Cheap Digital Tap List?

I got a free monitor and wall stand and would like to make a digital tap list. Usually cost is no object when it comes to brewing projects but I am on a restricted budget currently. I know about the Raspberry Pints but by the time I order a Pi and accessories it exceeds what I want to spend at this point to replace my current written list.

I have a household full of computers Macs, PCs, Linux, Tablets and old PC laptops, but none closeby to the keezer, nor would I want to dedicate a full computer to this area.

I am just brainstorming here as I write this but I could setup my pad to digitalize the list when friends are over or setup and plug in a laptop for tasting events but would like a full time dedicated micro computer for the list.

My monitor has VGA and component inputs only. Would a Raspberry Zero work? Any suggestions on how to do this cheaply?

You can try this:

http://bernerbits.github.io/ras-pints-without-pi/

This might be to simple...but does seem really cheap...what about doing Microsoft PowerPoint presentation and you can do slides...?

Mine is pretty high-tech, but once you get the basics down it's pretty maintenance free. It even works in a power outage.

laredo7mm said:

You can try this:



http://bernerbits.github.io/ras-pints-without-pi/

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I have a question about this. Once you have everything installed, does the wifi network still need a connection to the Internet or can it run just on the local network? I live in an area that's stuck in the 19th century, but I can travel and get things set up on the computer.

dlaramie08 said:

I have a question about this. Once you have everything installed, does the wifi network still need a connection to the Internet or can it run just on the local network? I live in an area that's stuck in the 19th century, but I can travel and get things set up on the computer.

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I have not read the full details to understand the project you are talking about, but I assume this is just a local network thing. You may need to get online with the computer at sometime to set up an account and get the software but I am guessing once the account is established and the main computer is setup the information displayed on the tablet will be sent over your local network and internet won't be needed to show your tap list.

dlaramie08 said:

I have a question about this. Once you have everything installed, does the wifi network still need a connection to the Internet or can it run just on the local network? I live in an area that's stuck in the 19th century, but I can travel and get things set up on the computer.

Click to expand...

I run my Raspberry Pints on the local network on an old HP touchpad as both the webserver and the display. I mostly just use it on the tablet, but sometimes I look at it from my laptop or somewhere else on my local network.

TexasDroughtBrewery said:

This might be to simple...but does seem really cheap...what about doing Microsoft PowerPoint presentation and you can do slides...?

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There are so many ways I could do this if I was willing to put a computer at this location, which a Powerpoint would need. I would have to rebuild an old laptop and could set it out there. It is just that the area is pretty full with beer and beer accessories and a laptop would need a home.

My Home Theater PC runs on Ubuntu and I could possibly run a cable through the garage to the monitor, but the cost of the cable and the effort would be similar to the cost of Raspberry Pints.

I am ordering a Raspberry soon to DIY a home security system. I assume I will eventually install Raspberry Pints. Its just that I have a free monitor and stand on hand but it is small. By the time I put together the R-Pints I would want a bigger monitor. So all told I am looking at $100 for a digital tap list. I would rather brew 30 gallons with that money.

Jawbox0 said:

I run my Raspberry Pints on the local network on an old HP touchpad as both the webserver and the display. I mostly just use it on the tablet, but sometimes I look at it from my laptop or somewhere else on my local network.

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Thanks I guess I need to look at Raspberry Pints closer. My limited knowledge was it was Raspberry Pi based. If I could run it on my laptop I could just set it up and setup my laptop when entertaining.

Photopilot said:

[...]
So all told I am looking at $100 for a digital tap list. I would rather brew 30 gallons with that money.

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OT - but, 30 gallons for $100?!?

You should definitely start a thread about that!

Cheers!

Photopilot said:

Thanks I guess I need to look at Raspberry Pints closer. My limited knowledge was it was Raspberry Pi based. If I could run it on my laptop I could just set it up and setup my laptop when entertaining.

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I am by no means an expert, but I think all the Pi is doing for Raspberry Pints is acting as a web server and the database. You should be able to use it on a non Pi based system as long as you can get Apache, MySQL and PHP working.

An Ubuntu based laptop would probably be easiest in your application. I tried to do it on my Win7 based laptop following the instructions that i linked to, but I couldn't get it to work. But in the past, I haven't had any issues with Ubuntu.

I ended up buying a RPi for using BrewPi to control my fermentation chamber and keggerator, so I just loaded Raspberry Pints on that. Plus modified the files to add a pour button and get rid of some ugly fonts and such. Now I can look at and set temps, or pull up my tap list from any device in my house.

day_trippr said:

OT - but, 30 gallons for $100?!?

You should definitely start a thread about that!

Cheers!

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Well, a $100 bucks seems reasonable for a smash or a simple ale ..but not for an IPA or stout with a lot of ingredients I am sure. I can do a 5 gallon batch for 20 bucks...

my tap list is just a JPG image that can be displayed from any device.

It was made in OpenOffice (pretty much the same as PowerPoint). The pint images are from BeerSmith.

Currently I display it on an Android device but an old laptop would work.

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1466185315.084494.jpg

day_trippr said:

OT - but, 30 gallons for $100?!?

You should definitely start a thread about that!

Cheers!

Click to expand...

I will do that.
But here is the gist of it.

Hops bought in bulk and filled my beer freezer.
Yeast grown from previous batch
50lbs of primary grain =$45.
I figure my cost for a 15 gallon batch runs between $40-75 depending on how big or hoppy.

m1k3 said:

my tap list is just a JPG image that can be displayed from any device.

It was made in OpenOffice (pretty much the same as PowerPoint). The pint images are from BeerSmith.

Currently I display it on an Android device but an old laptop would work.

View attachment 358945

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Awesome I will dabble with that tonight.

I spent many a summer up at Bass Lake. Haven't been for years but fly over it all the time for work.

You don't need to buy a pi to do raspberry pints. You could put a Linux distro on an old computer and use that. Or do a virtual machine into a Linux distro.

BrewingChemist said:

You don't need to buy a pi to do raspberry pints. You could put a Linux distro on an old computer and use that. Or do a virtual machine into a Linux distro.

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I would like some more about this. I followed the instructions as the second post of this thread said and It went OK. Well sort of. XAMPP is installed as is RaspberryPints. But when I go and open a browser and go to http://localhost/RaspberryPints/install it tells me that it can not find it.
Can somebody help with this or as you said can I set up a virtual Linux and then what?

Raspberry Pints is definitely on my to do list. And a great excuse to get a new toy at the same time.

If your monitor/tv has a USB connection you might just be able to put the tap list graphic on a USB stick and show it from there.

Take a look at taplist.io. It's a recent project by Mike, the creator of Kegbot.

TannerG said:

Take a look at taplist.io. It's a recent project by Mike, the creator of Kegbot.

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Perfect! Thank you for the link. For anybody interested Mike came onto the website and welcomed me to the site as well as answered any questions I had. Very helpful and nice. Great way to have a list. need connection to the internet Initially but I guess one could do a screen shot and save it so that internet would not be required.
And best of all it is super FREE!!!!!

TannerG said:

Take a look at taplist.io. It's a recent project by Mike, the creator of Kegbot.

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This is great! Thank you for sharing

:rockin:

mona said:

I would like some more about this. I followed the instructions as the second post of this thread said and It went OK. Well sort of. XAMPP is installed as is RaspberryPints. But when I go and open a browser and go to http://localhost/RaspberryPints/install it tells me that it can not find it.
Can somebody help with this or as you said can I set up a virtual Linux and then what?

Click to expand...

I just installed RBPints on my Raspberry Pi (Model B) this evening. Since I have the older model, using the GUI can cause things to lock up, especially using the web browser. That said, if you don't mind some command line work, it seems to run the apache/mysql/php just fine.

Anyway...to answer your question, I found that some of the instructions weren't completely accurate for my install. Before you remove the default index.html, make sure you can see that page from a browser (either localhost or another computer on the network) to make sure you have XAMP installed properly. They also state to extract the zip to /var/www/, but in my install it was actually /var/www/html/.

wixziu said:

[...]They also state to extract the zip to /var/www/, but in my install it was actually /var/www/html/.

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That was a change in how the current Apache2 release configures itself by default - some notion of added security in moving the default html/php folder one level deeper (I don't get that at all, but whatever).

You can change that via Apache2's config file. I changed it to move the default folder back to /var/www...

Cheers!

TannerG said:

Take a look at taplist.io. It's a recent project by Mike, the creator of Kegbot.

Click to expand...

Thanks for link! This seems to be exactly what I was looking for, and Mike has been very prompt in answering questions and seems very accepting of feedback. I've got a Fire TV stick but my main platform will still be a raspberry pi - but really it seems that any platform which can automatically launch to a webpage after boot will work. I like the fact that when I make changes to the settings the web page automatically updates.

Hey thanks for checking out Taplist.io everyone! Mike here from the project.

It's been awesome getting feedback from the HBT'ers who've come through, keep it coming! While basically functional, it's not been 100% ready for prime time, but you know what they say, if you're not embarrassed by your first launch you launched too late..

I'm working on adding a lot more customization right now, basically for editing the underlying html and css, as you can tell I'm not much of a designer, to put it mildly.. .. Happy to take any questions or ideas here, cheers..

I started a separate thread on Taplist.io HERE if anyone is interested in it. got some screen shots and a bit more by way of discription

I'll throw in Brew.Vision, it's a pretty slick interface IMO

http://brew.vision/

Super old thread I know - but trying to get the word out:

TapitGood

Free for up to 4 taps and $20/year for unlimited taps.
Syncs with Brewfather and Brewer's Friend. Can also send notifications to your mates when you update your list.

*

day_trippr said:

OT - but, 30 gallons for $100?!?

You should definitely start a thread about that!

Cheers!

Click to expand...

damn...i was going to say something......then i read the last post, and this was from 2016, before i showed up!