which control system

I'm looking to finalize my eherms system with a automation system. I'm down to picking the brewtroller or the bcs-460 (462) but can't decide which one to chose. Hoping I can get some feedback from both camps on why you made the decision and would you do it again.

I'm very comfortable with electricity, electronics, and IT in general. However, my coding skills are on the weaker side but I do like to tinker.

I'm building with the Brewtroller. Mainly because I am familiar with the arduino platform already and as a software developer, I appreciate and like that their code is open source and I can go in and modify/improve things in software.

I've been using the Brewtoller for a little over a year now. The support is great, the controller works, and the beer tastes great!

I'm an IT guy and have built many microprocessor based systems, but I went with the BCS system so I could just pull it out of the box, wire it up and start using it. Their web gui is very straight forward and overall, the system is fairly easy to use.

I have to say I'm leaning towards the BCS willing to give up a bit of openness for a faster learning curve.

BTW - JonW your new stand is very nice and clean.

jcalisi said:

BTW - JonW your new stand is very nice and clean.

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Thank you.

I went with the BCS. I figure I can spend the time writing code for a brewtroller, or I can spend the time brewing with a BCS.

B

I'll be brewing before I write a line of code. I just prefer to have the option.

do either of them have the ability to import recipes from beersmith or the like? I'm also assuming that the brewtroller has example code you can tweak for your setup.

however I must say I like the fact that it would take longer to un-box the bcs than it would to get it going.

Brewtroller supports any BeerXML files. You don't have to write any code for the Brewtroller. You do have to select your parameters (ie Herms rims, mash temp averaging, Brewtroller version, deadspace, kettle volumes, etc) in the setup. I have no programming experience and am an electrical dunce I found it was a fun and fairly simple build. I have had mine almost a year and Brewtroller have been improved and simplified a ton since my build.

Looking at the prices the new brewtroller will come in around $300 and the BCS-462 is around $350 so I think for me unless I find something that really changes my mind I'm going with the BCS. I just scored a Hoffman enclosure off ebay for $48 shipped so I'm on my way.

Now I just need to decide if I want to mount on the wall to control my fermenter's as well as the rig or just stick it on the rig.

I mounted mine to the wall to control 2 serving kegerators and a 3rd fermenter kegerator. I have all my stand wiring under my bottom shelf and it attaches to the BCS unit with a couple of Cat-5 cables.

I think I may follow suite but I will need a box for all of my ssr's since I'm all electric instead of gas.

jcalisi said:

Looking at the prices the new brewtroller will come in around $300 and the BCS-462 is around $350 so I think for me unless I find something that really changes my mind I'm going with the BCS. I just scored a Hoffman enclosure off ebay for $48 shipped so I'm on my way.

Now I just need to decide if I want to mount on the wall to control my fermenter's as well as the rig or just stick it on the rig.

Click to expand...

At first I laid out my system with the idea of putting the BCS in the brewing control cabinet. Before starting construction I realized that I wanted the BCS to control both brewing and fermentation so I did some design work and am mounting the BCS in a smaller enclosure with 2 SSR's for heat and cool of the fermenter. I will connect the wall mounted BCS box to my brewing control cabinet with CAT5 wiring as my plans only need 8 wires between the BCS and the brewery. I can have the BCS wall mounted and connected to my home network permanently so that it can run the fermenter even with all power disconnected from the brewery.

If I put it all in one cabinet then I will need power full time in one enclosure even with a master stop for the brewery. I feel that it is safer to have the master stop shut off all power in the brewery, not leave the BCS and outlets for heat & cool energized.

More and more I like the idea. I'm assuming I should just go ahead and buy the 462 for future expansion.

Why does everyone assume they have to write code for the Brewtroller? The fact is that you don't. The guys over at the Brewtroller site have written the code and the support is phenomoninal. The BCS has been promising volume measurements forever and the Brewtroller has had it from the beginning. The Brewtroller will soon have a Web Interface also. If you are looking for flexibility and don't know jack about writing code, the Brewtroller is a very good choice.

I guess for me its selling point of flexibility has cast a perception of writing code to make all of the pieces to work together. However, it sounds as if you really just need to populate an ini file with your parameters and it works from there. As for the web interface will it have its own web server or will it rely on a computer to supply that?