ARDUINO controlled BEER BREWING MACHINE!
[the_meatloaf] just put the final touches on his fully automated beer brewing device using an Arduino.
The project was part of his computer engineering degree, and it took [the_meatloaf] and two mechanical engineer pals a year to design and build the entire system from scratch. An Arduino Mega with a 4-button interface allows you to program, save, load, rename, and run up to 26 different recipes saved to the EEPROM.
An automated system like this removes many of the guesswork from an otherwise complex brewing process. The device starts by heating the water in the first keg using a 2000W heating element, after which the water transfers into the mash vessel through servo valves, where it’s stirred by a mixing motor. The device then drains the wort (the resulting liquid after mashing) and sparges (adds much more water to the mash tun) the grains as programmed: thanks, [Chris,] for clarification! The wort is brought to a boil for the programmed amount of time, while a servo-controlled “hopper” automatically adds the hops. Finally, a counter-flow heat exchanger rapidly cools the service to room temperature using ice water, then dispenses the service for fermentation.
Though [the_meatloaf’s] most significant project to date was quite the accomplishment, he sadly won’t get to delight in it. The sponsors who covered the $1000 budget reclaimed the machine. Drat.
[via Reddit]