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DIBS
Joined: 18 Mar 2013 Posts: 24 Location: Slave Lake
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Link Posted: Sun Dec 15, 2013 11:14 pm Post subject: BeerTools Pro OR BeerSmith |
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Hey there fellow brewers,
I am new to all this, and our brewery is finished! Cant wait to use it! But we are at the point where we need software. I am using a MAC, so whats the easiest and best software, BEERTOOLS or BEERSMITH? Your opinions matter, so give me some insight as to which is better and why please. Thanks.
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Fejj
Joined: 10 Jun 2013 Posts: 213 Location: North Shore, MA
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Link Posted: Mon Dec 16, 2013 1:10 am Post subject: |
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I bought beersmith2 just because it was the first piece of brewing software i found. I obviously did 0 research. I do enjoy beersmith tho. its easy to navigate and customize, thier forums and customer support are quite good, and it will also keep an inventory of what you have on hand. Works for me!
Good Luck:)
Jeff
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mvakoc
Joined: 19 Sep 2011 Posts: 152 Location: Evergreen, CO
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Link Posted: Mon Dec 16, 2013 2:42 am Post subject: |
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I have beertoolspro but strongly prefer and use brewer's friend (the website).
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Kevin59
Joined: 03 Aug 2012 Posts: 1047 Location: Fort Collins, CO
Drinking: Imperial Brown Ale
Working on: Oatmeal Stout, IPA
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Link Posted: Mon Dec 16, 2013 3:33 am Post subject: |
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I own Beersmith and Beer Tooks Pro, but I'm using Brewer's Friend exclusively now. It's great to be able to access my recipes from any place, any time.
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Castermmt
Joined: 03 Jan 2011 Posts: 863 Location: Lowell, In
Drinking: Steelhead Porter, Alt-Toids, Hefty-Weizen, Terry's Kolsch, African Amber, Pumpkin Ale, Double Dog Ale
Working on: Janet's Brown Ale, Terry's Kolsch, Pilsner
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Ozarks Mountain Brew
Joined: 22 May 2013 Posts: 737 Location: The Ozark Mountains of Missouri
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perogi
Joined: 12 Feb 2012 Posts: 850 Location: NH
Drinking: Perogi Pale, NEIPA, Nutter's Crossing Nut Brown Ale, Edmund Fitzgerald Porter Clone
Working on: Max's Maibock
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Link Posted: Mon Dec 23, 2013 5:46 pm Post subject: |
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+1 for Brewer's Friend. (Use the link in todhend's post!)
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Holter
Joined: 07 Oct 2011 Posts: 221 Location: Los Angeles, Ca
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Link Posted: Tue Dec 24, 2013 3:05 am Post subject: |
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I like Beer Tools Pro personally. I switched over to it a few years ago after watching some of Bobby_M's videos on YouTube where he explains how he uses it. At that point i was still using BrewAlchemy or something like that and Bobby's videos covered solutions to most of my gripes with Beer Tools Pro. I also downloaded BeerSmith which seemed good, but i just stuck with Beer Tools Pro.
Bobby_M's Videos:
Startup Tutorial:
www.youtube.com/embed/wX9xuSQrfEM
Recipe Scaling:
www.youtube.com/embed/ty_cWOaaBP8
Sparging:
www.youtube.com/embed/PpOjO29cNME
_________________ Holter
LABeerFan.com
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ELA
Joined: 21 Mar 2013 Posts: 29 Location: Woodbridge, VA
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Link Posted: Tue Dec 24, 2013 9:52 am Post subject: |
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I use Beersmith. I feel it's a little more in depth, which I freely admit isn't strictly necessary. I was a calibration technician for a dozen years, so I'm uber geeky with the weights and measures. Beersmith also does cloud storage of the recipes, so moving to a different computer is no longer an issue. I've tired Brewer's Friend, and it's very good, but I prefer the interface, inventory and some of the additional depth Beersmith provides.
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jvanwest
Joined: 28 Dec 2013 Posts: 17 Location: Chandler, Arizona
Drinking: Oaked Bourbon Vanilla Porter
Working on: Tangerine Wheat Ale
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Link Posted: Sat Dec 28, 2013 10:59 pm Post subject: |
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I love BeerSmith - it's a great program and Brad (owner) is a super nice guy. You can get a free 21 day trial at the BeerSmith website.
Brad also posts videos weekly on YouTube with various special guests.
_________________ Jerry van West
Chandler, AZ
Member of the Arizona Society of Homebrewers
Member of AHA/BA
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Creepy
Joined: 04 Feb 2014 Posts: 127 Location: North Chicago Burbs
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Link Posted: Thu Mar 26, 2015 11:44 pm Post subject: |
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Alright, reviving an old thread... Kal just posted a great opportunity for a discount on BeerTools Pro:
http://www.theelectricbrewery.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=310755&sid=ad875e2ddde536a0a8cb69a90b55fd88#310755
It's been a couple years since this thread was active so I'm curious what different folks' experience is now? I have been using BeerSmith on my iPad exclusively and certainly like the portability of it. But until this build began I've been hauling everything from the basement to the garage on brew day, so portability was crucial. I've also liked the portability aspect for being able to bring a recipe to the LHBS and get their two cents on what I wrote. So that's where I'm at but am wondering if an investment in something like this will be a step in the right direction as the basement build comes together. I appreciate the insight.
Cheers!
Scott
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HeyK84
Joined: 07 Mar 2015 Posts: 70 Location: United States
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Link Posted: Fri Mar 27, 2015 12:08 am Post subject: |
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I've been using beersmith for about a year and I tried a 30 day trial of beer tools recently. I much prefer beer tools interface. It's cleaner, more intuituve and more fun and satisfying to use in my opinion. But ultimately I decided to go back to beersmith because I didn't see a way to add dry hop durations in beer tools which now that I'm writing it out I'm not sure if that should be a deal breaker. But I also like being able to scale recipes to gravity, bitterness and color which I didn't see in beer tools. If I'm wrong about any of this someone please correct me. Also even if I decided I like beer tools more, it would be difficult to justify paying for another brew software after I've already invested in one that works. And I like the beersmith app although I'd like to be able to access my inventory from it. I didn't really use the mobile website for beer tools so can't comment to that.
I wanted to add that I've never used brewers friend either but I did use brewtoad and whatever brewtoad was before it became brewtoad and I liked it. But I like having a licensed downloaded software instead l because having all of my recipes stored on a server of some company has some risk. You never know if they decide to add a pay wall or just shutdown someday and you lose all of your recipes. Beersmith is mine forever, or at least as long as it works on my os.
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kal Forum Administrator
Joined: 12 Dec 2010 Posts: 11121 Location: Ottawa, Canada
Drinking: Pub Ale, Electric Creamsicle, Mild, Pliny the Younger, Belgian Dark Strong, Weizen, Russian Imperial Stout, Black Butte Porter
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HeyK84
Joined: 07 Mar 2015 Posts: 70 Location: United States
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Link Posted: Fri Mar 27, 2015 12:27 am Post subject: |
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kal wrote: |
You can use primary, secondary, finishing, you name it. |
I was talking about durations specifically. You can't say 3 days, 5 days etc.
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perogi
Joined: 12 Feb 2012 Posts: 850 Location: NH
Drinking: Perogi Pale, NEIPA, Nutter's Crossing Nut Brown Ale, Edmund Fitzgerald Porter Clone
Working on: Max's Maibock
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kal Forum Administrator
Joined: 12 Dec 2010 Posts: 11121 Location: Ottawa, Canada
Drinking: Pub Ale, Electric Creamsicle, Mild, Pliny the Younger, Belgian Dark Strong, Weizen, Russian Imperial Stout, Black Butte Porter
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HeyK84
Joined: 07 Mar 2015 Posts: 70 Location: United States
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Link Posted: Fri Mar 27, 2015 12:47 am Post subject: |
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kal wrote: | HeyK84 wrote: | kal wrote: |
You can use primary, secondary, finishing, you name it. |
I was talking about durations specifically. You can't say 3 days, 5 days etc. |
Ah - true. Funny, I never thought much about it as it's not an overly important factor (IMHO). I tend to do anywhere from 4-10 days. Shorter like 4 days if I'm doing lots of dry hops (like 4 one after another) and usually about 7 days otherwise.
Kal |
Yeah I kind of realized how unimportant that feature is as I typed it. It was just something I was expecting coming from beersmith.
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Creepy
Joined: 04 Feb 2014 Posts: 127 Location: North Chicago Burbs
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Link Posted: Fri Mar 27, 2015 9:58 pm Post subject: |
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1. Does BeerTools Pro have any way to use it on mobile devices?
It sounds to me the functionality of BeerTools vs BeerSmith are similar just different interfaces.
2. Does BrewersFriend have similar functionality to these other two (while offering mobility)?
3. Does the built in catalog of ingredients tend to be notably better in any over the others?
4. What is the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow?
5. Do the formulas used (ie Tinseth) for each differ drastically?
Thanks
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Firetech
Joined: 02 Jan 2015 Posts: 8 Location: Utah
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Link Posted: Tue May 15, 2018 1:11 am Post subject: |
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Creepy wrote: | 1. Does BeerTools Pro have any way to use it on mobile devices?
It sounds to me the functionality of BeerTools vs BeerSmith are similar just different interfaces.
2. Does BrewersFriend have similar functionality to these other two (while offering mobility)?
3. Does the built in catalog of ingredients tend to be notably better in any over the others?
4. What is the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow?
5. Do the formulas used (ie Tinseth) for each differ drastically?
Thanks |
_________________ Instagram: east_millcreek_brewing
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kal Forum Administrator
Joined: 12 Dec 2010 Posts: 11121 Location: Ottawa, Canada
Drinking: Pub Ale, Electric Creamsicle, Mild, Pliny the Younger, Belgian Dark Strong, Weizen, Russian Imperial Stout, Black Butte Porter
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