CAN·BREWERY GitHub

Open hardware · in development

One cable
runs the
brewhouse.

CAN Brewery is an open-source CAN bus controller and a growing family of plug-in modules — motorized valves, temperature sensors, and more — that automate your brewery over a single twisted pair.

Meet the hardware KiCad sources

SEC / 01 — The topology

A brewery is just
a very thirsty network.

  1. 01

    One controller

    The brain of the operation. It speaks CAN to every module on the line, runs your automation logic, and connects the brewhouse to your network.

  2. 02

    One cable

    A daisy-chained twisted pair carries messages from node to node. No home-run wiring, no hub, no Cat5 spaghetti — the cable just keeps going to wherever the next module lives.

  3. 03

    Any modules

    Tap a valve, a sensor, or something you designed yourself anywhere along the line. Every module is its own addressable node, and the bus doesn't care how many you add.

SEC / 02 — The hardware

Modules on the bus

Every board below hangs off the same two wires. All designs are in active development — schematics and PCBs are drawn in KiCad, in the open, and will be published as they mature.

  • 0x01

    Controller

    In development

    The bus master. Drives the whole brewhouse: reads every sensor, commands every valve, and exposes it all to your network for recipes, logging, and remote control.

    Bus masterNetwork uplinkAutomation logic

  • 0x02

    3-way valve

    In development

    Drives a motorized three-way ball valve to divert or mix flows — send wort to the kettle or back through the recirculation loop without touching a handle.

    Motorized ball valveDivert / mixPosition feedback

  • 0x03

    2-way valve

    In development

    Simple on/off flow control for transfers, fills, and drains. The workhorse you'll end up sprinkling all over the brewhouse.

    Motorized ball valveOpen / close

  • 0x04

    Temperature sensor

    In development

    Puts accurate temperature readings on the bus from wherever you need them — mash tun, HLT, kettle, or fermenter.

    Multi-probeMash / HLT / fermenter

  • 0x??

    Your module here

    Open spec

    Pumps, level sensors, glycol control, a tap-list display — the bus doesn't care what you hang on it. Fork the KiCad sources and roll your own node.

    Fork itBuild itShare it

SEC / 03 — Why CAN bus

The right bus
for a wet, noisy room.

01Built for hostile environments
Differential signaling shrugs off the electrical noise of pumps, heating elements, and motors. CAN runs your car's brakes; it can handle your mash tun.
02One cable, no home runs
Nodes daisy-chain along a single twisted pair that can span the whole brewhouse. Adding a module means tapping the nearest point on the line — not pulling a new wire back to a controller.
03Forty years of boring reliability
CAN has been battle-tested in cars and factory floors since the 1980s. Boring, deterministic, and well understood is exactly what you want holding 60 liters of hot wort.
04Cheap, hackable silicon
Transceivers cost pennies, nearly every modern microcontroller speaks CAN natively, and the protocol is simple enough to fit in your head. Perfect territory for open hardware.

SEC / 04 — Open source

Free as in beer.
Free as in freedom.

Every schematic and PCB is drawn in KiCad and developed in the open on GitHub. Review the designs, order your own boards, improve them, or design a module nobody's thought of yet.

Browse the sources

Hardware is in active development — star the repo to follow along.