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Build Your Own BSD Beer Brewing Control System

Posted by michael on from the worthy-endeavors dept.

gnuguru writes "Here's a great use for some of your old hardware, a BSD beer brewing kit! Components: one 486, FreeBSD, a temperature logger kit, a relay board, some odds and ends from the useful box, and some time. Summer's just around the corner, so get to work gang!" You'll have to use this recipe, naturally.

31 of 222 comments (clear)

  1. Alternative ideas for this system... by ZiZ · · Score: 2, Interesting
    This really sounds like a neat system - not just for beer, but for anything for which a relatively constant temperature is useful or important. Like, say, you could hook it up to (or really, instead of) your classic thermostat, although a mercury switch has the advantage of not needing to reboot if it goes out due to a power outage...

    I wonder how feasable it would be to set one of these up to regulate the water temperature in your shower. Set it for something warm and cozy, and it will run at that temperature until the hot water starts to decline, sound a warning, and maintain as high a temperature as possible following that, with a gradual return to the desired temperature if the supply of hot water returns to normal...

    --
    This flies in the face of science.
    1. Re:Alternative ideas for this system... by commodoresloat · · Score: 2, Insightful
      This really sounds like a neat system - not just for beer, but for anything for which a relatively constant temperature is useful or important

      There's something more useful or important than beer?

    2. Re:Alternative ideas for this system... by groggy-P · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Shower temperature regulation is one of the things I've been thinking
      of for decades. It requires much faster responses than beer brewing,
      and to do it right you need to understand the differential pressures
      of the hot and cold water. It's a lot simpler to buy a thermostatic
      valve.

      Greg

  2. BSD by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    BSD: The Beer Service Device.

  3. Accessories? by Eziril · · Score: 4, Informative

    Now to put some in my Peltier Beer cooler http://www.stud.ntnu.no/~arnesen/peltierbeer/

    --
    Aw, people can come up with statistics to prove anything, Kent. 14 percent of all people know that. --Homer Simpson
    1. Re:Accessories? by G-funk · · Score: 2, Funny

      He said beer, not guiness.... Why anybody would want to drink vegemite instead of just putting it on toast is still a mystery to me of course.

      --
      Send lawyers, guns, and money!
  4. Summer? by BladeMelbourne · · Score: 3, Funny
    Summer's just around the corner, so get to work gang!

    Being the 15th of January, it is exactly half way through Melbourne's 3 month summer season now. You self centered US folk :p

    1. Re:Summer? by tie_guy_matt · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Not just US centered. Face it most of the Earth's land mass -- and therefore most of the human population, live in the Northern hemisphere where it is the dead of winter right now. Not that being in the Southern hemisphere, and therefore being different is a bad thing; IMO being different is good!

    2. Re:Summer? by eap · · Score: 2, Interesting
      I don't know why they mention summer. If you're lagering your beer you need to ferment it around 55 degrees fahrenheit, and it's hard to keep the temperature that low for weeks on end during the hot summer. If you don't, your beer will end up with nasty banana flavored esters, and you will get headaches when you drink it. You can, of course, brew ales, but they still need to be kept relatively cool.

      This is one reason the Czechs brew their Pilsner before it gets too hot, and then age it in cool cellars until fall. Bacteria grow easier when it is hot too, increasing the chance of brewing an infected batch. This is not to say you can't brew great beer in the summer, it's just harder.

  5. Hey... by FuturePastNow · · Score: 2, Funny

    The first time I read that headline, I thought it said "BSD Beer Brewing System."

    Oh, wait...

    --
    Give a man fire, and you warm him for the night. Set a man on fire, and you warm him for the rest of his life.
    1. Re:Hey... by Saeed+al-Sahaf · · Score: 2, Funny

      The first time I read your post, I thought it was an overused joke that was lame to begain with.

      Oh wait...

      --
      "Who are in control, they are not in control of anything - they don't even control themselves!" - Glen Beck
  6. Free, as in? by Ghostgate · · Score: 5, Funny

    This brings new meaning to the phrase: "Free(BSD) as in beer."

  7. Let me see if I've got this straight.... by trs9000 · · Score: 5, Funny

    So, now, I can make beer that's free as in speech? I'm confused.

  8. Great for work by nizo · · Score: 3, Funny

    The fun part is explaining to your boss why you need a fridge for the new computer "disk pack".

    --
    I Am My Own Worst Enemy
  9. Open Source Beer? by kingjosh · · Score: 3, Funny

    As with any open source project . . . we'll need a lot of testing. Any volunteers?

  10. Coincidence? by nuxx · · Score: 2, Funny

    Wow, what a weird post to read right now... I'm actually brewing beer as I type this. There's about 52 minutes left in the boil. Unfortunately I'm doing it the old analog method.

    If anyone is interested in reading the recipe for the beer I'm making, look here.

    1. Re:Coincidence? by molnarcs · · Score: 2, Funny
      I know you're joking, but just for clarity's sake: the BSD licence does allow to put another label on your beer, but it doesn't allow you to claim it is your own.

      Basically, the BSD licence is similar to PHK's (another FreeBSD developer) Beer-Ware Licence

      * "THE BEER-WARE LICENSE" (Revision 42):
      * <phk@FreeBSD.ORG> wrote this file. As long as you retain this notice you
      * can do whatever you want with this stuff. If we meet some day, and you think
      * this stuff is worth it, you can buy me a beer in return Poul-Henning Kamp
      I wonder how many have adopted this licence :)))

      ps. Now this" is really funny! :)))))

  11. Toldja FreeBSD wasn't dead!!!... by cepler · · Score: 5, Insightful

    See, FreeBSD isn't dead! Just drunk!

  12. A simple thermostat isn't good enough... by ZombieEngineer · · Score: 5, Informative
    The purpose from the article was to provide a temperature profile. Biological processes are a tad bit complicated with the desired product sometimes will only be produced under certain circumstances, from memory Penicilin is only formed by a certain fungus during the "death stage" of fermentation at a specific temperature. eg: all the culture is used up and the biomas starts to consume itself)

    By controlling the temperature profile during fermentation it is possible to radically change the "taste" of the product. That is why the Australian / South African wine growers can churn out a reasonably good product cheaply (as opposed to the French) as they use large temperature controlled stainless steel vats with scorched oak chips rather than small wooden casks.

    Zombie Engineer

    1. Re:A simple thermostat isn't good enough... by medoc · · Score: 3, Informative

      For your information, in France as elsewhere, the fermentation phase of wine brewing is done in large containers (inox or wood or cement vats).

      The wine is only transferred to casks when the fermentation is done.

      The period while the wine stays in casks is called elevage (can't remember the english term), and aims at refining the wine taste before bottling (this can last up to a few years). Not all wines go through a cask elevage.

      There are a few cases of fermentation in casks, but they are truely the exception.

  13. BSD eh? by digitalgimpus · · Score: 2, Funny

    Beer Software Distribution

    Should have known.

    A distro dedicated to beer...how wonderful.

    So when will we see Windows XP "Hard Lemonade" Edition?

  14. So will this be free? by bennomatic · · Score: 2, Funny

    As in beer?

    --
    The CB App. What's your 20?
  15. Re:How long until... by Stevyn · · Score: 2, Funny

    What does the Coors brewing company have to do with beer?

  16. Free as in beer by Eric+Giguere · · Score: 2, Funny

    Yet another misinterpretation Richard Stallman's manifesto! It must drive him bonkers.

    Eric
    JavaScript is not Java
  17. Tooting my own horn by Brandybuck · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Speaking of FreeBSD and brewing, check out QBrew. Open Source brewing software for FreeBSD (or Linux, Unix, OSX, Windows, etc). It's developed on FreeBSD, and as far as I know it's the only (stable and released) native brewing software for Linux, BSD, Unix and OSX. Get it at http://www.usermode.org/code.html and start Open Source brewing today!

    p.s. That last link of the story blurb goes to some folks who claim to have brewed the world's first Open Source beer. Balderdash! They're greenhorn newbies when it comes to Open Source beers and ales! My brewing software and recipes have been Open Source for years prior to their arrival. Heck, they even predate the license they use! So get the Original(tm) Open Source Beer and get QBrew!

    p.p.s. Okay, I'm done blowing my own horn now. I won't do this again until the next beer/brewing story appears on Slashdot...

    --
    Don't blame me, I didn't vote for either of them!
  18. Fundamentally flawed by kimanaw · · Score: 2, Informative
    While it maybe kewl (hmm, unintended pun...), its waaaayyy overbuilt, and definitely violates the Homebrewers Prime Directive: "Relax, Don't Worry, Have a Homebrew" aka. RDWHHB.

    For a simpler (albeit less sexy/techie) solution check here

    Works fine for me, but only during warm temps, since it only turns the fridge off/on, and doesn't control a heat source.

    And as for "open source" beer, there are recipes aplenty freely available on the 'net (e.g., HBD). All you need is a couple buckets with spigots, an airlock, a kettle, some malt, and some yeast. Far less difficult, and much more rewarding, than open source s/w!

    --
    007: "Who are you?"
    Pussy: "My name is Pussy Galore."
    007: "I must be dreaming..."
  19. Re:Cool by misleb · · Score: 2, Informative

    Energy costs? I just brewed 5 gallons of ale and it didn't take more energy than it takes to run a gas burner for 60 minutes. All the fermenting and aging was done at room temperature.

    Maybe it takes a lot of energy to brew a lager, but not an ale. I like ales better anyway...

    -matthew

    --
    "THERE IS NO JUSTICE, THERE IS ONLY ME." -Death
  20. RIMS by dcigary · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Seriously, this whole project could be replaced by one simple device that's been in use for years by homebrewers. (search down the page).

    To see a truly automated brewing system, you need a RIMS system, which are pretty cool.

    /homebrewer for 12 years

    --
    ...my Karma ran over your Dogma...
  21. Re:Cool by courious1 · · Score: 2, Informative

    As a EX beer and wine maker I know by the time you factor in all the costs it is cheaper to buy. I made my beer from grain and talk about alot of labour. :( and to be able to get QUALITY BEER it takes patience and many failures.

  22. Re:Cool by Bush+Pig · · Score: 2, Informative

    I've been avoiding using grain for just that reason. If you make it out of malt syrup and hop pellets (all of which can be bought cheaply in bulk) and recycle the yeast for a few brews, it is considerably cheaper (about $A12 for 22 litres - which is about 60 stubbies, only I keg it these days). I don't even usually need to worry about temperature control. I brew ales in summer (the temperature gets a bit high sometimes, giving a bit of a butterscotch taste, but it's rare I have a complete failure) and lagers in winter (they ferment at around 13C, which is a bit high, but it works OK). My only energy cost is boiling about 6 litres of water with the malt and hops for about 30-40 minutes. Adelaide has a pretty good climate for brewing.

    --
    What a long, strange trip it's been.
  23. Re:Cool by courious1 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Mashing was a learning experience and agreat hobbie. I had a keg system (with cold beer always on tap) and belonged to a local club. Made beers ales stouts brown ales the only thing I never tried was larger. It was simple enough just never got around to it. I used two s/s beer kegs with the tops cut off one for mashing the other for boiling. I used a 75,000 BTU burner. Had to build a exhaust to outside and air intake. Built a filter system and a counter pressure bottle filler (that was a challenge) I found beer to be so much more fogiving than wine. Even looked at distillation (illegal) but legal in Ausie land. You have fine brewing and bend the elbow for me. Living in NS Canada had great brewing weather. Later