Questions on the program

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wrz0170
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Questions on the program

Post by wrz0170 »

Hello! I am considering a couple of programs to assist me in my brew making (i'm a newbie).

I was wondering if this program offers a printable "checklist" when you go to make your brew? So many things to consider, it's kind of nice to keep everything in line.

Secondly, is there such a thing as a "all grain" to "extract" converter? I am not quite ready to take the leap to all grain, but many recipes call for all grain.

Thanks!
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Post by jctull »

You do get lists of ingredients as well as a schedule for you mash, although it sounds like you will not be mashing.

I do not believe there is a feature for converting from all-grain to extract. The latest issue of Zymurgy has some recommendations for doing that. Not handy at the moment, but I believe it was in the front letters from readers.
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wrz0170
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Post by wrz0170 »

jctull wrote:You do get lists of ingredients as well as a schedule for you mash, although it sounds like you will not be mashing.

I do not believe there is a feature for converting from all-grain to extract. The latest issue of Zymurgy has some recommendations for doing that. Not handy at the moment, but I believe it was in the front letters from readers.
Not quite to the mashing part yet :) What I was looking for is a "task" checklist that you can print out to use on brew day to keep everything in line.
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Post by slothrob »

The program is useful for converting recipes to extract because it shows you the resulting OG and color, but it requires an understanding, on the users part, of what grains can be replaced with which extract, which grains can be steeped, and which grains need to be mashed. Reductions may need to be made in the amount of Crystal Malts for extract recipes, also, as they tend to end with higher FG's, but this is more a matter of trial and error.

It's also helpful for determining the effect of partial boils on hops utilization, which is another change typical of converting recipes to extract.
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jctull
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Post by jctull »

I was thinking that you can use the printout list of ingredients as a sort of tick-off list. It should be sufficient. The program does not produce a numbered list of steps for brewing your beer, but I do not know of any that do this.
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wrz0170
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Post by wrz0170 »

jctull wrote:I was thinking that you can use the printout list of ingredients as a sort of tick-off list. It should be sufficient. The program does not produce a numbered list of steps for brewing your beer, but I do not know of any that do this.
Hi there. Thanks for looking at that. Beersmith does have the feature of a checklist. Like in a bullet form. It's kinda of nice.

One of the reasons why I haven't pulled the trigger is it seems like the updates on Beersmith and Promash is very few and far between. To me, it's only a matter of time before it becomes stale.

The developers here, from what I have read, take an active role in future development.

Does BT keep track of recipe cost by chance, like they show on the recipe page of their site?

Thanks again for looking at that.

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Post by jctull »

The developers are working on an inventory feature. It will allow tracking costs to my knowledge as there are already fields for costs in the ingredients list. (You currently will get a report of cost for your beer if you fill in the cost details for your ingredients.)

Not to diss the competition, but ProMash is definitely slow on the updates, and the developer has been resistant to adding BeerXML support. Fortunately, people have figured out how to get ProMash recipes converted. (BTP will open ProMash recipes directly, and BeerXML import is included; currently there is no BeerXML exporting, but the native format is similar to BeerXML so an xslt transformation tool could be created if someone were interested in doing so.)

I have never tried BeerSmith. As a Mac user, I have little interest in non-native applications on the Mac platform.
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Post by just-cj »

wrz0170 wrote:One of the reasons why I haven't pulled the trigger is it seems like the updates on Beersmith and Promash is very few and far between. To me, it's only a matter of time before it becomes stale.
Both Beersmith and Promash are "mature" applications, and full-featured. While the developers are working feverishly to fix bugs, add features, and make this a viable alternative, BTP is still the new kid on the block and as such we should expect a lot of improvements over the next six months to a year. But, once the smoke clears, I'm sure you'll see a much slower pace around here as well.
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