ProMash vs BeerSmith

[Cethe]

i'm getting ready (within a year or so) to switch from 5gal batches to larger batches. and i'm also curious about beersmith's conversion of recipe's from small to large scale.

[nchomebrewer]

i'm getting ready (within a year or so) to switch from 5gal batches to larger batches. and i'm also curious about beersmith's conversion of recipe's from small to large scale.

I am currently a homebrewer and have been using BeerSmith for a couple of years too. I am in the process of opening a brewery and have taken a couple of my homebrew recipes that we plan to scale up and Beersmith seems to convert them pretty closely. I have checked the grain amounts scaling up to 3-4BBL from 10 gallons and have checked the calculations using Designing Great Beers by Ray Daniels. The conversion calculates correctly according to the book. We plan to do test batches so there will be some tweaks before the final released scaled up product is released though too. Hope my experience helps

Mike

[beertje46]

I've used ProMash for years. PM hasn't had an udate in years. It is like any piece of software, once you play with it enough you'll figure out how to use it best for you.

That said, I have just switched to Beer Alchemy. I use it for quick calculations and not so much formulations. I'm a spreadsheet and database guy so any fancy front end software is backed by solid math.

[kugeman]

This is an old thread but thought I'd give it a bump. I've used Promash for a while but need to purchase a new program for my brewery and am contemplating a change. Does anyone have any new thoughts on the Promash vs. Beersmith debate?

[nchomebrewer]

This is an old thread but thought I'd give it a bump. I've used Promash for a while but need to purchase a new program for my brewery and am contemplating a change. Does anyone have any new thoughts on the Promash vs. Beersmith debate?

While I am currently still a homebrewer I have also been using Beersmith for all recipes and brewing since 2008. I like it much better than Promash which I found difficult to navigate and Beersmith was just pleasing to my eye on the layout. When my brewery is up and running by year end or early 2012 I am planning to continue using Beersmith on the commercial level. There is also currently in beta testing and due out in June the release of Beersmith 2.0 http://www.beersmith.com/blog/2011/0...-a-first-look/ This new release seems to offer a ton of new features as well. I hope this helps but I don't think you can go wrong with Beersmith.

[OffKey]

Just a heads up for anyone currently using promash, I wrote a converter that takes Promash recipe files and converts them to BeerXML files (used by beersmith, and BTP). You can download it at: http://outofkey.com/promash-file-converter/

It should allow you to fairly easily try out other software with existing recipes.

All the best

bk

[Phil]

vote for promash.

Use promash - with new ingredients files - up to 45hl.

I have used it since 20l brewing. I have tried a couple of others, BeerSmith inc. I still go back to promash - perhaps I just know how it works?

[Thirsty_Monk]

Just a heads up for anyone currently using promash, I wrote a converter that takes Promash recipe files and converts them to BeerXML files (used by beersmith, and BTP). You can download it at: http://outofkey.com/promash-file-converter/

It should allow you to fairly easily try out other software with existing recipes.

All the best

bk

How about the session file?
Does it convert too?

[OffKey]

It should convert those fine as well. The Promash session and recipe files are the same format. It leaves the files it is converting intact, so there is no risk of losing any data.

[Thirsty_Monk]

It should convert those fine as well. The Promash session and recipe files are the same format. It leaves the files it is converting intact, so there is no risk of losing any data.

Thank you. I will try it.
I always wanted to extract data from session file and load then to database/spreadsheet for further analysis.

[Beachwood]

I've been using ProMash for about 7 years and find it to be a fantastic tool. But for me it's all about how well you can correlate your tool to the task at hand. Almost without exception, when I formulate recipes on ProMash, my beers turn out as expected in taste, color, gravity, bitterness, etc... So in other words, I can look at a recipe on ProMash and feel comfortable knowing how that beer will turn out, even if it's something I've never brewed before. There are a host of other utilities in the software that are helpful, such as strike water temp and the CO2 calculator for determining priming sugar additions to name a few. It's also nice to be able to easily print a brew log for each beer that list ingredients, volumes, etc...

[hunter]

I want to try ProMash, but I'm a mac user. I've been using BeerSmith but have had a hard time getting accurate water volumes with it. Looking forward to trying BeerTools Pro

[Graydon]

Natrat & Grassrootsvt Cheers to you!!!!!

I believe that if you wish to be the best, development of a tool like this teaches you more than you will ever learn using a pre-programed tool. I have been using tools of my own design for twenty + years, and I would never have developed the understand I have, if I used software off the self. Ultimately this is a personal decision about your own experience, and development.

Cheers
Graydon

[dfalken]

I understand the mentality of wanting to make your own but when there are good tools out there and it doesn't make sense to reinvent the wheel especially if the tools are robust and have ton of features. I use beersmith and I think it is a great tool and I do understand the math behind everything, but I don't feel a need to have to create my own spreadsheets, why? In my first career as a programmer I learned the invaluable skill of taking what is already out there and putting it to good use.

[LuskusDelph]

I want to try ProMash, but I'm a mac user. I've been using BeerSmith but have had a hard time getting accurate water volumes with it. Looking forward to trying BeerTools Pro

ProMash can run on a Mac...and you don't even need to install the Windows OS. Install a program called Crossover which allows you to run many Windows apps right within MacOS X.

If you're looking for the best Mac native brewing software though, that would be Beer Alchemy, no contest. It is miles above any of the others.