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Kind of a sad end of an era


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#1 ChefLamont

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Posted 18 April 2011 - 10:48 AM

I was reading the May/June BYO article on brewing software, and I was kinda saddened by the absence of Promash. It has been such an icon in the brewing software world. I get why they left it out and dont disagree with the decision. It is just a sad end of an era. If I had more time ( :D ), I would love to try to acquire it and keep the development/updating going.Anyhow, the question it leads me to is, of those of you that have been long-time promash users, are you upgrading to one of the new ones or just keeping promash going? The Beer Alchemy opens promash files but the article says only runs on OS X. (NO AGrandDesign, I am not going to buy a Mac....not even for the beer making cause.)I have actually thought about just going back to pencil and paper. Dealing with computers and IT crap all day at work makes that option seem kind of therapeutic.

#2 Big Nake

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Posted 18 April 2011 - 11:02 AM

I was reading that article too and thought that BrewTarget looked pretty good. I used to have ProMash and I tinkered with it occasionally, but never really relied on it.

#3 positiveContact

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Posted 18 April 2011 - 11:08 AM

I have actually thought about just going back to pencil and paper. Dealing with computers and IT crap all day at work makes that option seem kind of therapeutic.

I started out doing this and it caused me to make my own spreadsheet. I want to be able to quickly adjust my recipe and see what the results would be to the OG, SRM, etc.

#4 SchwanzBrewer

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Posted 18 April 2011 - 11:17 AM

I started out doing this and it caused me to make my own spreadsheet. I want to be able to quickly adjust my recipe and see what the results would be to the OG, SRM, etc.

Beersmith does that too. I end up using a calculator and double checking my values to get my volumes right. Last time I brewed it came out prefect. Cheers,Rich

#5 tag

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Posted 18 April 2011 - 11:21 AM

Still using ProMash. The only thing I don't like about it is it won't automatically update the style numbers from different BJCP versions in the recipes.

#6 strangebrewer

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Posted 18 April 2011 - 11:49 AM

Still using ProMash. The only thing I don't like about it is it won't automatically update the style numbers from different BJCP versions in the recipes.

+1Promash looks like an 8 bit atari game but it does everything I need. I can edit the databases to keep everything updated, I can tweak the calculators to account for my particular brew rig, and just as importantly I make what I consider reasonably good beer using it. Do these other software packages offer something significant that promash doesn't do?

#7 MtnBrewer

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Posted 18 April 2011 - 11:54 AM

I'm still using ProMash and it runs just fine on Win 7 (if only Win 7 itself would run just fine :D). The other programs look a lot spiffier but the last time I checked they didn't have all the features that I want to see. Until a program comes along that knocks my socks off, I'll just keep using it.

#8 weave

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Posted 18 April 2011 - 11:58 AM

I started out doing this and it caused me to make my own spreadsheet. I want to be able to quickly adjust my recipe and see what the results would be to the OG, SRM, etc.

I went from paper and pencil to a spreadsheet as well. I was quite happy with it. Then I took an Access database class and made my own brewing database. I can adjsut recpies to see the affect on SRM, OG, IBU's etc. I use it like a recipe book. And I keep all of my batch data too. It is a nice reference. It is kind of rudimentary but it works for what I am using it for.I'm still using it to store recipes. Unfortunately I've gotten a bit lazy and haven't entered several recent batches into the database. Time to tighten up my practices I guess.

#9 JReigle

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Posted 18 April 2011 - 12:04 PM

I've been using Promash for so long and have become so accustomed to it, it's unlikely I'll be changing this unless my hardware/software materially changes such that I can't or I lose the install files. Amusing, it seems to run better for me under Linux with Wine than under the most recent versions of Windows!

#10 BlKtRe

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Posted 18 April 2011 - 12:54 PM

Promash does everything I need it to do. I dont plan on switching until I have too.

#11 3rd party JKor

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Posted 18 April 2011 - 01:25 PM

I'm still using ProMash and it runs just fine on Win 7 (if only Win 7 itself would run just fine :D). The other programs look a lot spiffier but the last time I checked they didn't have all the features that I want to see. Until a program comes along that knocks my socks off, I'll just keep using it.

Promash does everything I need it to do. I dont plan on switching until I have too.

That about sums it up. I downloaded trial version of Beer Tools and BeerSmith a few years ago. While they both looked prettier, I didn't see any material improvement over ProMash. Until something comes along that is head and shoulders above PM in functionality, I can't see spending my brewing dollars on new software. The fact is I rarely say 'darn, I wish ProMash could do...".

#12 denny

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Posted 18 April 2011 - 01:29 PM

Promash does everything I need it to do. I dont plan on switching until I have too.

Took the words right out of my fingers....

#13 ChefLamont

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Posted 18 April 2011 - 02:07 PM

Good. Well then, I am glad I am not alone.I dont worry about the computer. I am running it on a Windows95 laptop. It feels right at home.

#14 zymot

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Posted 18 April 2011 - 02:36 PM

I use Promash and Beersmith. I like some of Promash's stand alone calculators. I got the strike water calculator dialed in for my system.Beersmith is my recipe vault, and I use some of the calculators.I use my own spreadsheet to calculate my batch sparge water additions. It works for how I understand batch sparging.

#15 MakeMeHoppy

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Posted 18 April 2011 - 02:42 PM

I went with Beer Smith over Promash a couple years ago and both sounded like solid products. If I had pro mash I can't imagine what I'd be missing unless some new grain was invented and even so I'd have to believe you could add it. The one valid comment I saw is that you won't have an automatic update for new BJCP guidelines, but if the program shows you srm, ibu and og/fg you just print out a copy of the new guideline to see if you are within or not.

#16 jayb151

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Posted 18 April 2011 - 03:30 PM

I have been using an Excel sheet for about two years now. I love it because I keep a "blank sheet" on a memory stick so I can use it on basically any computer...though I alwys have my laptop when I brew.

#17 Breakpoint

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Posted 18 April 2011 - 03:57 PM

I've been using Diesel's Brewing Spreadsheet, but I recently got a crap computer for my garage that I uploaded Ubuntu on. I downloaded Brew Target for it, so I'll have to try it out. I'm still really getting the feel for my brewing set up since this is the first place I've lived and brewed in for longer than 6 months. I'll have to check out the BYO article to read up on Brew Target.

#18 DuncanDad

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Posted 18 April 2011 - 04:11 PM

I use BeerTools and Hopville.I plug in the numbers for the hops and grain and go from there.

#19 Stout_fan

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Posted 18 April 2011 - 04:43 PM

Final gravity podcasteps 12.5 & 13.5.Can't seem to download then.But they have a SPIFFY player that will keep you glued to your computer for a couple of hours. :DThey discuss software.I'm still stickin' with ProMash until I find out how to unleash my recipes from its shackles.

#20 3rd party JKor

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Posted 18 April 2011 - 04:53 PM

You can upload the new BJCP guidelines to ProMash. I have the most recent ones on PM.


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