Interested to know about this BrewPi

Hi there,

I am just setting up a brewery, it’ll have 2 x 18kw heater elements on 3 phase (400v). I am looking for an automation system and the BrewPi looks great.

My only hesitation is that it seems to that the website has not been updated much at all since 2017 with lots of old content.

Is this product/project still active? Some update on blog posts etc would inspire a bit more confidence and maybe some better product YouTube videos etc?

Unless I am missing something? (which I hope I am!)

I look forward to hearing peoples experience.

During the last two years, we’ve been building BrewPi’s successor, Brewblox. Same hardware, completely new software.
It’s been in open beta for the past year, and will have an official release shortly. (Including new website, and us actively advertising it).

You can find the interim site for guides and docs at brewblox.netlify.com

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@Bob_Steers - Thanks. Good to know it’s still in active development and that if I buy the hardware now then it’ll be supported going forward.

If I am looking to setup a BrewPi for my HLT only at the moment, 5000 litres in size - which has 2 x 18kw 3 phase elements. Can I do it with the following:
BREWPI SPARK 3 x 1
3-PHASE SOLID STATE RELAY (SSR), 30A x 2
WALL MOUNTED ONEWIRE TEMPERATURE SENSOR - FOR KETTLE OR FEMENTOR, BSP x2
FLEXIBLE 2-WIRE 1MM2 CABLE x 2

  • some heat sinks.

I’d use 2 temperature probes to get the temperature measured across the whole tank.

Will that work for my setup? + a RasberryPi etc.

Many thanks

5000 liter? I assume that’s a typo?

In any case, you’ll need @Elco for a definitive answer to that. I wrote a lot of the new software, but that doesn’t make me an authority on hardware (or brewing, come to think of it)

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5000L isn’t a typo - it’s a big(ish) brewery! I look forward to confirmation from @Elco.
18kw per phase - 3 phase power - 25amps per phase.
Many thanks.
Carl

Hi Carl,

That is a big HLT. With two 18 kW elements, it will still take 10 minutes per degree C to heat it.
(5000*4200/(2*18000).

The 30A SSRs are the right choice. For the temperature sensors, I would consider installing a thermowell and using the simpler temp sensors inside it:
https://store.brewpi.com/temperature-control/temperature-sensors/waterproof-onewire-temperature-sensor-rj11-ds18b20-2-5m

That way if a temperature sensor fails, you can swap it without having to empty a 5000L tank.
A thermowell with a 1/4" ID (6.35mm) is suitable.

Your list seems complete.

Cheers,

Elco