# Brewing Software For Automation Freaks



## Zwickel (22/7/07)

gday mates,

friend of mine has translated our brewing software also in english.
If someone is interested in applying it, feel free to download.

http://www.elcom-mayer.de/bier/brewingsoft.exe

although the documentatation is not yet done in english and there are still some german expressions in, I think one can use it already, the program is selfexplaining.

Basically its just a temp controller with ramp functions using a Dallas temp sensor at the serial port and a relaiscard (one may build by themselves) at the parallel port.

Before Im going into explanations, Id like to know if there is anyone interested in at all.

If so, Im going to write some documentation and provide some support.

Cheers :beer:


----------



## tangent (22/7/07)

i think you've dropped a chip between a flock of seagulls Zwickel 

Seems there's a big automation/it crowd on here.


----------



## twenty (22/11/07)

+1 for interest

yep, should of checked the date on that one.


----------



## Franko (22/11/07)

sounds good to me


----------



## Mitternacht Brauer (22/11/07)

Very interested as well

Danke.


----------



## BusinessTime (22/11/07)

I'm also quite interested, already have my temp probes and relay board


----------



## randyrob (22/11/07)

Hey Guys,

anyone got this working yet?

first i got this:

View attachment fm20error.bmp


so found a copy of fm20.dll and registered it.

then i got this:

View attachment memoryerror.bmp


tried on both a windows xp and windows vista machine both with VBRun60sp5.

also tried it in backwards compatability mode win 98/me no luck.

Rob.


----------



## Zwickel (22/11/07)

@randyrob,

the programm should be installed into the folder "* :\Brausoftware_PCM", thats very important.

If you gonna start the brausoftware.exe from download and get asked about the place to be installed, just type in the letter of the drive youd like it to be, for example: C:\ or D:\
It will unwrap itself into :\Brausoftware_PCM

then go to this folder and start "Brauanlage_37.exe"

the program should run now.

Cheers :icon_cheers:


----------



## alexbrand (22/11/07)

A new version with a new setup is already released. Zwickel, I'll send it to you so you can update your server.

Thomas fixed some small bugs I think and I've redone the setup und simplified it a bit more.

Alex



EDIT: Here it is: View attachment Setup_3.7.zip


EDIT 2: The errors described by rob are known and there was something to fix it. but I have to be honest, I have forgotten how. I'll work it out. BTW: Sometimes a corrupted MS Office was the reason for the memory error. MS Forms 2.0?

EDIT 3: This is the post a mate placed in our German forum:



> 1.
> install
> VB 6.0
> 
> ...


----------



## jonw (23/11/07)

Is something like this available for linux? I've seen a few threads about it, but I can't find one source that takes you through the whole thing.

Cheers,

Jon


----------



## randyrob (23/11/07)

alexbrand said:


> install active X controll pad



Hey Guys,

thanks for the help looks like all i needed was the active x control pad, all working now  

WOW it appears to be pretty powerfull software!

i'm impressed by your german's, your only legally allowed to brew 200L a year yet you manage to come up with this :lol: 

i'm going to scrap the frontend i was working on and give this a shot

Many Thanks Rob.


----------



## Zizzle (23/11/07)

jonw said:


> Is something like this available for linux? I've seen a few threads about it, but I can't find one source that takes you through the whole thing.



Not that I know of. The software itself is actually the easy part.

Everyone has different hardware and different ideas on how the process should run.

I'm prepared to share the brewbot source code with anyone that is interested. Probably would not be that hard to port it to run under linux.

I was also considering offering some clones of the brewbot hardware for sale. One piece of electronics to automate a complete herms system. Dunno if it's worth my time, or how much interest there would be in it however.


----------



## alexbrand (23/11/07)

randyrob said:


> thanks for the help looks like all i needed was the active x control pad, all working now
> 
> WOW it appears to be pretty powerfull software!
> 
> i'm impressed by your german's, your only legally allowed to brew 200L a year yet you manage to come up with this :lol:



Well, great that it's working now! I really love the software. Now I can do so many things while my laptop is brewing for me 

The 200L are not quite correct. We can brew as much as we want to. The only thing there is that if we brew more than 200L per year we have to pay a few Euros tax depending on the amount of beer and its OG.

Alex


----------



## Zwickel (24/11/07)

Alex, did you pay your beer tax already for this year? :lol: 

another hint: the recipes (*.rez) should stand in the main folder, dont put em in an extra folder, the program will not work properly otherwise.

Cheers :icon_cheers:


----------



## alexbrand (24/11/07)

Zwickel said:


> Alex, did you pay your beer tax already for this year? :lol:



Ha ha ha. I even didn't calculate it yet. I think I missed the 200L goal by 1.54L! So no tax this year. 
On the other hand: the tax will not be collected as long it is less than 5.

Alex


----------



## Flipper79 (13/12/07)

G'day

I'm just having a go at this software but when ever I try to enter something in the parameters, specificly the no. of steps or the temperature I get "Message No.14/15 : Wrong Value !!! Allowed are values between". Any suggestions?


----------



## Zwickel (13/12/07)

Hi Flipper,
the software was written for notebooks, so the block of numbers on the right side of your keyboard wont work, you have to use the upper line of numbers.

I know, its a bit confusing.

Cheers :icon_cheers:


----------



## James Squire (13/12/07)

Hi Zwickel and Alex,

I have been trying to get the software working today also but I've had a few problems. 

Here is an attachment showing what is happening:

View attachment brewsoftware_error.doc


This only occurs when the sensor is connected. Otherwise the software opens ok. The sensor does work though, I have used the digitemp software in dos to get temp measurements and it works fine.

Any tips?

Cheers,

JS


----------



## Zwickel (13/12/07)

Hi JS,

Did you change the configuration file? there is something wrong with the configuration file "Brauanlage.cfg". You should find this file in the main folder of the brewing software.
Just download it again and replace it.

Cheers


----------



## Keifer (13/12/07)

Zwickel, i just read your sig for the first time and lol'ed.

Once i get myself organised next year i'll be looking for a less-hassle brewday option  Other than that im completely off topic...


----------



## Tony (13/12/07)

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh :angry: I dont have winzip...... my evaluation verson is expired so i cant run that software link  

does anyone know where i can get free winzip?

cheers


----------



## Zwickel (13/12/07)

Tony said:


> Ahhhhhhhhhhhh :angry: I dont have winzip...... my evaluation verson is expired so i cant run that software link
> 
> does anyone know where i can get free winzip?
> 
> cheers


Tony, just take it from my webspace, it should unwrap itself: http://www.elcom-mayer.de/bier/brewingsoft.exe

:icon_cheers:


----------



## Zizzle (13/12/07)

Tony: http://www.7-zip.org/


----------



## James Squire (14/12/07)

Fixed my problem. It seemed to occur with Alex's updated version of the software. I un-installed and re-installed Zwickel's version from the first post of the thread and it works fine.

Cheers guys,

JS.


----------



## Online Brewing Supplies (14/12/07)

randyrob said:


> Hey Guys,
> 
> anyone got this working yet?
> 
> ...


Hi Rob
I have had this running (XP) for the last 4 brews and it does do the job really well. The first thing I will mention is I loaded it to C/programs and it did not like it.After I moved it to C drive directory it worked a treat.It does take a bit of time to make it function but is really worth it in the final result.I still have not got it to run my mash paddle but thats not the software its my lack of a machined shaft coupler.If you want to come over and see it in action give me a PM and we can arrange a time .
Cheers GB


----------



## alexbrand (14/12/07)

Sorry, didn't follow this thread for several days. Are there still problems? feel free to report...

Cheers,

Alex

BTW: One of the next versions will have an active numpad. As Zwickel mentioned it is written for notebooks. Just stand by.


----------



## Cannibal Smurf (18/7/11)

Bump - anyone still using this? New version on it's way I heard


----------



## fraser_john (18/7/11)

Be really interesting if I could read German, looks like development is ongoing....Linky


----------



## Online Brewing Supplies (18/7/11)

I am still using this but have hooked up my mash paddle now . So no more hand mashing and no more carbon monoxide for breakfast.
Next step is to mount the touch screen, been going to do it for years  
Nev 
GB


----------



## zxhoon (18/7/11)

anything in english? would be mint if this works with the serial/dalas 1 wire kit i have along with the parallel port relay card kit i have, been sitting on these things for years and never got around to playing with them...


----------



## fraser_john (19/7/11)

I ran one of the web pages through Google Translator and it did a very good job, give it a try!


----------



## alexbrand (20/7/11)

Hey,

the autor is updating the software from time to time. At the moment it's version 4.3 out.
I'm not using it anymore.... but some years back I helped Thomas to develop and test the software...

Cheers,

Alex

Download source: Brauanlagensoftware Download. To get the file just click on "Software herunterladen" at th end of the page.


----------



## zxhoon (20/7/11)

Cheers fraser_john, haven't had a chance to yet but will do, hopefully all the gear I've got works with it, will save me writing any software (that after 2 years I still haven't managed haha)

Thanks for the link alexbrand, will have a tinker now


----------

