Atmel-Arduino controls this beer brewing machine

A Maker by the name of “The_Meatloaf” recently built a fully automated beer brewing machine using an Atmel-based Arduino Mega (ATmega128) to power a 4-button interface capable of saving and executing up to 26 different recipes.

The machine – designed in the context of a computer engineering degree program – was constructed entirely from scratch over the course of a year. As HackADay’s James Hobson notes, the automated brewing system removes most of the guesswork from an otherwise complex brewing process.

“The machine starts by heating the water in the first keg using a 2000W heating element, after which the water transfers into the mash vessel via servo valves, where it’s stirred by a mixing motor,” Hobson explained.

“The machine then drains the wort (the resulting liquid after mashing) and sparges (adds more water to the mash tun) the grains as programmed. 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 solution to room temperature using ice water, then dispenses the solution for fermentation.”

Interested in learning more about the Atmel-Arduino automated brewing machine? You can check out the original Reddit post here and additional photos here.