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Is there an Open Sourced Beer Brewing Application?

Posted by Cliff on from the bits-bytes-hops-and-barley dept.

Sleepy asks : "Are there any open source beer brewing applications available? There are a couple of commercial apps available for Windows, and one for the MacOS, but I haven't found anything which includes the source. I am teaching myself Java programming and would love to learn on a "real" program. I have a "healthy" interest in brewing so this is an especially interesting app. If there is no such thing, yet, would anyone like to team up and write one? I'd prefer to use Java as it's what I'm already learning, and is fairly portable."

12 comments

  1. Mmmm... Beer by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This is probably the most important question ever asked on Slashdot. Well, important to me anyway :)

  2. Great idea by Baldy · · Score: 1

    I've just started brewing and have had a similar question. I'm not a very good programmer, but I would be willing to help you out with conceptual layout, error testing, usability feedback, and other stuff non-Java talented people can do.

    Email me if you're interested.

    bmtrapp@acsu.buffalo.edu

  3. I'd ask the brewers by Delf · · Score: 1

    I'd ask this question on the Homebrew digest, if it's still around. (I moved to Seattle a few years back and stopped brewing on the coals to Newcastle principle.)

    -Delf

  4. Can someone please explain by TheMeld · · Score: 1

    Can someone please explain what it the blazes a computer has to do with brewing beer? At least on a personal brewing scale?

    --
    -Cheetah
  5. Brewing related apps w/ source... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Here are a couple of brewing related apps with source:
    http://hbd.org/brewery/Software.html#Unix

    Lloyd

  6. No Subject Given by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    www.jrock.com/recipe_calc/

  7. Can someone please explain by Sleepy · · Score: 1

    It's a preference thing. WHen you are REALLY trying to improve your beer skills, you should try to brew the "same" recipie more than one batch. You need to take notes... how did you start the yeast - was it dry, smackpack, reused.. and pitching temperature, boil times, when you dropped in the hops, etc. How did it taste after 3 weeks? 3 months? You can't realistically compare 3 month old beer from batch A against 3 week beer from batch B, without at least notes on what A tasted like at 3 weeks (and later, what B did at 3 months). If you brew with grain, as I want to start doing, your notetaking requirements really go up.

    I haven't even mentioned the obvious feature.. of keeping everything in a database.

    OTOH a paper journal WILL do this job nicely... I personally prefer a computer to sort everything out and link against recipies, etc.

  8. redhat flow valves by vipw · · Score: 1

    i've seen them at my dad's machine shop. i was pretty surprised, but heh it was pretty cool to see. now i know that i wasn't just seeing things : )

  9. mm by drix · · Score: 1

    http://hbd.org/brewery/Software.html

    here's some Unix software. You still can't have my "Stanley Steemer" brew mix tho

    --

    I think there is a world market for maybe five personal web logs.
  10. Carboy Fermentation Monitor Idea! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I've done something like this... it doesn't run linux, it doesn't do anything fancy but log to an eeprom. It's a basic stamp with aforementioned opto pair to count bubbles, as well as a thermometer, and an interface to a relay to control a peltier junction to control temperature, and two tri-color LED's, one to indicate whether temp is in omptimum range, and another to indicate whether the rate of bubbles is slow enough to indicate time to bottle.

  11. Open Source Brewing Applications by Clemence · · Score: 1

    Check out ftp://ftp.stanford.edu/pub/clubs/hombrew/beer/prog rams
    The directory contains:
    BrewNIX - gpl'd recipe formulator, logger, contains the source code, of course;
    Extractf - an app for calculating extract efficiency;
    ibu.pl - a Perl script for calculating Hop IBUs;

    I use BrewNIX in creating/tweaking recipes and so far am finding it very useful. I believe the most current version is several years old, but if it isn't broken. . . It includes separate ascii data files for Hop alpha acids and malt gravity/color. Since these can be easily modified, the program can become more useful and accurate over time.

    Jean-Baptiste Clemence

  12. Computer Controlled Brewing by SBrauner · · Score: 1

    Has anyone created an interface to actually control boil/mash temps with a computer. Or even logging your brew session or fermentation with your computer (it automatically records the temp at certain intervals). I've had some experience talking through serial ports with Perl, and have programmed in Java a bit too. Unfortunately, I don't have the $$ for digital thermometers - can anyone point me to a cheap one? If not, I'd love to help!