Another brew control option - strangebrew Elsinor

[imark]

Details here: http://dougedey.github.io/

Has anybody tried it? I'm tempted to give it a go when I have a bit of time. It seems to be cheap to build and allows remote control via an android app.

[Jacob]

Java ... Bleeehhh

[molc]

Someone has drank the koolaid and wants to conquer the world with java. Give him a few years and he might give node.js a go and beat the next drum

Looking at the docs, doesn't all a bit fluffy to me right now for a complete solution.

[imark]

I don't plan to modify any code on it so Java or anything else is irrelevant to me as a user. Can you elaborate on your concerns? It's not obvious to me.

I'm really curious about actual experience using it though to be honest. I don't think there's any additional outlay over what I have for brewpi already so I'm more concerned with wasting precious little free time on it if it's actually a turkey.

In terms of features it looks like the best fit I've seen so far. I could brew while doing other things instead of hovering around a manual controller and that would be a massive improvement for me.

[SkiBeagle]

I'm using it out-of-the-box (no software mods) for both brew-day and fermentation control. I think it is excellent. I have a Raspberry Pi 2 with Wifi stick hooked up to a few BrewPi 1-wire probes via telephone sockets, driving a BrewPi 40A SSR. On brew-days, I configure SBE to drive the SSR for heating with a 5kW element. For fermentation, I reconfigure SBE to use the SSR for driving the fridge. I control the entire setup from my phone and/or laptop using Google Chrome. Very handy to be able to monitor and control the process from a phone in your pocket. You can have as many probes as you like, and you can apply PID loops or hysteresis loops to any of them. I can even monitor stuff remotely which is handy since I'm away half the week.
The java thing? Doug Edey works heavily with Java in his day job, so it's a natural step for him to develop SBE in Java. (If your only tool is a hammer, every problem begins to look like a nail.) Makes no difference performance-wise at all, and is probably suited to a browser-based app like SBE.
Have to say, I really love it. It gives me all the power of a Kal-clone panel (http://www.theelectricbrewery.com/) for less than €100. Fermentation control as well. And it's free. Can't get cheaper than that!

I have no experience with alternatives like STC1000, BrewPi's scheme or Ard-Bir. I was about half-way down the road of developing my own controller with 1-wire probes, when I realised that Doug had all the hard work already done, with a very nice web interface as well, so I decided to go with SBE and I haven't regretted it at all.

If anyone's interested, I'll do up a doc on setting it up and running it over Christmas.

[molc]

That would be cool! From reading his site, it looked much more experimental than that.

[SkiBeagle]

Yeah, he's a true programmer - fairly sparse documentation! The code development is ongoing as he adds new bits, but it is feature-complete. There's even a guy making complete ready-to-go panels based on SBE.  http://brewtronix.com/Hosehead

If you have access to a Raspberry Pi (any model €20-€40) and a 1-wire temperature DS18B20 sensor, you can try it out. It won't run if there's no 1-wire sensor. There's dead cheap ones on ebay for about €1.  I got the BrewPi ones (€7 each) because they're fully waterproof and really well made. You can toss them directly into boiling wort and they work.

I'll do up the docs during the Christmas holidays and I'll grab a few screenshots.