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BeerTools Pro OR BeerSmith
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DIBS




Joined: 18 Mar 2013
Posts: 24
Location: Slave Lake


PostLink    Posted: Sun Dec 15, 2013 11:14 pm    Post subject: BeerTools Pro OR BeerSmith Reply with quote


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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


PostLink    Posted: Mon Dec 16, 2013 1:10 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

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


PostLink    Posted: Mon Dec 16, 2013 2:42 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

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


PostLink    Posted: Mon Dec 16, 2013 3:33 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

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


PostLink    Posted: Sat Dec 21, 2013 1:28 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I own Beersmith2 but use Brewers friend as well. You have to be on line to use it.
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Ozarks Mountain Brew




Joined: 22 May 2013
Posts: 737
Location: The Ozark Mountains of Missouri


PostLink    Posted: Sat Dec 21, 2013 4:50 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Brewers friend here, no reason not to, it has it all

http://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/l/511d905ba3ceb/#a_aid=5982783965026

Link changed to support our site at no additional cost to you - we thank you!
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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


PostLink    Posted: Mon Dec 23, 2013 5:46 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

+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


PostLink    Posted: Tue Dec 24, 2013 3:05 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

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

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Holter
LABeerFan.com
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ELA




Joined: 21 Mar 2013
Posts: 29
Location: Woodbridge, VA


PostLink    Posted: Tue Dec 24, 2013 9:52 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

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


PostLink    Posted: Sat Dec 28, 2013 10:59 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

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.

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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


PostLink    Posted: Thu Mar 26, 2015 11:44 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

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


PostLink    Posted: Fri Mar 27, 2015 12:08 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

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: 11116
Location: Ottawa, Canada

Drinking: Pub Ale, Electric Creamsicle, Mild, Pliny the Younger, Belgian Dark Strong, Weizen, Russian Imperial Stout, Black Butte Porter


PostLink    Posted: Fri Mar 27, 2015 12:24 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

HeyK84 wrote:
I didn't see a way to add dry hop durations in beer tools ..

Change the "stage" to primary, secondary, or finishing. That's a dry hop.
I've recorded up to 4 dry hop additions with it.

Kal

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We ship worldwide and support our products and customers for life.
Purchasing through our affiliate links helps support our site at no extra cost to you. We thank you!
My basement/bar/brewery build 2.0


Last edited by kal on Fri Mar 27, 2015 12:42 am; edited 1 time in total
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HeyK84




Joined: 07 Mar 2015
Posts: 70
Location: United States


PostLink    Posted: Fri Mar 27, 2015 12:27 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

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


PostLink    Posted: Fri Mar 27, 2015 12:28 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Personally I really like http://www.brewersfriend.com/ issues you mentioned are a concern but a minor one imo.
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kal
Forum Administrator



Joined: 12 Dec 2010
Posts: 11116
Location: Ottawa, Canada

Drinking: Pub Ale, Electric Creamsicle, Mild, Pliny the Younger, Belgian Dark Strong, Weizen, Russian Imperial Stout, Black Butte Porter


PostLink    Posted: Fri Mar 27, 2015 12:44 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

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

_________________
Our new shop with over 150 new products: shop.TheElectricBrewery.com
We ship worldwide and support our products and customers for life.
Purchasing through our affiliate links helps support our site at no extra cost to you. We thank you!
My basement/bar/brewery build 2.0
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HeyK84




Joined: 07 Mar 2015
Posts: 70
Location: United States


PostLink    Posted: Fri Mar 27, 2015 12:47 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

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


PostLink    Posted: Fri Mar 27, 2015 9:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

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


PostLink    Posted: Tue May 15, 2018 1:11 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

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


Mug

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kal
Forum Administrator



Joined: 12 Dec 2010
Posts: 11116
Location: Ottawa, Canada

Drinking: Pub Ale, Electric Creamsicle, Mild, Pliny the Younger, Belgian Dark Strong, Weizen, Russian Imperial Stout, Black Butte Porter


PostLink    Posted: Tue May 15, 2018 2:32 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I haven't used the other tools mentions (been on Beer Tools Pro myself for years), but maybe this video can help:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=liIlW-ovx0Y

(Especially with question 4). Wink

Kal

_________________
Our new shop with over 150 new products: shop.TheElectricBrewery.com
We ship worldwide and support our products and customers for life.
Purchasing through our affiliate links helps support our site at no extra cost to you. We thank you!
My basement/bar/brewery build 2.0
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View user's photo album (21 photos)
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