BrewPi Group Build Day?

[indianajns]

IMG_9785 (1).jpg (3.08 MiB) Viewed 12890 times

I have a BrewPi that has been one of the best additions to my Brew process/equipment, https://www.brewpi.com/. It keeps the temperature of my fermenting beer to 1 F. It allows for pre programmed temperature ramps and I can see the progress of fermentation from any connected device on my home network. I've built 2 of these and I am curious if others in the club would be interested in a group build sometime in the near future. If there is enough interest I'll put together a list of the components to order. (All can be purchased on Amazon.) The price for everything is ~$100. If you are interested in participating respond to this post.

[ScottK]

This is an excellent idea Greg. Count me in. I've long been interested in this but I'm only half as smart as the others in this club and this has always intimidated me.

[BrewMasterBrad]

This is an excellent idea Greg. Count me in. I've long been interested in this but I'm only half as smart as the others in this club and this has always intimidated me.

Don't sell yourself short, Scott. You're way less than half as smart as other people in the club.

I used to use a BrewPi to control my fermentation temps, but one day it just stopped working. Something happened to the OS and it took a big steaming turd. I have used the BCS ever since with zero issues. The BrewPi is a fun project, however, and it was great while it worked.

[indianajns]

I used to use a BrewPi to control my fermentation temps, but one day it just stopped working. Something happened to the OS and it took a big steaming turd.

Sorry to hear that Brad, losing a beer over your temp controller would suck. I'm not sure what version you were using but I know the earlier iterations crapped out, (Especially when using WiFi) There have been consistent updates to the open source code over the years and my experience it has been very stable. (Especially if you assign an IP and don't leave it dynamic.) I've brewed over 100 beers on it without any issues (After they solved the WiFi problem.) One of the nice features with the BrewPi is that if something goes tits up with the raspberry pi the arduino will maintain the temp until you restart the RasPi.

[bwarbiany]

I had constant issues with the Raspberry Pints. It seemed every time it lost power, the OS got corrupted. So I had to rebuild the damn thing from scratch, every time.

Eventually I just set up my home Linux box as a web server and hosted Raspberry Pints on a standard PC. Now it's rock solid.

So I can understand the worry about a Raspberry Pi being somewhat less than stable.

[CurtisG]

I'll throw in my two cents.

I've been using a brewpi for about 2 years now and haven't had any issues. At first I had an old laptop running the arduino but recently upgraded to a rasp. pi 3+.

Comparing it to other controllers I've used;

Ranco: Had one die on my mid-brew and replaced it via Amazon next day air. $60 bucks, and it doesn't offer heat and chilling at once. Only one or the other. I replaced the (still working) second one with my brewpi.

InkBird: These are great controllers. Always go on sale for $30 bucks and can heat and chill your beer at the same time. I'd recommend these over ranco controllers because they can turn on a heat lamp or heater to keep your beer warm overnight. Normally not an issue with us in California, but I need one in the winter since I ferment outside/in the garage.

The think I like about the brewpi is I can set up a fermentation schedule and forget about my beer if I want to. I like to ramp up and crash over the course of a few days and I can punch that in when I pitch my yeast and let it go. You can also reload fermentation schedules you've used in the past. It's also nice that it charts the temperature of the beer and fridge individually and charts when the heating or cooling is on on the graph itself. I always assumed my other controllers would keep temps stable but having the proof is awesome.

Concerning stability, I've had no issues. I was worried at first since you control it via your network but the brewpi loads your schedule into your arduino which controls the fridge. It will run even if the brewpi is toast (although you won't be able to change it without contacting the brewpi via network). I had a spotty network for a few weeks and when I was able to get back up and running I checked the brewpi and it had all the info during the outage proving the beer was fine.

Just wanted to give all the info I had so people can make a decision on whether or not they want to build one of these.

[JonW]

I had constant issues with the Raspberry Pints. It seemed every time it lost power, the OS got corrupted. So I had to rebuild the damn thing from scratch, every time.

Eventually I just set up my home Linux box as a web server and hosted Raspberry Pints on a standard PC. Now it's rock solid.

So I can understand the worry about a Raspberry Pi being somewhat less than stable.

Mine is the exact same way now. I actually got rid of the Rpints db and just did my brew menu in a JSON text file.

If you have anything reading/writing repeatedly to the SD card in the Pi, you WILL eventually suffer a catostrophic failure. Just make sure you have a backup image so you can pop in a new card and get back up and running with minimal hassle and downtime.

[JonW]

Comparing it to other controllers I've used;

Seriously? You don't have a BCS to compare it to?

[CurtisG]

Comparing it to other controllers I've used;

Seriously? You don't have a BCS to compare it to?

I knew I'd get this one

BCS would obviously be the best controller on the market, but the cost is pretty hefty to control a mini fridge. That being said everyone in brewcommune buy a bcs kthx


Jokes aside, I was commenting on Brewpi, not Raspberry pints. Not sure if you guys have run Brewpi, but like I said. Never had an issue with it. I haven't used rasp. pints so I can't chime in.

[JonW]

Jokes aside, I was commenting on Brewpi, not Raspberry pints. Not sure if you guys have run Brewpi, but like I said. Never had an issue with it. I haven't used rasp. pints so I can't chime in.

LOL, I hear ya. My point was backing up Brad about using an Rpi for these things. Don't get me wrong, I love the Rpi as it's a great platform for building cool things like Brewpi and Rpints, but so many of them suffer SD card failures. Any program that does logging (e.g. continuous writes) will eventually cause the Pi to fail.

[CurtisG]

Don't get me wrong, I love the Rpi as it's a great platform for building cool things like Brewpi and Rpints, but so many of them suffer SD card failures. Any program that does logging (e.g. continuous writes) will eventually cause the Pi to fail.

Ah ok, that makes sense, I'll have to get a spare SD card just in case then. Thanks for the heads up.

At least the arduino should keep the beer temp stable if the pi bricks up.

[gromitdj]

I've been using my BrewPi for about 4 or 5 years now and it works great. Although I did switch to an old laptop running Debian about 3 years ago. I love BrewPi, but may be switching to Fermentrack soon. It's basically a new web interface for the BrewPi script. I am considering it for a couple of reasons:

1. Elco and the team over at BrewPi no longer support the Legacy version, which is the Arduino based version. They have since moved over to the Spark.
2. It uses mostly the same hardware as the BrewPi build. The Wemos/Lolin D1 Mini is used rather than an Arduino
3. Multi-Chamber support is much easier to implement.
4. Support for the tilt or the iSpindel are built in. (I am partial to the iSpindel, since I co-created the PCB that is being used most commonly)

As a side note, if anyone is interested in the iSpindel, I have a number of the plastic drawers that I will donate. It may be worthwhile to build a couple on the same "build day". I can offer up a build list for anyone interested.

[SamIam]

As a side note, if anyone is interested in the iSpindel, I have a number of the plastic drawers that I will donate. It may be worthwhile to build a couple on the same "build day". I can offer up a build list for anyone interested.

Yes, I'm interested. Can you send me or post up the build list?

Thanks!

[gromitdj]

Yes, I'm interested. Can you send me or post up the build list?

Thanks!

Sure, here is a list of what I used to build the iSpindel's that I am currently using. If this should be posted in a separate thread, I'd be glad to do so. Or if a mod would like to move it, that works too.

iSpindel Circuit Board (Full disclosure: I get a small kickback when these are ordered)
Lolin/Wemos D1 mini
GY-521 (Gyro/Tilt Sensor)
TP4056 (LiPo Charger)

DS18B20 Temp Sensor
4.7k Resistor (¼ Watt)
220k Resistor (¼ Watt)
BAT43 Schottky Diode (or either a 330 Ohm or 470 Ohm resistor, I recommend the diode)
Toy Switch

XXL PETling
18650 LiPo Battery
3D Printed Sled This item has to be 3D printed. If you have access to one there are a couple of iterations. The link is to the version that I have extras of.

I recommend ordering some extras wherever you can. Especially the D1 Mini, the Gyro, and the charging module. I had a bad gyro. I burned up 1 or 2 D1's making dumb mistakes. They are somewhat inexpensive, but they can take a while to arrive from Aliexpress so if you need another one, it puts a halt to production. They can be ordered from Amazon as well, but price is significantly more.

If any questions, just ask. If this becomes a part of the build day, I'd love to come help everyone along where I can.

[SamIam]

Thanks for posting all the info. I've done a couple other IoT projects using the Wemos board along with a relay, temp and humidity shield. I may have a good portion of the items already. If anyone else is interested I'll post up another thread about the build.