In Tune

Tyler/ August 19, 2015/ Programming/ 0 comments

The recent modifications to the cabinet warranted a small software upgrade. The power and heat transfer of the two modes are drastically different. The heating side, a SSR-throttled in-line water heater element, can increase the temperature of the fluid much faster than the thermoelectric chips I was using previously. The cooling side, a copper coil sitting inside the refrigerator, is much slower; in fact, it

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Splish Splash

Tyler/ August 3, 2015/ Brewing Hardware/ 0 comments

It’s ready for a test drive. The conical fermenter is assembled and in place, ready to make some delicious beer with the convenience of a commercial brewery. The last part needed was a clean-in-place system. Since my fermenter is so challenging to get in and out of its mounted position in my cabinet, I need a way to clean and

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Cabinet 2.0

Tyler/ July 27, 2015/ Brewing Hardware, Electronics/ 0 comments

Trang and My Lan were out of town over the weekend. While I’ve mostly forgotten what it’s like to have the place to myself, I did manage to keep busy working on an academic manuscript and, of course, the brewery. Between the broken cabinet fan, the conversion from thermoelectric chips to a tube mounted water heater, and the conical installation,

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Under Pressure!

Tyler/ July 13, 2015/ Brewing Hardware/ 0 comments

I finally pressure tested my fermentor!Several brewers have made conical fermenters using plastic tanks. These tanks have the benefit of a valve at the very bottom. This allows the removal of trub (dead yeast) without transferring to a whole new vessel. The disadvantage is setting up a conical fermenter takes a little more work. Using a simple ball valve on

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Circuit Board Woes

Tyler/ July 11, 2015/ Electronics/ 0 comments

My guru told me long ago that I’d find myself cutting traces on printed circuit boards to problem solve. I thought I must have been lucky to go two-for-two without any hardware problems, but I found that the FTDI problem with my valve board was electronic, not software. I neglected to include a 100 nF capacitor between the FTDI DTR

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Brew Day: What a Cluster

Tyler/ June 28, 2015/ Brewday/ 0 comments

My cabinet isn’t all together, but this is my last opportunity to brew for four or five weeks because of call. I’m really itching to go all grain, but I’m sure I’ll make many more extract batches before I’ve got a configuration that can reliably function. Until then, I’ll keep doing what I’m doing. I’m out of home brew, so

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OneWire Header

Tyler/ June 21, 2015/ Electronics/ 0 comments

Measurement of temperature is important to many stages of brewing. There are lots of options out there, but I decided on the DS18B20. What’s different about this device is that it’s not just a thermocouple or thermistor but a self contained chip with which you communicate digitally. The device communicates via the OneWire protocol, so multiple such devices can be

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Standalone Arduino

Tyler/ June 4, 2015/ Electronics/ 1 comments

My custom Arduino shield for my fermentation cabinetĀ gets the job done, it’s a less than optimal design. First, I used multiple individual optocouplers and transistors. It would have been much more elegant to use integrated components with multiple optocouplers and multiple transistors in one package. Second, I used only screw terminals, which are not very sturdy. Lastly, and mostly, shields

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RIMS Heating Elements

Tyler/ June 3, 2015/ Brewing Hardware/ 0 comments

In designing my all grain setup, I decided to go the route of the Recirculating Infusion Mash System (RIMS). The Heat Exchanger Recirculating Mash System (HERMS) seems like the best route for most brewers, but it’s hard to beat a RIMS if the main objective is automation because RIMS is doesn’t suffer the lag time that a HERMS does. I’m

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