of stuff I already have and right now that's kind of a pain. I want to make this the most user friendly recipe creation/management app available.

Here's the link for the app - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.brew.brewshop

... and the GitHub repo if you're interested in helping - https://github.com/edrews/BrewShopApp

Thanks everyone!

Very nice app, I tested it out with a few small recipes and like it a lot.

Only thing I will suggest is that I found it a little tedious to have to back out each time to add another grain or hop addition. It would be nice to have a way to add additions from within the grain/hop/yeast area so you don't have to back out each time.

Other than that, its a great start. Any plans for brew timers or other calculators?

 

[jtratcliff]

I haven't installed it yet, but does it have import/export of beerxml?

It'd be nice to import an existing recipe from other software ( I'm a brewtarget user)

 

[edrews]

We're adding a bunch of items to the TODO list for the project. I'm not sure what will get done next or when but we'll keep you updated as new things get added. The feedback has been fantastic.

With the inventory management tool, will the inventory be automatically deducted when we brew an 'instance' of a recipe in later versions?

Edit: Also I would like support for spices (coriander/orange peel) and kettle finings. Perhaps a boil timer too.

TODO: Remove recipe ingredient quantities from local inventory
https://github.com/edrews/BrewShopApp/issues/15

TODO: Add custom ingredients
https://github.com/edrews/BrewShopApp/issues/5

TODO: Brew day timer
https://github.com/edrews/BrewShopApp/issues/12

.it won't load for me...

I just opened up the Google Play entry to a few more English speaking countries. Should be available in a couple of hours. Hi from the US!

Only thing I will suggest is that I found it a little tedious to have to back out each time to add another grain or hop addition. It would be nice to have a way to add additions from within the grain/hop/yeast area so you don't have to back out each time.

TODO: Add new ingredient from 'ingredient edit' window
https://github.com/edrews/BrewShopApp/issues/14

I haven't installed it yet, but does it have import/export of beerxml?

It'd be nice to import an existing recipe from other software ( I'm a brewtarget user)

TODO: Import/Export recipes via BeerXML
https://github.com/edrews/BrewShopApp/issues/10

Cheers!

 

[2beta]

Hi, I would like to try it, but it's not available in Switzerland.

 

[Eldan13]

This is my first time posting but i just downloaded your app I'll check it out. It looks nice so far.

 

[punkrawkgeek]

Installing it on my s4 now... Thanks!

 

[DU99]

Thanks from Australia

 

[brewfun]

Right now you can ... select a BJCP style, etc.

Just one housekeeping suggestion... Make sure that you contact the BJCP for permission to use the guidelines in your app. They prefer to have you link to their website so that updates are immediately reflected, but exceptions have been granted.

There won't be a fee or anything, it just adds you to their permissions list and should get you contacted quickly when there are updates.

 

[AkTom]

Sometimes I wish I had an Android, instead my sIlly5...

 

[edrews]

Just one housekeeping suggestion... Make sure that you contact the BJCP for permission to use the guidelines in your app. They prefer to have you link to their website so that updates are immediately reflected, but exceptions have been granted.

There won't be a fee or anything, it just adds you to their permissions list and should get you contacted quickly when there are updates.

Thanks for the heads up. I just sent an e-mail to '[email protected]' requesting permission to reproduce the guidelines in the app provided they remain up to date. We'll see what they say.