Any one use the Beersmith program? Is it worthwhile? Pros/cons?
I use it. I like it. But try it out for yourself. They offer a 21 day free trial.
I tried out the free trials of both Beersmith and ProMash and ended up going with BeerSmith. Been working for me for a couple years now.
I’ve used both and like beersmith better. I particularly like the feature where you can enter grains by % and scale down to a homebrew size recipe. Very handy when you get a recipe from a commercial brewer who gives you percentages. Promash may do this as well but I haven’t bothered to look.
I’ve never used Promash, I’m sure they are both similar. I’m still running an old version of Beersmith I bought 6(?) years ago and I don’t think I’d try to brew without it. For the price you definetly get your $$ worth. It makes building recipes so easy. By far, one of the best tools that I’ve purchased for brewing.
-J.K.L.
Same, but I’ve only had Beersmith for 2 batches. I really like it so far.
I’ve only used Beersmith for a couple of batches also and I do like it. Havn’t tried other softwares but…
I tried all the software available about 3 years ago and bought Beersmith. I really like it, it’s very easy to use and it made a big difference in my brews. I have heard rumors there is a brand new version coming out real soon, so I would use the free trial and wait to see what will happen as far as upgrade or new price will be.
It’s awesome, and the 21 day trial might last you until version 2.0 comes out…
When I went all grain, I bought beer smith. It’s worked great. Very intuitive and easy to learn.
I spend my first three years of allgrain brewing creating my own software from Excel spread sheets and Visual Basic Macros. It worked good… and then I found Beer Smith last year…
It does everything and even though it seems a bit overwhelming when you first open it… they have video tutorials that step you right through how to do everything. It is fantastic software, and feels much better to use than Promash. It also has a lot of features that I use… like mash schedules, auto brew day sheet creation, scaling from all grain to extract and back.
Try the 21 day trial…watch the tutorials, and import the recipies to play around with… enjoy.
Beersmith is awesome! I would wait to buy it though. Version 2 should come out in June.
I just receved this this in an E-Mail from Brad at BeerSmith
I’m targeting an early June release date for BeerSmith 2.0 – before the AHA National Homebrewer Conference in mid-June. I will be announcing pricing for the new version within the next two weeks, and pre-orders will also open at that time.
Nice, I’m looking forward to the upgrade.
http://www.beersmith.com/blog/2011/05/02/beersmith-2-0-a-first-look/
Brad Smith’s BeerSmith Blog
i am currently torn between brewsmith, and a free website called brew smarts. i also have been using brewpal app on my i phone. i like all three of them. it is just a matter of getting the printouts right that i can play with and modify. i usually do my own calculations on top./
Thanks Fred, that looks really nice. I think the new interface will take a little getting used to, but it looks like it will be a big improvement.
A Mac version too! One reason I still have an old PC at home is because of Beersmith. Looks like one less reason to hang on to it. I also like the forthcoming add-on manager–my biggest peeve with Beersmith is add-on management.
I also use BeerSmith, it’s a good one; no issue with it so far.
Brad just announced BeerSmith 2.0 Release date (Mid June)
This software runs on both MAC and PC. I have been beta testing it and it is awesome, even compared to the earlier version.
Details here:
http://www.beersmith.com/blog/2011/05/19/beersmith-2-release-date-pricing-and-preorder/