Hi, I love the look of brewpi and was thinking of using it in a small commercial micro. I have looked through the forum snd dfocs but wanted to check a couple of assumptions? We have 2 fvs and 3 cts with glycol cooling only. I can see how I could use 5 temp sensors and add some address switches for the glycol servos off one spark. Am I right that currently I would need to run 5 pi servers to temp profile each tank? Would each pi be set up to record one temp asnd control one switch? Will the spark rthen accept 5 diff target temps from 5 diff pi servers or am igetting way off base here? We would also like to record hlt temp, ambiant temp, glycol bath temp? Would that require another pi also. That would mean up to 10 temp sensors and 5 switches is there a limit to the number of these that the spark can address? I also saw mentioned a pi software upgrade path that implied that eventually multiple fvs may be handled by one pi, is that right and if I get the current hardware can I upgrade later. On the hardware point if I could get the pi 2 and eventually the spark photon would they plug in fine or am I best with rthe hardware on the brewpi site? Basically it looks amazing but I worry I am asking to much of it!! Cheers Toby
The hardware should be cable of handling all of that by one device, but the software is not ready to do that yet.
I think it would be best to wait for us to evolve the software to control multiple vessels.
Is there anything preventing brewpi from controlling a single craft brewery size fermenter ~25hl/50hl and glycol system currently?
This is a noob question as regards commercial brewing:
When I have toured breweries they commonly talk about their fermentors having jackets, and I often see a glycol-based chilling system. But I don’t recall ever hearing that they use the jackets to warm the fermenting product, only to cool it. Surely there must be some method for warming through a jacket because, for example, a Saison ferments at higher than typical room temperature.
So what does a microbrewery do for the kind of temperature control a homebrewer can get out of a dual-stage controller like BrewPi? Do they switch between pumping warm water vs. chilled glycol solution through the jacket?
Fermentation provides heat. You may need to keep a 5 gallon ferment warm, but it is never an issue for a commercial size brew.