Beersmith 4
$19.95–$64.95 per year
beersmith.com
Brad Smith released the first Beersmith software in 2003, back when brewers were still chasing high IBUs, when beer nerds still mocked lager, and when hazy IPA was still a flaw. That means a whole generation of homebrewers has grown old with it—many among us starting commercial breweries and using the software to scale up. We’ve grown used to Beersmith’s features and interface—at this point, they’re like Mom and Dad’s furniture in the old house. Improvements are fine, but we’d rather you not start moving shit around. There’s just no need. Thankfully, the new version leaves all those things pretty much where they belong—that is, where we can find them.
I’ve been using Beersmith as a homebrewer since 2013. Since joining Craft Beer & Brewing full-time in 2019, I’ve been using it at least a few times a week to check, organize, and house all the recipes we publish. (And our subscribers can easily download those files, if they’re logged into our website, so they can pop them into their own libraries.) It’s been eight years since the last version, Beersmith 3. Since then, I’ve amassed about 600 recipes, plus I’ve added obscure ingredients, new hop varieties, craft malts, arcane mash profiles from pro brewers, and more. Thankfully, it was pretty easy to port all of that over to Beersmith 4 via zip file—the instructions on how to do it are simple and clear.
New features include:
- calculators for both dry and liquid yeast that allow you to get more serious about dialing in pitch rates, viability, and so on;
- an intuitive tool for adjusting mash pH, using either Beersmith’s estimate (based on water profile and grains) or your own measurement;
- a cloud-integrated inventory, so that you (or your team) can see the same list from multiple devices;
- and, before you brew, you can run a check to see whether the software finds any potential problems or inconsistencies in your recipe.
The new version’s look is somewhat updated and streamlined, but there’s no clutter, and there’s nothing superfluous or unnecessarily fancy. Your recipes and profiles are only as simple or as complex as you want them to be. There are no cartoons, and there is no AI nonsense. Twenty-three years on, Beersmith is almost countercultural in its dedication to functionalism. —J.S.
Ultra-Pale, Ultra-Red, and Some Good Chit: New Malts to Try
The malt choices for brewers today are wider than ever. We’ve written at times about how craft maltsters are connecting local farmers with local brewers and producing a range of distinctive, niche products. Yet the larger producers still win on price and availability, and they’re still deepening their catalogs while following brewer demand. It can be hard to keep up, so here’s a brief roundup of several that have appeared recently.
As brewers look to brew ever-paler hazy pales and IPAs, fluffing them out with adjuncts, malt suppliers are looking to provide more options. Both Gambrinus and Great Western recently released their own Chit Malt products. Barely germinated and lightly kilned, chit malt has moved from niche product to mainstream for its ability to add mouthfeel and foam stability to hazy styles. At the same time, Great Western also released its Low-Color Wheat Malt, which can also add mouthfeel, body, and foam stability while keeping the color (less than 2 SRM) as pale as possible.
Also low in color: Ultra Dingemans Pils, which is otherwise similar to Dingemans Pilsen but malted to an even lower color (about 1.5 SRM). With its subtle character, the company recommends it for clear IPAs and dry-hopped lagers. Another new low-color pilsner malt is Rahr To Thee! Pils (1.3–1.75 SRM), produced in Alberta and promoted for all sorts of lager and West Coast–style ales.
But it’s not all so wan. Over the past few years, more products have appeared to help brewers aim for that scarlet hue. (Dare we hope that red ale is coming back?) Gambrinus Mars Malt (12–16 SRM) can be used as a base malt at up to 100 percent of the grist—producing a red wort at 1.048 (12°P)—while offering a “mild malt sweetness.” Among specialty malts, Briess Crystal Red (200 SRM) brings more intensity, achieving that red hue at about 7 percent of the grist while adding caramel and toffee flavors.
A couple other recent Briess offerings may be of interest, especially as prices on imported malts are set to rise due to tariffs and war. Briess Heritage Gold (3.8 SRM), made from an heirloom variety grown in Montana and Wyoming, is kilned in the style of English ale malts. Briess Lighthouse Munich (6 SRM), meanwhile, is a lighter-colored Munich malt also made from American barley. —J.S.