Brew Pi Ferment Control

[Jazzafish]

http://brewpi.com/

Anyone else doing something like it? I just tape the probe to the fermenter... but kinda keen.

 

[slash22000]

Looking at all those electronic bits and bobs ... It's like asking me to conjure a unicorn from the enchanted forest. :huh:

 

[dent]

There isn't a lot of difference between using the raspberry pi and using a PC for automation purposes really - the pi will usually run linux, the main difference is the size and solid state nature of the board, with a little extra IO attached. I guess my feeling is that it is a hitting a fly with a sledgehammer sort of thing.

Unless you insist on having your fermenter connected to the internet there isn't much there that can't be accomplished with using a simple microcontroller. I programmed one a while ago that could monitor the ferment over time, adjust heating/cooling, auto diacetyl rest and that sort of thing. I don't actually bother to use it anymore - STC1000 in a box is good enough really.

 

[Robbo2234]

it looks cool!
I would love to know what my beer is up to while I am out, but the clincher for me is the gravity sensor!

 

[hughbert]

just got my raspberry pi in the mail and have ordered the parts to get this up and running. im a bit of a nerd so it seems fairly straight forward however anyone could do it it's just a bunch of copy and paste really!

 

[Robbo2234]

Got XBMC on a PI in the bed room, ordering a few more for multi room audio. think there will be another one on the list!!

 

[Truman42]

Got XBMC on a PI in the bed room, ordering a few more for multi room audio. think there will be another one on the list!!

OT.....Yeh same here.. Openelec with XBMC in the loungeroom. Overclocked and running from a USB stick instead of a flash drive because its quicker.

 

[Online Brewing Supplies]

I am setting up my PI as an inhouse web server so I can play and not destroy my real web site :kooi:
BTW Dent made me do it !
Nev

 

[zindello]

I've actually been following the development of this board for quite some time now. It's produce by a bloke named Elco. Elco is located in Poland I believe, and he's a pretty genuine bloke.

The BrewPi has two components:

Arduino Uno/Leonardo & BrewPi Shield - All the heavy lifting takes place here. All of the temp control, Automatic PID tuning, etc
Raspberry Pi - Basically a LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP) sever that polls the Arduino over serial and provides your stats and reporting.

The unit can and does operate with the need for a Pi, the Pi just allows you to remotely monitor it from a web interface.

I've pointed Elco at this thread so hopefully he'll pop up soon enough and make comment.

 

[ajt2]

http://brewpi.com/

Anyone else doing something like it? I just tape the probe to the fermenter... but kinda keen.

Check out this

http://morebeer.com/products/hood-thermowell-3-5-6-65-gallon-smooth-neck-carboys-15.html

 

[zindello]

You're much better to suspend the temp probe in the wort if you can, or at least have it in a thermowell in the wort. I've found that simply by taping the ambient air temp around the side of the probe that's not in contact with the fermenter can throw out the readings.

When you're talking about the accuracy that Elco is able to achieve with BrewPi, the probe really needs to be IN the wort.

 

[zindello]

Elco is located in Poland I believe, and he's a pretty genuine bloke.

Correction: I've just been advised that Elco is actually from the Netherlands*

 

[mkj]

Yeah, I was running an AVR for temp control but wanted better network control, and a Raspberry Pi was cheaper than ethernet on an AVR. So now it's running Python on a raspberry pi. Using gpio pins to a 240V relay (using a 240v remote switch with an optocoupler soldered in), using a few DS18B20s, one sitting in the wort with a Brewers Hardware thermowell. I've got plans for a gravity sensor eventually... Code is here, graphs like

 

[Droughtmaster]

whats a pi

 

[Richard54]

Hi like an earlier post I just built the pi at home this week. Yet to buy old fridge and brew a lager. It's a really neat idea but it does require quite a few bits you won't get much change from 200 GBP. But if you are a bit of an it nerd it's fun. It will monitor ambient tem p as well as wort temp so am hoping I will get very consistent temp.

Re re last post a pi ... It's a raspberry pi which is a simple computer you can buy for 25gbp aimed at educational market .... But you run it via your PC linked by your wifi....

will let u know how it goes....

 

[brewinski]

late entry ...

I built one of these from buying a Raspi and not knowing what else to do with it ... it cost me less than $100 in parts (temp sensors, wire, solder, box to house it) ... I already had a small wine fridge that the wife let me use for the ferm chamber, and a 40w light globe in a tin, as a heater (sitting on a small candelabra so it doesn't scorch the bottom of the fridge).

I actually had it up and working before I brewed my first beer, due to my understanding at the time that Temperature control during Fermentation was key to great beer, and I am a world class geek

It is set up so I can check it on the browser on my phone, which I did every 30 seconds for my first few brews ... I think I only went to work to be able to check it from a distance

I also incorporated a microphone in the system, so I can hear the bubbling, and in fact measure the time between bubbles so I can estimate if activity is increasing/decreasing...

god it got tiring !!!

... had drain off a bit of the geek OCD-ness, and try being a normal boy again ... plus once the resulting beers started to get opened, I lost track/interest in fiddling constantly... I had some serious drinking/tasting to participate in ...

.... now, I just set the temp, and come back and look next weekend ... maybe a little peek at it if it is a hot day, just to make sure it is keeping things just so ... but otherwise I love how easy it is to walk away from, safe in the knowledge that temp is maintained brilliantly.

*Be warned, if there is an electronics geek potentially living inside you, you will lose a chunk of your life to something like this ...

I tell this story as a warning, and hope that I can save just one of you from all the time wasting associated... not in building it, or setting up the chamber, or chasing purchases on ebay for the parts, or even using it ... just from checking the bloody thing every nano second ... be warned, it will take you down my friend, you will find yourself one day sitting on the can pressing the browser refresh like a person possessed, sweating/swearing on your low 3g/4g signal ... but I am hoping this tale gets to you before you get that low.

 

[lickapop]

Lol classic I got the brewpi fever too. Got my soldering iron out a few times to start but decided to drink beer instead.

Did you hard wire your fridge?