Dave,
I'm not sure what would cause this - so far no one else has reported this issue. I would suggest making a full backup copy of the BeerSmith directory under Program Files and then try a clean install. I don't see any reason why the new version would be slower than 1.3.
Before doing the clean install you might want to also open Internet Explorer and see that it is set up and acting properly. BeerSmith uses an Internet Explorer plugin for print preview and printing, and if IE is set to some bizarre setting or non-existant printer (see print setup on the file menu under internet explorer) it might cause performance problems under BeerSmith.
Cheers!
Brad