Brewfather
Brewfather is a modern brewing software designed to help you formulate recipes, manage batches, and track your entire brewing process with an intuitive interface and powerful automation tools.
Circle-Hand
Circle-Hand is a specialized inventory management and point-of-sale software designed specifically for second-hand shops, charity stores, and consignment retailers to streamline unique item tracking and sales.
Quick Comparison
| Feature | Brewfather | Circle-Hand |
|---|---|---|
| Website | brewfather.app | circle-hand.com |
| Pricing Model | Freemium | Custom |
| Starting Price | Free | Custom Pricing |
| FREE Trial | ✓ 30 days free trial | ✘ No free trial |
| Free Plan | ✓ Has free plan | ✘ No free plan |
| Product Demo | ✘ No product demo | ✓ Request demo here |
| Deployment | ||
| Integrations | ||
| Target Users | ||
| Target Industries | ||
| Customer Count | 0 | 0 |
| Founded Year | 2017 | 2003 |
| Headquarters | Oslo, Norway | London, UK |
Overview
Brewfather
Brewfather is a comprehensive brewing management platform that helps you design precise beer recipes and track your brew days from start to finish. You can build recipes using a massive database of ingredients, automatically calculate water chemistry, and scale batches to fit your specific equipment profile. It eliminates the guesswork by providing real-time calculations for bitterness, color, and gravity as you adjust your ingredients.
You can manage your entire inventory, track fermentation with integrated smart devices, and maintain a detailed history of every batch you brew. The platform works seamlessly across all your devices, allowing you to start a recipe on your desktop and follow the brew day checklist on your phone in the garage. It is designed for both passionate homebrewers and small-scale commercial operations looking for professional-grade accuracy.
Circle-Hand
Circle-Hand provides a tailored solution for the unique challenges of the second-hand retail market. You can manage one-of-a-kind items, track donor contributions, and handle gift aid processing all within a single interface. It replaces generic retail tools with features built specifically for circular economy businesses, allowing you to focus on sourcing and selling rather than fighting with incompatible software systems.
The platform helps you bridge the gap between physical storefronts and online sales by syncing your unique inventory across multiple channels. You can generate detailed reports on stock turnover and donor activity to optimize your shop's performance. Whether you run a single community charity shop or a growing network of consignment stores, you get the specialized tools needed to manage high-volume, low-consistency inventory efficiently.
Overview
Brewfather Features
- Recipe Designer Build complex recipes with an intuitive interface that provides instant feedback on style guidelines and vital statistics.
- Inventory Tracking Keep your pantry organized by tracking hop, malt, and yeast stock levels that update automatically after every brew.
- Water Calculator Master your water chemistry by calculating mash pH and mineral additions based on your specific local water profile.
- Batch Management Follow step-by-step brew day timers and log readings to ensure consistency across every gallon you produce.
- Equipment Profiles Create detailed profiles for your specific gear to get highly accurate boil-off, trub loss, and efficiency calculations.
- Smart Device Sync Connect your Tilt, iSpindel, or Plaato devices to monitor fermentation gravity and temperature in real-time.
Circle-Hand Features
- Unique Item Tracking. Register and track individual, one-off items quickly with custom labels and unique identifiers for every piece of stock.
- Gift Aid Processing. Automate your Gift Aid declarations and claims to maximize revenue for your charity shop without manual paperwork.
- Consignment Management. Track payouts and commissions for individual consignors automatically when their items sell in your store or online.
- Multi-Channel Sync. List your unique items on your website and physical shop simultaneously with real-time inventory updates to prevent double-selling.
- Donor Database. Maintain detailed records of your donors and their history to build stronger relationships and encourage repeat contributions.
- Integrated POS. Process sales quickly at the counter with a touch-screen interface designed for the fast-paced environment of a busy thrift store.
Pricing Comparison
Brewfather Pricing
- Up to 10 recipes
- Up to 10 batches
- Recipe designer
- Equipment profiles
- Cloud sync across devices
- Everything in Free, plus:
- Unlimited recipes and batches
- Inventory management
- Smart device integrations
- Water profile tool
- PDF and BeerXML export
Circle-Hand Pricing
Pros & Cons
Brewfather
Pros
- Modern and clean interface is very easy to navigate
- Excellent synchronization between desktop and mobile devices
- Highly accurate water chemistry and mash calculations
- Frequent updates and active development of new features
Cons
- Requires an internet connection for most syncing features
- Learning curve for setting up detailed equipment profiles
- Free version limits the number of stored recipes
Circle-Hand
Pros
- Highly specialized for the unique needs of charity shops
- Simplifies the complex process of Gift Aid claims
- Excellent for managing non-barcoded, one-off inventory items
- Responsive support team familiar with the retail sector
Cons
- Public pricing is not available without a quote
- Interface may feel dated compared to modern general POS
- Limited third-party integrations outside of core retail tools