Brewtoad folding

[MrBandGuy]

For the last four years, I’ve hosted my recipes on brewtoad.com. I really liked the layout and free price.

They announced this week that they are closing up shop on January 1. I am able to download xml files if my 60+ recipes there, and am saving printed PDFs as a back up to that.

But now I need a new brewlog system. I’d prefer online, and cheap. I know the common preference is brewers friend. But what other alternatives do you all know of? Thanks all!


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[John Sand]

I used Brewer's Friend, and still do. You can use it for free, but only save five recipes. I subscribed for a while, but stopped when the price went up. Now I use their calculators, I always recorded my recipes in a journal.

[berryman]

I used Brewer's Friend, and still do. You can use it for free, but only save five recipes. I subscribed for a while, but stopped when the price went up. Now I use their calculators, I always recorded my recipes in a journal.

Sorry to say I can't help you on this question, I use Brewer's friend also. I am still quite old fashioned and keep everything on paper in my book. I can take you back to my first MB brew. I am getting close to starting a new book, this one is almost full.

[bpgreen]

Wasn't brew toad available as a downloadable program at one time? If so, it should still be available somewhere.

I used Qbrew when I was doing mostly Mr Beer batches, but switched to BeerSmith when I started designing my own recipes. BeerSmith has options to save recipes in the cloud, but I don't think they have an online version of the app.

I'm pretty sure @screwybrewer has an online recipe tool. I don't know if it uses beer xml files or allows you to save recipes, and I haven't used it, but his tools are always top notch.

[bpgreen]

Here's Screwy's: http://www.ezhomebrewing.com/

My brother used brewmate a long time ago, but I think it's now incorporated into brewer's friend.

[berryman]

I used Qbrew when I was doing mostly Mr Beer batches,

Ha Ha I still use Qbrew,

I'm pretty sure @screwybrewer has an online recipe tool. I don't know if it uses beer xml files or allows you to save recipes, and I haven't used it, but his tools are always top notch.

Yes he has some great stuff on-line and free and I go there often, but don't know if can save there.

[The_Professor]

Thanks for reminding me about Qbrew bpgreen.
I had not installed it when I upgraded my OS.

I used to like a much older version of BrewToad but when they purposely made it more difficult for someone not logged in to use I stopped using it.

I actually purchased a version of BeerSmith but it is way too much trouble to set up to get quick stats on a recipe.

Personally, I just want quickie info of what to expect with my grain and hop additions.
Qbrew is nice, thanks again bpgreen, and Brewer's Friend is nice as well.

[mashani]

I once considered Beersmith too hard and used QBrew and other things instead.

But FWIW, once you get past the initial equipment setup in Beersmith and get it dialed in after the first couple of batches, it's actually just as easy to use as QBrew. I set up my Mash & Boil & BIAB mash as the defaults for recipes.

So all I do now is open it up, hit new recipe, and it's just like using QBrew except better because it tells me how much water to add, how much to adjust my mash PH based on my grain bill and such. But you can also just plug stuff in and get those quick stats.

And I just keep a dummy recipe around that is for playing around with ingredients. I just open it and put stuff in/take stuff out and what not.

I can post a mash & boil equipment setup that works pretty well if you want.

[The_Professor]

.....once you get past the initial equipment setup in Beersmith and get it dialed in after the first couple of batches....

My old method was mashing in a 6.5 gallon fermentation bucket and the sparging with a bag in a 6.5 gallon bottling bucket (with a spigot). One time I am doing a 3 gallon batch, another time a 5 gallon batch, and still another time a 2 gallon high gravity batch.
My new method will be heating my mash water in the Mash & Boil then mashing in an Igloo mash tun, heating the sparge water in the Mash & Boli then transferring it to an Igloo HLT, returning the wort to the Mash and Boil for the boil in any of the volumes mentioned previously.
Maybe I decide to do something different.
This is not the scenario for everyone, but I really do just want a suggested outcome.

[MrBandGuy]

Thanks for the help, all. I haven't used qbrew since I started, but maybe it's worth a revisit. I like the ease of Screwy's too, but it looks like printing may be the only option to save. I guess I really liked the brewlog part of brewtoad, which helped me track the day, the happy Wilsons, and changes on rebrews.

I'll take a look at the online options, but dang I hate to pay when free options exist. Perhaps I should reactivate my blog, which would help with tracking...

Changes, am I right?


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[Kealia]

I can post a mash & boil equipment setup that works pretty well if you want.

Yes please

[FedoraDave]

I suffered the same fate. I only had to print 5 recipes off of BrewToad, because I do print and collate my recipes into a 3-ring binder. So that wasn't as bad as I feared.

I was frustrated by Beer Smith (and I have a low frustration level when it comes to websites; if I can't figure it out quickly, I bail). I joined Brewer's Friend after a couple of days of the trial, since I want all my recipes, both current and the ones I'm developing to be worked out online. And I also wanted a mash water calculator. I liked the fact that BrewToad did that for me.

Brewer's Friend does it, also, but after creating two equipment profiles (one for 5 gallon batches and one for 2.5 gallon batches), I played around with the recipe I brewed today. It didn't correspond to what I did.

My batch today turned out perfectly, with great pre- and post-boil volumes. So I know exactly how much water I used to mash. But somehow, the program was giving me nearly a gallon more water than I used. I can't figure out how to revise my equipment profile to get the strike water where I know it should be, based on today's experience.

I started a thread in the community, but no one has responded.