You know the feeling.
It's Thursday evening. You're settling in after dinner, maybe cracking open one of your own brews, and then it hits you: "Wait, when did I last check gravity on that IPA?"
You try to remember. Was it Tuesday? Sunday? Did you write it down somewhere? You glance at the fridge where a sticky note used to be. It fell off three days ago. It's behind the fridge now, with the dust bunnies and a bottle cap from 2023.
Sound familiar?
If you've ever fermented a batch of beer, you've lived this moment. And if you've ever ruined a batch because you missed a critical gravity reading, lost $40 in ingredients and three weeks of patience, you know it's not just annoying. It stings.
The Sticky Note Problem
Here's the thing about gravity checks: they're not hard. Taking a hydrometer reading takes two minutes. The hard part is remembering to do it on time, consistently, across a multi-week fermentation.
Most homebrewers use some combination of sticky notes on the fermenter (that fall off), generic phone reminders (that get snoozed into oblivion), "I'll just remember" (spoiler: you won't), or brewing apps that do way too much when all you need is a nudge.
None of these work great. And when they fail, you either catch it late or you don't catch it at all. A missed gravity reading doesn't just mean incomplete data. It can mean you miss the window to dry hop, transfer, or bottle. And that can mean off-flavors, over-carbonation, or a batch you pour down the drain.
Meet GravityPing (Beta)
We built GravityPing, a dead-simple app that does one thing: reminds you when it's time to check your gravity.
That's it. No recipe databases. No water chemistry calculators. No 47-tab brewing spreadsheet. Just a clean, focused reminder system built specifically for fermentation tracking.
We're launching it today as a beta. The core is solid. The reminders work. The tracking works. But we're calling it beta because we want to build the rest of it with real brewers, not in a vacuum.
How It Works
Tell GravityPing what you're brewing, pick your check-in days, and choose how you want to be reminded. Free users get email reminders on whatever schedule they choose. Pro users get SMS and WhatsApp reminders.
On check day, GravityPing sends you a nudge. Open the app, tap "Log a check," drop in your gravity reading. Two taps and you're done.
Your dashboard shows your active batch with a simple weekly tracker. Green checks for days you logged, clear markers for what's coming up. No guessing, no sticky notes, no "wait, was that Tuesday or Wednesday?"
Over time, your readings tell a story. Watch the gravity curve flatten out and know exactly when fermentation is winding down. We calculate your estimated ABV as you go, because why not. You're already logging the numbers.
Why We Built This
At SimbaApps, we build small apps for specific problems. When we started researching homebrewing communities, r/Homebrewing, forums, local brew clubs, we kept seeing the same story:
"I forgot to check gravity and my batch sat too long in primary."
"Does anyone have a good system for remembering gravity checks?"
"I ruined a porter because I missed the terminal gravity window."
These aren't beginners. These are experienced brewers who've been doing this for years. The problem isn't knowledge. It's the reality of a busy life colliding with a process that requires consistent attention over weeks.
We saw a gap. No one had built a simple, dedicated tool for this. The big brewing apps (Brewfather, BeerSmith) are great for recipes and calculations, but they're not built around the reminder-and-track loop of fermentation monitoring. And generic reminder apps don't understand brewing schedules.
What "Beta" Actually Means
We want to be honest about where we are. This isn't a "beta" label slapped on a finished product to generate hype.
What works right now: Sign up with your email (magic link, no password needed), create fermentation cycles with check-in schedules, get email reminders on your check days, log gravity readings and track them over time, see your fermentation history and estimated ABV.
What we're still building: SMS and WhatsApp notifications (Pro feature, coming soon), more flexible scheduling options, and quality-of-life improvements based on your feedback.
We launched before everything was perfect because we'd rather get this into real brewers' hands now than polish it in isolation for another month.
Free and Pro
GravityPing is free to use with email reminders and fully custom schedules. Set up your batches, get email pings, log your readings. That's enough for most brewers.
GravityPing Pro unlocks custom check schedules and SMS/WhatsApp notifications (coming soon). Pro is a small subscription. Cheaper than the ingredients in a single ruined batch.
Try the Beta
GravityPing is live now at gravityping.com. Sign up with your email, no password needed. We'll send you a magic link and you'll be tracking your first batch in under a minute.
If you're a homebrewer who's tired of sticky notes and snoozed alarms, we're building this for you. And we genuinely want to hear what you think.