BierBot Bricks Forum

Hi,

I am considering using BierBot but I have a few concerns.

• Can I use BierBot if my internet goes down or I am brewing where there is no internet?

• On the Pricing page what is the difference between a Brick and a Device, e.g. for the free tier it says 3 for each but I am unclear what the difference between them is.

• Does the 1 Parallel Brew include fermentation time because I think many home brewers will be brewing a new beer while several are fermenting?

• Is there going to be an API to interface with things or plans to integrate external API's like BrewFather?

I am also concerned that even the free tier doesn't have enough bricks for the majority of home brewers and the Pro Tier is already a little too expensive for me. I ask because the way I see it even the the most limited home brewer like me will want a Brick for the Brewery, a Brick for the fermentation controller and several more for Tilts and/or iSpindels. Is there any chance you would consider changing the way Bricks are counted on the free tier so you can have one of each of the above and plus a reasonable number of those you would want multiples of like iSpindles. I have 5 of those alone.


Thanks

Keith

Hi Keith,

thanks for considering BierBot Bricks.

• The BierBot will not be usable where you don't have internet. However, think back how many times you brewed at placed without any internet in the recent years (a mobile hotspot will do as well, the data usage is neglectible)

• One ore multiple Bricks can be linked to a device. This way, the relay / temperature sensor / relay is assigned. You can also link multiple Bricks to one Device, i.e. to allow higher Wattages (Power) for Heating (above 3.5kW). The simplest setup is one Brick, with it's relay and temperature sensor linked to the same device (i.e. mashtun).

• There already ist, i.e. the display-API that allows you to pull and view information related to all ongoing brews. Also, the API used all Bricks out there is well documented. Offering an API to set the target temperature in future and integrate that into Brewfather is perfectly possible if demanded by our users. However, in that case two parties need to agree (and I can only control one ) - so take that with a grain of salt.

Finally, regarding the Free tier. The Free tier is supposed to help low budget homebrewers to get started. 3 Bricks (which you can also build by yourself to save cost), multiple TILTs and iSpindels are already $500+ worth of equipment - without accounting for mashungs, pumps, fermenters or anything else you bought (which is probably another $1-2k, easily). Please reconsider whether $20 is "too expensive", developing and maintaining this Software takes a lot of time - especially with the high quality standards we have. Also, we have to pay the bill for the cloud infrastructure (servers, gateways, etc.) powering all of that. Thanks for your understanding.

Cheers,
Bernhard.

Keith wrote: ↑Tue May 24, 2022 6:01 pm Hi,

I am considering using BierBot but I have a few concerns.

• Can I use BierBot if my internet goes down or I am brewing where there is no internet?

• On the Pricing page what is the difference between a Brick and a Device, e.g. for the free tier it says 3 for each but I am unclear what the difference between them is.

• Does the 1 Parallel Brew include fermentation time because I think many home brewers will be brewing a new beer while several are fermenting?

• Is there going to be an API to interface with things or plans to integrate external API's like BrewFather?

I am also concerned that even the free tier doesn't have enough bricks for the majority of home brewers and the Pro Tier is already a little too expensive for me. I ask because the way I see it even the the most limited home brewer like me will want a Brick for the Brewery, a Brick for the fermentation controller and several more for Tilts and/or iSpindels. Is there any chance you would consider changing the way Bricks are counted on the free tier so you can have one of each of the above and plus a reasonable number of those you would want multiples of like iSpindles. I have 5 of those alone.


Thanks

Keith