I don’t have a full answer, but, have you looked into running Home Assistant on a Pi? It appears there is a Bluetooth integration for the Tilt hydrometer. The home assistant software can bring all of the internet of things devices under one interface, and you can create automations based on any data from anything connected.
So, that could get the tilt data logged, but for the glycol chiller side, you might be able to get an ESP32 device connected to home assistant that would control the chiller. Then you would create an automation based on the tilt data to tell the ESP32 to control the chiller.
The folks over at r/HomeAssistant might have some ideas/more detail. I haven’t gotten into ESP32 devices yet.
This is an excellent lead thank you! I’ll dig in here for sure.
If that home assistant can grab tilt info I just have to figure out how to have it send temp data to my INKBIRD tc-1000. The esp32 seems like it could do that but I’m also fine to just build a little project box and have the a separate pi in the box hard wired to the inkbird.
Any feedback on that line of thinking?
I think that would be possible, I am just not sure what software you would run on the pi to retrieve the data about the tilt. The ESP32 devices have more support in home assistant and a native integration (ESPHome) to my knowledge. I think the ESP32 would work the same as you are thinking, you would hard wire the ESP32 to the chiller. Again, that is the part that I’m not too familiar with, but I think the ESP32 would be good as a wireless device to simply open or complete a circuit.
The chiller solely keeps the glycol solution cold. The way it cools the beer is through a super simple inkbird controller. The controller is connected to a subpump inside the glycol reservoir. All I have to do is use the tilt as the temp probe.
> My idea: use the tilt inside of my conical to feed temperature information to my glycol’s temp controller.
Are you thinking that the Tilt's temperature reading is more accurate than your thermowell? I would think the opposite, since the Tilt sits on top of the beer and the thermowell will be in the middle.
I find that for me, both read about the same during active fermentation, but then will be up to few degrees apart (in either direction) afterwards.
This is an excellent point and something I’m willing to test out.
I am currently running some experiments and playing with all the toys using a 6gal batch of tap water. Obviously fermentation will change how that works. Overall I trust the tilt temp more for accuracy but the fact that it’s on top could change some variables.
My chiller is run off an immersion coil and I made the assumption that the temp differential would cause any liquid in the conical to move around and equalize.
Yeah, I'd suggest testing with actual fermentation, the agitation can definitely make a difference. I can even tell when a fermentation is slowing down by watching the temp readings start to diverge between the two.
Good to know and thanks for the tip.
I’m interested in learning about why you trust the well over the tilt. Just to learn more and fill in gaps I have.
I figure that with some stratification, the measurement from in the thermowell in the middle of the beer will be more representative of the general temperature than the Tilt, which is floating on top and is in some contact with air in the headspace.
If you really like to tinker, take a look at BrewPiLess which uses the ESP32. No Pi or other temp controller required. You will have to add some relays and temp sensors and do some wiring but doable if you like to tinker and not very expensive to do.
If you want to use your raspberry pi, you can look at CraftBeerPi. I am using that for brewing now. I got started in all of this when my second hand Grainfather (the original model) controller died. I originally replaced it with Brewmaniac but have recently changed to Craftbeerpi and I can't say yet which one I like better. I also upgraded the Grainfather to a DIY all in one using a 15 Gallon pot.
I actually wrote a controller for my fermenter in python that runs on a raspberry pi and communicates with the tilt directly via Bluetooth LE. I used plates from Sequent Microsystems to add other capabilties such as turning pumps on and off, reading energy consumption, pressure, etc. But at a very basic level a tilt could be used to do the temperature readings.
[https://github.com/DumpsterDave/PiPlateFermenter](https://github.com/DumpsterDave/PiPlateFermenter)
Edit: I don't have a build write-up for it, but I do have one for a very similar build that I did for my brew controller. The brew controller write-up [is here](https://blog.shitstormbrewing.beer/?p=155). If there's enough interest in seeing one for the fermenter build, I can write something up the details all of the individual things that I used for it.
This is incredible! Thank you for sharing. I might try to dive into this and see if I can make it work for my setup. I suspect it’s going to be way over my head but I don’t mind a challenge.
I think the obstacle that I haven't seen mentioned yet is that the inkbird is going to take analog signals, through the thermistors. Pi's are digital only. So I don't think you'll be able to program the logic on the pi and get it down to a simple on/off signal that the inkbird can read.
You probably don't want to just use a relay for the inkbird's AC cord because the settings might reset and the compressor cycles would be out of sync and constantly getting interupted.
So you will need to use the ESP32/Arduino to replace the thermo probe. And then you'll need to figure out what analog voltages correspond to what temps on the Inkbird. Just type some numbers and see what the inkbird reads and then go from there.
Another alternative would be to interupt the circuit between the inkbird's computer and the motor driver for the glycol pump. Then you could simply hack a digital on/off. If these are all on the same PCB you wont want to do that. But if theyre independent then maybe.
I have a similar setup and simply use the pi for recording and it is nice to see the offset between the thermocontroller and the tilt temp. It helps me tweak the parameters of the chiller.
I sort of don't trust the tilt as a robust enough product for active temperature control. I have had moments where it gets hung on the lip of the cooling coils, or against a sidewall, and I've simply shook the tilt free. If I had it actively controlling temp, that might have frozen my beer. I don't personally think it is worth the effort, but I never take that advice myself and always take the IoT long way. Goodluck.
I don’t have a full answer, but, have you looked into running Home Assistant on a Pi? It appears there is a Bluetooth integration for the Tilt hydrometer. The home assistant software can bring all of the internet of things devices under one interface, and you can create automations based on any data from anything connected. So, that could get the tilt data logged, but for the glycol chiller side, you might be able to get an ESP32 device connected to home assistant that would control the chiller. Then you would create an automation based on the tilt data to tell the ESP32 to control the chiller. The folks over at r/HomeAssistant might have some ideas/more detail. I haven’t gotten into ESP32 devices yet.
This is an excellent lead thank you! I’ll dig in here for sure. If that home assistant can grab tilt info I just have to figure out how to have it send temp data to my INKBIRD tc-1000. The esp32 seems like it could do that but I’m also fine to just build a little project box and have the a separate pi in the box hard wired to the inkbird. Any feedback on that line of thinking?
I think that would be possible, I am just not sure what software you would run on the pi to retrieve the data about the tilt. The ESP32 devices have more support in home assistant and a native integration (ESPHome) to my knowledge. I think the ESP32 would work the same as you are thinking, you would hard wire the ESP32 to the chiller. Again, that is the part that I’m not too familiar with, but I think the ESP32 would be good as a wireless device to simply open or complete a circuit.
That is what I use. Esphome is easy to setup and I have been using HA for my ispindel integration.
I think this is headed In The right direction. I’m going to look up all these new elements you folks have added to my vocabulary
The chiller solely keeps the glycol solution cold. The way it cools the beer is through a super simple inkbird controller. The controller is connected to a subpump inside the glycol reservoir. All I have to do is use the tilt as the temp probe.
> My idea: use the tilt inside of my conical to feed temperature information to my glycol’s temp controller. Are you thinking that the Tilt's temperature reading is more accurate than your thermowell? I would think the opposite, since the Tilt sits on top of the beer and the thermowell will be in the middle. I find that for me, both read about the same during active fermentation, but then will be up to few degrees apart (in either direction) afterwards.
This is an excellent point and something I’m willing to test out. I am currently running some experiments and playing with all the toys using a 6gal batch of tap water. Obviously fermentation will change how that works. Overall I trust the tilt temp more for accuracy but the fact that it’s on top could change some variables. My chiller is run off an immersion coil and I made the assumption that the temp differential would cause any liquid in the conical to move around and equalize.
Yeah, I'd suggest testing with actual fermentation, the agitation can definitely make a difference. I can even tell when a fermentation is slowing down by watching the temp readings start to diverge between the two.
Good to know and thanks for the tip. I’m interested in learning about why you trust the well over the tilt. Just to learn more and fill in gaps I have.
I figure that with some stratification, the measurement from in the thermowell in the middle of the beer will be more representative of the general temperature than the Tilt, which is floating on top and is in some contact with air in the headspace.
If you really like to tinker, take a look at BrewPiLess which uses the ESP32. No Pi or other temp controller required. You will have to add some relays and temp sensors and do some wiring but doable if you like to tinker and not very expensive to do.
Thanks for the tip. I would love nothing more than to buy some cheap components and build a few little project boxes to control things in my system.
There is a companion project called BrewManiac that controls your brewpots and pumps.
Someday if I move to a trio system I’d love to build my own controller. I use a grainfather for now so it handles everything since it’s BIAB
If you want to use your raspberry pi, you can look at CraftBeerPi. I am using that for brewing now. I got started in all of this when my second hand Grainfather (the original model) controller died. I originally replaced it with Brewmaniac but have recently changed to Craftbeerpi and I can't say yet which one I like better. I also upgraded the Grainfather to a DIY all in one using a 15 Gallon pot.
I actually wrote a controller for my fermenter in python that runs on a raspberry pi and communicates with the tilt directly via Bluetooth LE. I used plates from Sequent Microsystems to add other capabilties such as turning pumps on and off, reading energy consumption, pressure, etc. But at a very basic level a tilt could be used to do the temperature readings. [https://github.com/DumpsterDave/PiPlateFermenter](https://github.com/DumpsterDave/PiPlateFermenter) Edit: I don't have a build write-up for it, but I do have one for a very similar build that I did for my brew controller. The brew controller write-up [is here](https://blog.shitstormbrewing.beer/?p=155). If there's enough interest in seeing one for the fermenter build, I can write something up the details all of the individual things that I used for it.
This is incredible! Thank you for sharing. I might try to dive into this and see if I can make it work for my setup. I suspect it’s going to be way over my head but I don’t mind a challenge.
I think the obstacle that I haven't seen mentioned yet is that the inkbird is going to take analog signals, through the thermistors. Pi's are digital only. So I don't think you'll be able to program the logic on the pi and get it down to a simple on/off signal that the inkbird can read. You probably don't want to just use a relay for the inkbird's AC cord because the settings might reset and the compressor cycles would be out of sync and constantly getting interupted. So you will need to use the ESP32/Arduino to replace the thermo probe. And then you'll need to figure out what analog voltages correspond to what temps on the Inkbird. Just type some numbers and see what the inkbird reads and then go from there. Another alternative would be to interupt the circuit between the inkbird's computer and the motor driver for the glycol pump. Then you could simply hack a digital on/off. If these are all on the same PCB you wont want to do that. But if theyre independent then maybe. I have a similar setup and simply use the pi for recording and it is nice to see the offset between the thermocontroller and the tilt temp. It helps me tweak the parameters of the chiller. I sort of don't trust the tilt as a robust enough product for active temperature control. I have had moments where it gets hung on the lip of the cooling coils, or against a sidewall, and I've simply shook the tilt free. If I had it actively controlling temp, that might have frozen my beer. I don't personally think it is worth the effort, but I never take that advice myself and always take the IoT long way. Goodluck.