I Freakin' HATE PROMASH!!!!

[ScubaSteve]

This program sucks!
I shouldn't have to work this hard to figure out how to record/calculate my brews....the interface is circa 1992. I've also had issues with finding my recipes again in the directories...it won't show a brew I just saved, but when I type the name of the session/recipe, it will recognize it....wtf? They should show up in the "save as" window with all the other recipes....Anybody got a better program that I can easily use....even after a few homebrews?

 

[keiths]

Beersmith works great & they even have updates from time to time.

 

[aekdbbop]

geeze dont rub it in keiths (why is your name plural?)

 

[keiths]

Its what I use for my user name here at work, S being my last initail. So I just used it for the forum....

 

[bnutting]

Beersmith works great & they even have updates from time to time.

I use Beertools Pro. Great program and they update it quite regularly.
Sure it has it's little quirks but overall I like the program. Well worth it.

 

[brewt00l]

Scubasteve, was this post the opening salvo in your drunken posting spree?

 

[Lil' Sparky]

I too use Beersmith. It seems to be a fairly solid program. I would like to try BTP, but I don't think they have a trial.

 

[ScubaSteve]

Scubasteve, was this post the opening salvo in your drunken posting spree?

Indeed it was.....I have a map on a table in my living room with army guys...this was my first objective..... I'm on night shift....have little to do. I had 2 days off, and yesterday (and some of today) I repainted our living room. Looks great.....but I HATE painting. Blame the US Navy. Tonight, I painted, then got drunk and brewed Dude's SNCA Clone. Kinda lower gravity than I expected (1.050), but quite delicious. BTW, I used Lil'Sparky's hopstrainer rig....pics to follow...

 

[ScubaSteve]

BTW, I'm still a lil bit loaded, but I've got 2 frozen burritos and salsa to help me out

 

[Evan!]

Yikes. I've never had the problems you're describing with ProMash. I've been using it for nearly a year now, and have nothing bad to say about it. Yeah, the GUI is medieval, but I couldn't care less about such things. If I had to do it over again, yeah, I might try Beersmith. But I paid my $25 for ProMash and I'm happy with it, so there you go.

What problems are you having recording/creating your brews? I never have to "work" very hard to do it.

And, um, it's 6:30am there, and you're still drunk. Perhaps the problem is in the operator and not the program?

 

[the_bird]

Give Beersmith a try, it's a free trial for like three weeks. I couldn't stand ProMash's interface; Beersmith is much easier. If you like it, it might be worth the $20 to you to change. Not sure if it'll let you import your ProMash recipes or not; I *think* you can into BeerTools Pro.

 

[ScubaSteve]

Yikes. I've never had the problems you're describing with ProMash. I've been using it for nearly a year now, and have nothing bad to say about it. Yeah, the GUI is medieval, but I couldn't care less about such things. If I had to do it over again, yeah, I might try Beersmith. But I paid my $25 for ProMash and I'm happy with it, so there you go.

What problems are you having recording/creating your brews? I never have to "work" very hard to do it.

And, um, it's 6:30am there, and you're still drunk. Perhaps the problem is in the operator and not the program?

Yeah...I had considered "operator error" as being a root cause....but even playing around with the program completely sober, I've had a couple issues; mainly with the directories and such. I also noticed that some of the workseets ( water required, mashschedule, etc.) have values in them that are not quite explained...and others, I have to do calculations on my own to contrive....the program should lay it all out there...if I didn't already know that the sparge vol is usually 2 qts/ gal, I'd be in trouble....

Maye I should check BS or beertoolspro....

 

[HenryHill]

I didn't know that sparge volume is 2 quarts per gallon....

 

[ScubaSteve]

I didn't know that sparge volume is 2 quarts per gallon....

It's not, necessarily...but more a rule of thumb. Kind of like mash volume being 1.25 qts/lb. Seems to work well, though I'm getting low efficiencies on my new system, but I think that has more to do with the crush.

 

[Bobby_M]

I didn't know that sparge volume is 2 quarts per gallon....

I know you meant 2qts/lb. I've never seen the explaination as to whether this was the ideal dillution to get the sugars flowing or more a rule of thumb estimate to how much sparge volume (total) you'll typically need to acheive reasonal efficiency before PH issues occur. Who knows, who cares ;-) I just sparge until I hit my preboil volume and I know that each batch sparge infusion is WAY less than 2qts/lb.

 

[ScubaSteve]

Oops! Sorry....yup, 2 qt/lb. Think I picked that up from Papazian, Denny's batch sparge site...or somewhere....at any rate it is just a rough estimate. I think it's pretty close though...what with absorption, evaporation, etc. I turned out just about the right amount on my last brew. I don't have a great method of measuring wort as it enters the kettle (yet ) , so it's kinda difficult for me to measure the exact pre-boil volume.