Cfraftbeer Pi vs Elsinore 2.0 for Hosehead?

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Bassman2003

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Hello,

I am looking at updating my Hosehead to the new software options and wanted to get some feedback on which folks are liking.

My main goal from the start of getting a Hosehead was to be able to automatically run step mashes. I was never able to get this working on Elsinore v1.

Craftbeer Pi seems to have a way to save mash profiles which looks like a great direction. Does this mean they can be executed to run automatically?

Thanks for your input.
 
I've brewed once so far on my Hosehead, but during my tests, I liked CraftbeerPi better. Once you create the recipe, you can run them automatically. Interestingly, if you set the recipe step as Automatic, it won't run it in sequence, but if you set all the steps to Manual it does. The Hosehead instructions for configuring CraftbeerPi say to use the overshoot setting for element control, which works well for mash temperatures, but I'm still playing with what temperature to set to maintain a strong, but not too strong boil.

Anyone have a boil temperature setting suggestion?
 
I am in the process of going electric as well. Will not be making any purchases for a few months as my house is currently being built. I am strongly considering a hosehead controller and I too was debating Elsinore 2.0 vs Craftbeer pi. I have not used either one so I have no allegiances. Anyone here have any thoughts on which is better and why? Especially if you are starting from scratch.
 
I've used both and stuck with CBPi, the community and rate of development/support is much better IMO. There's a thread in here somewhere.
 
Anyone had success running CBPi on a SD card with SBE already installed? Any potential issues?
 
I've run CBPi, StrangeBrew, and BrewPi on the same pi at the same time. I think its a B+. No issues at all. When I switch a device on via one of the programs, the indicators on the other show the changed state as well.

I'll continue to brew with StrangeBrew for now, at least until CBPi adds duty cycle output for boiling. Very impressed and thankful for both!
 
I think I like CraftBeerPi better, although I haven't done a brew with Elsinore yet. The main reason I went with CraftBeerPi is that it seems more straightforward to do the things I wanted to do.

I don't like the idea of having more than one piece of software theoretically controlling my GPIOs at the same time, when a misfire could be disastrous. So I used the instructions that come on recent Hosehead software images to disable Elsinore from starting at boot and allowing CraftBeerPi to start instead.

It seems like PWM/duty cycle support is coming for CraftBeerPi in the next major revision, which I'm eager for. If you're comfortable copying patches from GitHub, there are a couple of pull requests that add pretty straightforward PWM support. I used this one yesterday and it worked exactly as expected: https://github.com/Manuel83/craftbeerpi/pull/136
 
I think I like CraftBeerPi better, although I haven't done a brew with Elsinore yet. The main reason I went with CraftBeerPi is that it seems more straightforward to do the things I wanted to do.

I don't like the idea of having more than one piece of software theoretically controlling my GPIOs at the same time, when a misfire could be disastrous. So I used the instructions that come on recent Hosehead software images to disable Elsinore from starting at boot and allowing CraftBeerPi to start instead.

It seems like PWM/duty cycle support is coming for CraftBeerPi in the next major revision, which I'm eager for. If you're comfortable copying patches from GitHub, there are a couple of pull requests that add pretty straightforward PWM support. I used this one yesterday and it worked exactly as expected: https://github.com/Manuel83/craftbeerpi/pull/136

I installed this pull request also, braindead easy and got a nice rolling boil with it.

EDIT I installed request 138..
 
I just did my first brew on the hosehead. I used both platforms with only water and settled on Elsinore 2.0 for my setup. The biggest reason - I need duty cycles for my BK. I did not put a port in for a temp probe there. I figured boiling water is easy for me to see, so I don't need the computer to manage that one to a temperature. I liked strangebrew quite a bit, but I am also not quite ready for automated steps and such. I still need to get a few brews under my belt to really feel like I know what I am doing first.

The Hosehead is great though.
 
Would you guys buy a Hosehead or make a Raspberry Pi with the new add on craftbeerpi board they have?
 
for the components it takes to build Hosehead, the prefab makes for a pretty great deal. The only issue I have is that there are a bunch of GPIO pins I can't get to unless I mod the box. It might happen as I get further into my brewing, but I am highly satisfied for now. Not to mention that Corey offers AMAZING customer service. I got stuck once with something in Elsinore and he called me on a Saturday to talk me through it.
 

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