CraftBeerPi - Raspberry Pi Software

[phoenixs4r]

Got it!
Now I just need to do a run with the element connected and some water in the kettle. Thanks for the help!

What ultimately was the culprit? Did you start over or was it the little ULN giving you issues?

 

[Wootonius]

What ultimately was the culprit? Did you start over or was it the little ULN giving you issues?

I started over completely, beginning with the OS and then loaded the BrewChef version of CBPi3.0 with zero problems.

 

[phoenixs4r]

Last week i started building a controller box for a new HERMS brewery and chose for a rpi 4b with craftbeerpi. As a reference I used the descriptions on the cbpi website, the leaningman guide and a guide on a dutch craftbeer forum. So far so good, software installed, hardware built.

The ds18b20 sensors work like a charm in the user interface, but the SSR that switches my HLT hearing element does not. I used two jumper cables, one on the + side on the DC side of the SSR (fotek 40A DA front aliexpress) to GPIO 18 and a jumper cable from the - to a GND gpio. Trying to switch on the heater using the UI doesn't work.

I checked the SSR using two 1.5v batteries in serial to check if the SSR works and it does so 3.3v from gpio 18 should be sufficient.

My guess is that this might be a software issue but i am a complete newbie to RPI.

Has anyone had the same problem as I have? How can I get the SSR to respond to cbpi? Many thanks in advance

I'm not familiar with the guide on the Dutch home brew forum. I do know the original github rep for craftbeerpi3 doesn't seem to work without a LOT of effort. A lot of folks clone this repo and have luck getting it to run no problem

https://github.com/BrewChef/craftbeerpi3

 

[Jr80]

I'm not familiar with the guide on the Dutch home brew forum. I do know the original github rep for craftbeerpi3 doesn't seem to work without a LOT of effort. A lot of folks clone this repo and have luck getting it to run no problem

https://github.com/BrewChef/craftbeerpi3

Formatting my microSD and installing cbpi3 and missing packages did the trick. Just in time for brewing a witbier to serve late spring early Summer.

The problem(?):
My first install had a broken link to the wiringPi repo. After fixing the code lines in install.sh, I reinstalled without purging the older install. Thereafter I renamed the folder of the first install and ran brewchefs cbpi3. Same problem, no SSR. My guess is that the first attempt messed up something that kept on causing the unresponsive SSR.

Thanks for your suggestion Phoenix!

 

[Wootonius]

I have a few post-1st-brew questions/problems for those of you familiar with CBPi3.0. Hopefully someone can tell me what I did wrong...

1. I imported an XML file from BS3 which had several basic steps for mash in, mash, boil, cool, etc. Using the Step Config I added some steps to be sure I'd remember to do them in the process. None of the steps I created would allow me to continue to the next step, and I had to go back and delete them before I could move on. Hitting the "next step" button didn't do what it did for the steps that were in the XML. It seems pretty simple, but I was stumped.
2. I have a BK with a 5500W element and a sensor and a cooler for an MT with no element, only a sensor. When setting up to bring the BK up to strike temp for my initial mash, how should I configure that step? What about for any sparge steps?
3. The steps from the XML file did properly set the Target Temp of my BK, and when I hit the run button, it would fire the element as expected. However, the PID never kicked in to hit temp, and it would just keep firing the element at 100%. Following is how I have the BK configured in the hardware settings.

Thanks for the help!!

 

[rkhanso]

#1 -- I've never imported a brew, but have manually made steps and it seemed to work fine. Not sure how to help on that.

#2 -- I don't use a MT, so not sure how to suggest there.

#3 -- If you want to keep a set temp under boil, you need to use a PWM logic. Both on the kettle and on the heating element.
When I'm brewing, I start with PWM logic or mashing, then switch to BOIL logic during the boil (at a certain percentage to maintain boil).
Not sure it's the right way, but it's the way I do it.
PWM is needed to keep mash temps.

I brew BIAB and have a single kettle with the CraftbeerPi temp controller running the entire show.

 

[Wootonius]

#1 -- I've never imported a brew, but have manually made steps and it seemed to work fine. Not sure how to help on that.

#2 -- I don't use a MT, so not sure how to suggest there.

#3 -- If you want to keep a set temp under boil, you need to use a PWM logic. Both on the kettle and on the heating element.
When I'm brewing, I start with PWM logic or mashing, then switch to BOIL logic during the boil (at a certain percentage to maintain boil).
Not sure it's the right way, but it's the way I do it.
PWM is needed to keep mash temps.

I brew BIAB and have a single kettle with the CraftbeerPi temp controller running the entire show.

Thanks rkhanso! I changed to PWM logic and that is working. When I'm heating the element, the Element button flashes now, and I'm assuming that's normal.

 

[phoenixs4r]

I have a few post-1st-brew questions/problems for those of you familiar with CBPi3.0. Hopefully someone can tell me what I did wrong...

1. I imported an XML file from BS3 which had several basic steps for mash in, mash, boil, cool, etc. Using the Step Config I added some steps to be sure I'd remember to do them in the process. None of the steps I created would allow me to continue to the next step, and I had to go back and delete them before I could move on. Hitting the "next step" button didn't do what it did for the steps that were in the XML. It seems pretty simple, but I was stumped.
2. I have a BK with a 5500W element and a sensor and a cooler for an MT with no element, only a sensor. When setting up to bring the BK up to strike temp for my initial mash, how should I configure that step? What about for any sparge steps?
3. The steps from the XML file did properly set the Target Temp of my BK, and when I hit the run button, it would fire the element as expected. However, the PID never kicked in to hit temp, and it would just keep firing the element at 100%. Following is how I have the BK configured in the hardware settings.

View attachment 728976

Thanks for the help!!

I can't help you with the xml file stuff beyond what I've read and it's kinda a crappy system. CBPI4s recipe system looks greatly improved. Haven't seen much in the way of an updated release client in a while. Really hoping he doesn't abandon the project like he did CBPI3.

If you are going to use PIDBoil you need to set the boil threshold to whatever your boil temp is at your altitude or even higher, it doesn't matter. I think I have mine set to 500f. I don't understand why that parameter is even in there. If it's set lower than your target temp (Example your is set for 80, and you're going for 150F) it'll just ignore turning it off and let it run rampant. I'm sure theres an explanation for that. Probably so you can run the PIDBoil in PID when you are mashing in, and it ignores it when you are trying to boil. Would work fine for a single vessel system. It all depends on what your system is and what you are trying to achieve.

PIDBoil has some limitations as well. It's either one or off, 100% or 0%. I use AdvancedPID for my mash tun/rims system. It seems to actually seems to throttle the output of the element and I get less overshooting that way.

The biggest limitation I've found with CBPI3 is that the sensors take 5 seconds to update. So if you are looking for crazy accuracy you aren't going to get that, but you can get .... close enough for now. CBPI4 has updates every 1 second so I'm really hoping that improves things.

 

[rkhanso]

Thanks rkhanso! I changed to PWM logic and that is working. When I'm heating the element, the Element button flashes now, and I'm assuming that's normal.

Flashing is good - that means PWM is happening.

When it comes to the boil, I switch back over to simple boil logic and cut the power down to about 30-40% or so. Enough to get a slow rolling boil. I've found that since PWM logic is looking for a temp to adjust around, it doesn't work well for boiling. Simple Boil Logic is well, simple. Keep a list of your GPIO pins in use for each device. Write them down somewhere or memorize them. It'll help you when switching this stuff back and forth.

 

[Wootonius]

Concerning my brewing process using CraftBeerPi 3.0...
I'm getting a bit confused with how to control my system configuration versus some of the other systems described out there. Most seem to be 3 vessel systems with 3 elements, multiple pumps etc. I understand that's probably the ideal, but mine is actually a 2 vessel system with one element and one pump (plus I've added a sump pump for my plate chiller).

My keggle has the one element, so I have to heat all water for the mash & batch sparges there, and then pump back into the kettle for my boil. I use a cooler with a mesh bag for my mash, and I've picked up a clear plastic bucket to hold my initial wort from the mash until I've pumped the last sparge water into the cooler, so in a way I have a 3 vessel system I guess. I have a temp sensor in the boil kettle, one in the cooler and one in my fermentation freezer. As I said, I have a pump, but it is controlled separately for now.

For brewing software, I'm using Brew Smith 3. I build my recipe and export it as a BeerXML file to CBPi 3. Brew Smith allows you to create mash and sparge steps setting the target temps. The software will figure how much heat loss you will have based on your equipment profile and suggest a temp to offset that. CBPi3 pulls the brew steps in from the XML, including mash, sparge, boil, cool, whirlpool, etc. It then allows you to add other steps, but there are a lot of variables there and no documentation as to what affect they have.

So my brew process is (will be):

1. Fill Boil Kettle with total volume to include strike water and sparge water
2. Heat to strike water temp for mash (148F lets say plus the offset)
3. Pump to Mash Cooler
4. Mash In
5. Pump wort out of mash to my temp storage bucket (not sure what to call this...)
6. Heat sparge water (168F lets say plus offset)
7. Pump for batch sparge(s)
8. Pump sparge(s) wort out to my (now) empty boil kettle and add previously collected wort from my temp bucket
9. Boil
10. Cool (plate chiller) & whirlpool
11. Pump to Fermenter

Since I don't have an element in my Mash Cooler (but I do have the temp sensor), how should I set things up so that target temps are entered from the brew steps, either from BS3 or within CBPi3?

I went from BIAB on my kitchen stove top to what I have here. That coupled with the CBPi means there's now a lot of things I'm having to get used to. I appreciate the help from anyone out there who has a similar setup with CBPi, or might know more about how to set up everything for steps to work in this configuration.

 

[phoenixs4r]

Since I don't have an element in my Mash Cooler (but I do have the temp sensor), how should I set things up so that target temps are entered from the brew steps, either from BS3 or within CBPi3?

Your process seems sound.

I'm not 100% clear on your question. I'm guessing what you are using is Beersmith 3, not brewsmith.

If you are concerned about strike temperature (the temperature in the hot liquor tank aka your mash in water) being able to compensate for temperature loss due to putting it into a cold cooler you have two options.

A - is to pump the hot water into the mash tun and essentially pump it right back out into your vessel with the element. It will cool down some, and you can reheat it to your target mash temperature, then pump it back in. You will still need to compensate some as the grain temperature will come into play. Nothing extreme. It will require some trial and error.

B - is to use the equipment profile in the beersmith software and set it up to your equipment. (upper screen > Profiles > Equipment) It allows you to take the weight of your cooler and it even has a some sort of multiplication factor you can enter to attempt to compensate for a "cold" cooler.

Both A and B are not fool proof. I've used option B and it's been pretty spot on tho. I might miss it by a degree on a cold day but even before I introduced the RIMS into my system i didn't really give a **** about 1 degree.

If you use B make sure your recipes are using your equipment profile when you build them (it can be used retroactively as well) Hopefully some pictures can help....

The numbers are in red, not the easiest to see sorry.

1 is a dropdown you can choose with some default parameters for batch/fly sparge. The light/medium/heavy body just picks a targeted temperature range from 148- to 156 I believe. You can modify the actual number to what you want and the software will compensate your strike water temperature accordingly.

2 gets you into some details about the profile you've selected and lets you modify said parameters and more.

3 is your grain temp. I've personally never bothered with this but I live in a very temperate climate. The couple of days it actually gets cold where I live I still don't bother and probably bump up Beersmiths suggested strike temperature a degree or two, but I have some leeway as I run a RIMS system, so raising the temperature for me isn't a big deal.

4 and 5 are something that I personally use. 5 IMO is a no brainer, drain the tun before adding more water seems like the right way to go about things. 4 is going to depend on your system. For example, before clicking 4 beersmith would tell me to batch sparge in 2 steps, 8 gallons and 1 gallon as an example, which seemed stupid to me, versus 4.5 and 4.5 gallon steps.

I can't help you with CBPI XLM recipe format. I've never used it. I just print the recipe out and read it TBH.


Hope this helps...

 

[Wootonius]

Your process seems sound.

I'm not 100% clear on your question. I'm guessing what you are using is Beersmith 3, not brewsmith.

If you are concerned about strike temperature (the temperature in the hot liquor tank aka your mash in water) being able to compensate for temperature loss due to putting it into a cold cooler you have two options.

A - is to pump the hot water into the mash tun and essentially pump it right back out into your vessel with the element. It will cool down some, and you can reheat it to your target mash temperature, then pump it back in. You will still need to compensate some as the grain temperature will come into play. Nothing extreme. It will require some trial and error.

B - is to use the equipment profile in the beersmith software and set it up to your equipment. (upper screen > Profiles > Equipment) It allows you to take the weight of your cooler and it even has a some sort of multiplication factor you can enter to attempt to compensate for a "cold" cooler.

Both A and B are not fool proof. I've used option B and it's been pretty spot on tho. I might miss it by a degree on a cold day but even before I introduced the RIMS into my system i didn't really give a **** about 1 degree.

If you use B make sure your recipes are using your equipment profile when you build them (it can be used retroactively as well) Hopefully some pictures can help....

I can't help you with CBPI XLM recipe format. I've never used it. I just print the recipe out and read it TBH.


Hope this helps...

Thanks Phoenix, it does help. Yes, I meant Beer Smith 3. I'm set up just like you suggested, using mash method B, and I've been trying to take advantage of how CBPi3 will take the XML from Beer Smith 3 and and automatically set the target temp based on the steps from the XML.

During the Mash and Sparge steps, CBPi seems to be looking to trigger a Mash element to reach the target temp (without regard to any required offset), versus triggering the BK element. At the Boil step, it successfully sets the BK element to 212F per the step setting.
It sounds like you just manually set these within CBPi based on your printout instead, and that may be what I end up doing. But if I can make it work, I like the idea of those settings changing automatically based on the recipe. I know I still have to push the run button, but it's nice to have the settings change based on the recipe step I'm on.

Thanks!!

 

[rkhanso]

I was able to get CBPI3 running today for the first time although I have not yet connected hardware. I cannot promise it actually works or if there will be more problems. I'm no expert but I will try to explain what I did.

First, after much searching I think that the problem you have (and I had) is that flask_socketio no longer supports python2 which is what CBPI runs on. I tried repeatedly to get an old version of flask_socketio, python-engineio, bidict, etc. but I could not get it working. My workaround was basically to run CBPI on python3.

To start I changed the shebang in run.py to #!/usr/bin/env python3.7
Then I installed 2to3 from the git repository and ran it on my entire CPBI3 directory "2to3 -W ~/craftbeerpi3"
I then began installing dependencies (such as flask, YAML, etc.) using pip3 as well as pip.
I kept trying to ./run.py and just resolved errors as they arose. Some things were simply not fixed by 2to3. I don't remember everything I changed but I was able to figure it out via google. At some point I did have to update $PATH to account for where some modules installed.
After, all that CBPI3 launched without error and the port5000 interface seems normal and gives no errors.

Maybe someone more knowledgeable will know better and I'll run into a million errors as soon as I actually try to use the software but I was pretty happy to just get it running.

I wanted to post this because it seems like there is nothing about this new issue online. I wanted to show it is possible to install still. If you have specific questions during the process I can try to help.

Since there are all these issues installing and getting Craftbeerpi3 to work with the newest version of Raspbian OS, if I just use a 2017 era version of Jessie, will CraftbeerPi 3 actually install and work? Index of /raspbian/images

I don't know enough about Linux to figure out how to get around these issues on my own and hope an old version of the Raspberry Pi OS will just work.


--edit. I just found a BrewChef version/instructions that might work. Maybe I'll give that a try.

 

[Lalo_uy]

You can load the sd with raspbian-skech-lite and cbpi3 will run ok.
If you want to use a newer version with python 3 get Juan Pablo version
https://github.com/jpgimenez/craftbeerpi3.gitIt work ok on raspbian-buster.

 

[rkhanso]

You can load the sd with raspbian-skech-lite and cbpi3 will run ok.
If you want to use a newer version with python 3 get Juan Pablo version
https://github.com/jpgimenez/craftbeerpi3.gitIt work ok on raspbian-buster.

Doesn't that link to jpgimenez just install the same craftbeerpi version from the developer/Manuel83?

Do I need to install it this way instead of the directions from jpgimenez's github?

git clone https://github.com/jpgimenez/craftbeerpi3

 

[rkhanso]

Using

git clone https://github.com/jpgimenez/craftbeerpi3

did get CraftbeerPi3 installed and running and available via web browser.
I think that command in jpgimenez's directions needs to be changed.

 

[carl1961]

is there a reason people use craftbeerpi3 and not craftbeerpi4?

 

[phoenixs4r]

Craftbeerpi4 (other than a specific fork I haven't tried yet) doesn't have the most basic functionality to run a home brewery. The developer was making a lot of good progress then fell off the map. Cbpi3 he made functional before he fell off the map.

There is a developer that made a branch of it and has been adding a lot and from what I can tell it actually works but I haven't tried it yet.

 

[carl1961]

Craftbeerpi4 (other than a specific fork I haven't tried yet) doesn't have the most basic functionality to run a home brewery. The developer was making a lot of good progress then fell off the map. Cbpi3 he made functional before he fell off the map.

There is a developer that made a branch of it and has been adding a lot and from what I can tell it actually works but I haven't tried it yet.

Thanks for Your reply. I think I installed the one your talking about. I found it on there fackbook group

 

[Lalo_uy]

Thanks for Your reply. I think I installed the one your talking about. I found it on there fackbook group

May you share the link here?

 

[phoenixs4r]

https://github.com/avollkopf?tab=repositories
He is active on the Facebook craftbeerpi user group.

 

[Wootonius]

https://github.com/avollkopf?tab=repositories
He is active on the Facebook craftbeerpi user group.

Now for the Million dollar question, has anyone tried that branch of CBPi4 and would you recommend trying it?

 

[phoenixs4r]

I haven't yet. The original CBPI4 repo is definitely not, but I've been loosely following the clone and he's been putting in some solid work on it. If I get more free time I might give it a shot.

 

[troyp42]

For anyone wanting to install CBPI4 from the Alexander Vollkopfs repo listed above this is what he posted on the Craft Beer Pi FB page. Ive installed it and it works fine, I just dont know how to install the LCD plug in if someone could please assist in this...not sure what to type in terminal??

From Alexander Vollkopf
Since more folks from this group try to install my fork of cbpi4, I have created an image of the latest server, user interface including most of the plugins. Nicolas Slammy Outrey is so kind to host the image for Download. The image is zipped and has a size of ~ 2Gb. The unzipped size is ~ 6.7 Gb. You will need at least an SD card of 8 Gb size, but I recommend 16 or 32 Gb.

1. unzip the image
2. write the image to a sd card (I have tested etcher and win32 diskimager)
3. Place the sd card into your pi and boot. (Please note that this will take some time and that the system will reboot a second time to enlarge the image to the size of the sd card.
4. ssh is enabled. user is default: pi. password is default: raspberry. -> You should change this
5. Network is enabled for lan with dhcp.
6. Wifi is not yet enabled. -> you can do this via ssh and sudo raspi-config
7. python and pip commands are linked to V3 of python (no need to use python3 or pip as command)
8. git is installed -> you can go into the craftbeerpi4 directory or a plugin directory and run 'git pull' to update the server, ui or a plugin.
9. Afterwards you will need to move back up to /home/pi and run sudo pip install ./craftbeerpi4 to install the updated version of the server or replace ./craftbeerpi4 with the folder of the plugin to update a plugin.
   
   EDIT:
10. IMPORTANT as I just noticed this yet: If you need the cbpi4-GroupedActor plugin:
    -> run the following commands from shell:
    sudo cbpi remove cbpi4-GroupedActor/
    sudo cbpi add cbpi4-GroupedActor
    -> A reboot or cbpi restart is required to see the activated plugin.
    sudo systemctl restart craftbeerpi.service

The download link: https://www.slammy.net/home.../2021_08_craftbeerpi4_32gb.zip

Later, there will be also a second source to download the image. Stig Berntsen will prepare something.

I hope, I have mentioned all important points. I am running only cbpi4 for a couple of months and it runs pretty stable. Happy brewing.

The following plugins are pre-installed:
- cbpi4ui
- cbpi4-buzzer
- cbpi4-PID_AutoTune
- cbpi4-FermenterHysteresis
- cbpi4-BM_PID_SmartBoilWithPump
- cbpi4-pt100x
- cbpi4-PushOver
- cbpi4-iSpindle
- cbpi4-PIDBoil
- cbpi4-DependentActor
- cbpi4-GroupedActor/ (<- this needs to be changed. See Step 10 above)

• Autostart is enabled
• chromium starts automatically in full screen mode

 

[troyp42]

Now for the Million dollar question, has anyone tried that branch of CBPi4 and would you recommend trying it?

Yes and Yes.

 

[phoenixs4r]

Thanks for that! I've been wanting to try it. Maybe I'll install it on another SD card and fire it up tomorrow.

 

[rkhanso]

I tried downloading from the link provided:
The download link: https://www.slammy.net/home.../2021_08_craftbeerpi4_32gb.zip

It's failing. Is there a different link that works?
Or is it just me that is having trouble?

 

[day_trippr]

By "failing" you mean what?
The download started just fine when I clicked the link, but I killed it shortly thereafter...

Cheers!

 

[troyp42]

I tried downloading from the link provided:
The download link: https://www.slammy.net/home.../2021_08_craftbeerpi4_32gb.zip

It's failing. Is there a different link that works?
Or is it just me that is having trouble?

It was very slow for me, took an hour or so but it did download.

 

[ZeSlammy]

It was very slow for me, took an hour or so but it did download.

Sorry. I'll check with my hosting provider.
It's a 2 Gb file hosted on a server made for Web Pages, that might explain ...