Here is part 2 of the Brewing Software Segment. Here I will take a look at two programs I am unfamiliar with, Strangebrew and ProMash. The truest test will be to see what I can do without having to read the instructions, but if things prove too confusing, I am not above looking at the directions. But for me, I think brewing software should be easy enough that a novice can use it right off the install (which I feel was  a downfall of beer tools). I feel I am a bit computer savoy as well as know my way around a mash, so I should be able to do it if it’s not that complex. After all, I was creating recipes in Beersmith right after I bought it, without instructions, after about my third or fourth beer.  For both of these products I am using the free evaluation license.

Lets Start with Promash, where you can save 3 recipes and do 9 brew sessions with the evaluation license.

ProMash

Like all the other software packages, there are many features you can use to customize your water, mash schedules, equipment, formulas, ingredients, and so on. However this program is lacking a scale feature which I thought for sure it would have. I come from the understanding that ProMash was originally a pro brewer software package that was adopted by homebrewers, so I thought for sure the ability to scale would be here. I was picturing a pro brewer working on a small test batch then scaling it up their much larger system. But this one has no scale feature or a convert extract to all grain and vice versa. The user interface is easy to understand, however it does have quite an outdated look to it, like the old programs from the Windows 95 era. Another thing I did not like is there is no support for other formats, which seems to be lacking in all the software. This is a point I forgot to touch on in part one, so let me do so here.

One thing that Beersmith and Beer Tools Pro have up on ProMash is that both can export or import recipes in BeerXML format. This enables sharing of recipes between these programs, even if the default extensions (.bsm for beersmith or .btp for beer tools) are not compatible. ProMash, at least in the evaluation copy, does not support BeerXML.

OK, let’s continue and enter our Stout Recipe. I quickly entered this just to see how it works. I did not tweak the system to my specs, because I will not be using this program. But I did breeze through the options and it seems pretty straight forward.

ProMash Recipe

It was easy enough to enter a recipe. The only thing I did not like was in order to create a new item, like the cacao nibs, you have to do so in the main screen and cannot do it in recipe mode. You can do this in both Beersmith and Beer Tools Pro.

Mash Options

Above you see the mash options. This was also pretty straight forward. I just entered a quick mash to put some features in. You can set up a quick mash like I did here, or set up a more complex mash or step mash. One thing I don’t like, and this is minor and probably just because I am spoiled. But you cannot see the dough in temp in this mash. To do so you have to go into the brew session, click the mash tab, then click the “show dough in temperature” tab. All this info is more easily accessible in the other two programs.

The Session

Above is the brew session tab. Anything you want to know or tweak about your recipe on brew day can be done here. Next to edit ingredients is the mash schedule tab I was talking about above.

Water Adjustments

In the session tab, you can view and tweak your water volumes needed for your particular system. I didn’t really do anything here, but I played with a few numbers. Pretty much the same functionality as the other programs.

Last I just want to show the edit ingredients tab. The default ingredients did show the age of the software though. There was no Whirlfloc, no 5.2 stabilizer, Star San, or anything else. The list of spices and additives was very very small. So you will have to do a lot of adding if you brew with spices and such. I also noticed the yeast and grain selections were also quite dated. So you will be using this feature a lot if you buy the program.

Add or Edit Ingredients.

So in the end, I feel that ProMash is a nice program, just very outdated. I didn’t get into the guts of the program, which is what the die hards really like. This is the water adjustments and other modifications you can do, but you can also do those in both Beersmith and Beer Tools as well. If it were to suggest someone buy a program today, ProMash would not be high on my list simply because for the same cost (actually $5 less for Beersmith) you get the same thing, with an easier interface and more up to the date ingredients and features. Beer Tools comes in a close second, just because it is not as user-friendly as Beersmith.  But we have one more program to look at….Strangebrew.

Strangebrew

Off the bat I’m a bit disappointed. The program supports BeerXML, but will not open Beersmith or Beer Tools Pro versions of the program. So that was a bummer. Maybe it was a glitch though, because it says you can import and export to XML.

Error

OK, so that aside, this is a 30 day trial of the software. Upfront this is very easy to use. As you see below, I entered the recipe no problem, had no issues with ingredients or extras. However, if you do need/want to add some, in the “edit” tab at the top there is an option for “databases” and you can edit or add ingredients there easy enough. It is a simple looking program, but looks like it has all the features you need.

Recipe Entered....easy enough

Now below is the mash tab. I played around with this just to see how it works and it is very simple. It would be nice to have a mash tab, or mash button, but to get there you have to go to “view” up at the top, then select “mash manager”. From there though, you can create your mash schedule and sparges. Like all the others, it calculates the water volumes and temperatures based on how you have your system set up. What I do like is the easy “No Sparge, Fly Sparge, Two Batch Sparge, and Three Batch Sparge” options. This is very easy for the beginner to use. Chances are you would be doing the batch sparge, but with the brew in a bag method being all the rage these days, the no sparge option is very nice.

Mash creation, showing the sparge method drop down list.

So we have done all this………what about scaling or converting all grain to extract and vice versa? TaDa!!!!!!!

Scale is supported in Strangebrew, just like beersmith!

I found this option under the file tab, with the option “Resize Recipe”. Very nice. So Beersmith is not alone here anymore.
So in conclusion of this segment, I want to say if I were to rate these programs for overall beginner usability, I would rate them as follows.

1. Beersmith
2. Strangebrew
3. Beer Tools Pro (however it does have the best looking design of the 4 hands down)
4. ProMash

The reason I rate promash so low is because of how dated the program seems to be, at least in the evaluation portion. I do want you keep in mind that this was a simple top down view of these programs using an easy all grain recipe. I didn’t get into doing water adjustments, step or decoction mashing, and so on. For extract brewing, all these programs are going work just fine. It will be your first venturing into all grain that may prove if the program will make the recipe formulation difficult or a breeze for your first recipes.  If you want to know the costs of the programs, here is a run down as of today 3/22/10

• Beersmith: $21.95
• Strangebrew: There’s a $15 registration fee.
• Beer Tools Pro: Has a Mac or PC option and both are $29.95
• ProMash: ProMash retails for $24.95. CA residents add 7.75% sales tax. If you need to have ProMash shipped to you on disk (via US mail) please add $6.00 for shipping within the USA and $8.00 for international orders.