Does anyone do a brew 'diary'

[oblivious]

Hi steve

Are their any plans to release the program for PC users or is there an emulator which would run it?

[danielski]

BeerToolsPro for me - Recipe details and notes all in one. I then copy & paste the text output into a word document to form one big chronological brewing log. Well one big brewing log that currently contains a grand total of 3 brews...

[Bongo]

Since i am new to brewing I don't think i would have got by without my notes and all the help on this forum,I am only on kits at the moment,I am also trying small batches of wine and turbo cider and i have needed to keep records for all.I seem to find less has gone wrong if i can read from notes.

[steve_flack]

Are their any plans to release the program for PC users or is there an emulator which would run it?

An oft asked question and the answer is no. The program was not written with being cross platform in mind. It uses a Mac-only C-based programming language and there's an awful lot of code in it that would need translating (around 18,000 lines). Additionally it takes advantage of a number of mac only technologies.

Whilst this sucks for portability it does mean the first release took around six months to write pretty much in my spare time - I understand BeerToolsPro took six years but I don't know if that was all coding or if there were aborted attempts before the version they've released.

As for emulators, I don't know. You can get Mac OS X to run on normal PCs but it's against the EULA and not an ideal hack anyway.

[PieOPah]

I started a blog but found that it pretty much consisted of the same things for all the entries.

What I have started to do now (only once so far with my last brew) is to print out a spread sheet which has all my calculations (how much water, temps etc) and recipe on it.

During my brew, I scratch notes onto this - changes to recipe, different temps, gravity, tips for myself etc. This is then filed away.

I hope to be able to look back at each print out and improve my brewing based on results.

[Jim]

I use this.

I just keep them in a file once they're complete. I can put comments on the back as well.

[clootie]

I keep a brew diary with details on everything I've made, what ingredients I used (all kits but with some modifications) and scores for taste, appearance etc at various stages. I also have a section containing tasting notes on all the commercial beers I've been experimenting with. I have found that having a note of what worked and didn't invaluable and my beers have improved a lot over the last year and a bit.

[chopperswookie]

i try and whack it all on my website just so i remember when i have brewed and barrelled.

[Bryggmester]

Having been frequently told by my offspring that I have the memory span of a goldfish, I always jot down recipes, fermentation progress, problems and results in a note book. I tend to make up my own recipes, or tweak others, and without a record I would be completely lost.