Basically, don't be Nick Burns, the company computer guy:
Well, you started out with some "state machine" mumbo jumbo instead of stating specifically what you want the arduino to do in your project. Probably best to start back with the basics of what you want to do. That being said, there are members of the forum that in my opinion have personality issues that become apparent in the way they think they are being "helpful". Anyhow there have been previous brewing projects discussed in the past and studying those previous post may provide some useful information.