🍺 HasABrewery Fermentation Chamber | Full Control - Plug & Play

🚀 ChEAPER THAN INKBIRD & Fully Connected

The Fermentation Chamber Controller is a Raspberry Pi-based system for automating temperature control in fermentation. It integrates DS18B20 sensors, MQTT communication, relay control, and an OLED display. This project ensures optimal fermentation conditions, supports remote monitoring, and is part of the Has A Brewery Ecosystem.

NOTES - to be added

• party list / AWS links

📌 Features

• 🛠️ Plug & Play setup - simply go thru docs here and follow along!.
• ✅ Fully Automated Fermentation Control with real-time monitoring.
• 🔘 Start-Stop Button with proper boot-up / power-down logic
• 🎮 Smart & PID Controlls for intelligent temperature regulations.
• 🖥️ OLED Display Support for live status updates.
• 📡 MQTT-Based Communication for seamless integration.
• 🌡️ DS18B20 Temperature Sensors for precise readings.
• 🔌 Relay-Controlled Heating and Cooling based in intelligent sensors.

Overview

This project provides an automated and remote-controlled fermentation chamber to ensure optimal brewing conditions. It is fully modular, allowing you to start with a simple setup and expand over time. Whether you use all available sensors—such as temperature probes, fans, relays, door sensors, and displays—or just a few, the system remains fully operational. Active support ensures you can integrate new components as needed while keeping everything running smoothly. The chamber can be as simple or advanced as you want, making it ideal for both beginners and expert brewers. Start now with the basics and scale up over time while utilizing only the hardware you already have!

Platform

• Target Device: Raspberry Pi
• Operating System: Raspberry Pi 3 (and later) OS 64-bit (recommended)

Installation & Preparation

Prerequisites

Ensure you have:

• a Raspberry Pi (any model with GPIO support)
• an SD card with Raspberry Pi OS installed
• an Internet connection and local network (WiFi or Ethernet)
• the sensors you like to useDS18B20 sensors, relays, OLED display, and USB fans

🔧 Setup Your Pi

Start with a cleaned Raspberry Pi. This project is tested on RPi 3, 4 and 5, but is expected to wok on other RPIs as well. Choose the OS (64 bit recommended). BEFORE your flash the RPi, go to the OS Settings / Advanced Settings and set it up to something meaningful. Most importantly, add your WiFi! Take a username that works for you (e.g. brewmaster) and a device name such as connected-brewery Your settings should look something like this:

Once all setup, connect to your RPi via SSH

   ssh brewmaster@connected-brewery.com

Enter your password and off you go!

1. Update & Upgrade the system

   sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

2. Install required packages

   sudo apt install python3 python3-pip git mosquitto mosquitto-clients -y
   pip3 install flask paho-mqtt RPi.GPIO

Install Virtual Environment

To keep things clean or organized, setup a virtual environment (venv) on your RPi

sudo apt install python3-venv -y
python3 -m venv ~/fermentation-venv
source ~/fermentation-venv/bin/activate
pip install --break-system-packages flask paho-mqtt RPi.GPIO

Once completed, verify the installation was successful running:

python3 -c "import flask, paho.mqtt.client, RPi.GPIO; print('Success!')"

Make Virtual Environment Persistent

To avoid having to manually start your venv every time you power up the RPi, make it persostent via

echo "source ~/fermentation-venv/bin/activate" >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc
pip install --upgrade pip
pip install --break-system-packages flask paho-mqtt RPi.GPIO
pip list | grep -E 'flask|paho-mqtt|RPi.GPIO'

Clone Repository

At this stage, you are ready to get the code: Navigate into the folder you like to hold your program in. (e.g. 'cd Desktop') and run

git clone https://github.com/mirkohahn/hasabrewery-fermentation-chamber.git
cd hasabrewery-fermentation-chamber

Project Structure

tree

Configure config.py

Usage

MQTT Messages

Structure of MQTT Messages Sent by Controller

Example:

{
    "timestamp": "2025-02-05 18:52:35",
    "temp_ambient": 22.5,
    "temp_brew": 18.0,
    "temp_top": 19.2,
    "temp_bottom": 17.8,
    "status": {
        "status_message": "OK",
        "transmission_type": "wifi",
        "RSSI": -78,
        "firmware_version": "0.1.2"
    }
}

Structure of MQTT Messages to Control Chamber

Example:

{
    "fermentation": {
        "stages_numbers": 3,
        "schedule": [
            {
                "stage": "Primary",
                "temperature": {
                    "value": 18,
                    "unit": "Celsius"
                },
                "pressure": {
                    "value": 15,
                    "unit": "psi"
                },
                "time": {
                    "value": 5,
                    "unit": "days"
                },
                "additive": {
                    "name": "Yeast Nutrient",
                    "value": 2,
                    "unit": "g"
                },
                "comments": "Start primary fermentation"
            }
        ]
    },
    "recipe_data": {
        "id": "ABC123",
        "name": "Test Brew"
    }
}

Wiring & Hardware

Wiring Guide

Component	BCM Pin	Physical Pin	Function
Button	GPIO 16	Pin 36	Start/Stop Fermentation Chamber
LED	GPIO 13	Pin 33	Indicator
GND	GND	Pin 34	Ground

Hardware Components

• Raspberry Pi
• DS18B20 Temperature Sensors
• I2C OLED Display
• Relays
• Fans (USB-powered)

Pictures & Diagrams

(Include wiring diagrams and hardware setup images)

LED Test Script

    PWR     CHAM    WIFI    MQTT    TEMP

GREEN 16 13 27 17 22 [] [] [] [] [] RED 5 24 25 6 23

    1   R: PWR ON
        G: Ready
    2   R: ERR Start
        G: Ready
    3   R: No WiFi
        G: WiFi Connected
    4   R: Not Connected to MQTT Host
        G: MQTT Connected
    5   R: Trouble with 1 or more Sensors
        G: All Sensors Working

State: -> 1 + 2 Green -> Chamebr Ready

Troubleshoot

deactivate source ~/fermentation-venv/bin/activate

Notes on Setup & Development

Initialize Temperature Sensor

Check if enabled:

ls /sys/bus/w1/devices/

If not, manually enable:

sudo nano /boot/firmware/config.txt

Add to bottom:

dtoverlay=w1-gpio

Then reboot:

sudo reboot

Initialize MQTT

Ensure broker is running, then test by subscribing and publishing:

mosquitto_pub -h 192.168.0.209 -t "/control/fermentation_chamber/controller/2B3C4D" -m "Test Command from Mac"

Test Relays

Enable I2C

Run:

sudo raspi-config

Enable I2C under Interfacing Options.

Check detection:

sudo i2cdetect -y 1

Setup USB Power Control

sudo apt update
sudo apt install uhubctl

List available hubs & ports:

sudo uhubctl

Control ports:

sudo uhubctl -a off -l 1-1 -p PORT_NO
sudo uhubctl -a on -l 1-1 -p PORT_NO

Auto Start start_button.py

Create a systemd service:

sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/start_button.service

Add the following:

[Unit]
Description=Start Button for Fermentation Chamber
After=multi-user.target

[Service]
ExecStart=/home/brewmaster/fermentation-venv/bin/python3 /home/brewmaster/Desktop/hasabrewery-fermentation-chamber/start_button.py
WorkingDirectory=/home/brewmaster/Desktop/hasabrewery-fermentation-chamber
StandardOutput=inherit
StandardError=inherit
Restart=always
User=brewmaster

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Enable and start the service:

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable start_button.service
sudo systemctl start start_button.service

Check status:

sudo systemctl status start_button.service

Stop manually:

sudo systemctl stop start_button.service

Upcoming Features

Contribution

Support this Project

License

This project is licensed under the Apache 2.0 License. See the LICENSE file for details.

Has A Brewery Ecosystem