Microsoft Exec. Makes $1,400 Automatic Beer Brewing Device

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A machine that makes beer in your home in less than an hour? Most of us could make our money back in the first few weeks we owned one of these. ;)

Why can't we brew beer at home as easily as we can make a loaf of bread with a bread-maker, or a shot of espresso with an automatic espresso machine? Making quality beer this easily: that was the dream 3 years ago, and we're proud to announce that after thousands of man hours of R&D, we've made that dream a reality in the form of the PicoBrew Zymatic(tm).
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Maybe a wee bit longer than an hour. :D

In about 3 1/2 hours your keg will be no longer filled with water -- it will contain beer wort (unfermented beer). At this point you just need to detach the keg from the machine (remove the hoses from the keg posts), chill the keg to room temperature (a 5G bucket of ice-water works well), add yeast and then seal the keg with an air-lock keg lid. Your beer will ferment in the keg you brewed it in in (typically) 5 days to 1 week.
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I want one!
 
It still takes a week to ferment and has the the same failure rate a normal brewing process has. It's just cleaner and a few days faster.

This will be nice for people looking to dabble, or for serious people who don't already have equipment, but I see no reason to switch from the setup I use now. I don't find it tedious.
 
Very nice. Wish I drank more beer to justify getting something like this. Hell, my k-cup brewer is barely making it now. :D
 
Nifty, did some home brew a few years ago and honestly the biggest issue I had was finding quality components on a consistent basis.
 
Seems like it takes the fun out of home brew to me... but to each their own!
 
I like how they have people in lab coats. It's like scientific and shit.
 
$1400 could buy me a looooooooooooooooot of beer.

Or if I wanted to get crazy it could buy me a loooooooooooot of beer making equipment, with money left over for more beer.
 
bh192012 said:
$1400 could buy me a looooooooooooooooot of beer.

Or if I wanted to get crazy it could buy me a loooooooooooot of beer making equipment, with money left over for more beer.
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About 1/3 of a year for me, and that's drinking shitty light beer. Buying craft beers would drive the time to payoff down substantially. Maybe even down to a month or two.

The biggest issue would be where to store all of these kegs while they ferment... ;)
 
andrewcw said:
Microsoft Exec you say? I like the Macintosh in the video ROFL.
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I dont know why that's relevant enough to put in the title, read the page, some of the dudes at some point worked for Microsoft... heh, so what! lol

Thing is cool as hell though
 
Steve said:
A machine that makes beer in your home in less than an hour? Most of us could make our money back in the first few weeks we owned one of these.
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I'm actually thinking I'd drop a lot more money into ingredients, replaceables, and refrigeration. :)
 
For a business professional, this is the cats meow. You get to do something a little fun but pay a bit to take out the shit part of it. Fair price...very fair price for what it does.
 
Trepidati0n said:
For a business professional, this is the cats meow. You get to do something a little fun but pay a bit to take out the shit part of it. Fair price...very fair price for what it does.
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This. Once this hits store shelves it'll be an easy (somewhat) expensive gift for the husband / uncle / dad / random hardforum poster who you feeling like being extremely charitable to for no real reason.
 
I've always been intrigued by home brewing but was just too lazy and chicken shit to actually make the mental and financial investment, but this looks like it might change things. If I end up buying this thing, brewing will be the easy part, explaining to my fiancee how I'm starting yet another expensive hobby will be a pita.
 
Kinda cool, but way to damn expensive. if i had the cash maybe but ill stick to my traditional brewing method :)
 
I used to home brew but the cleaning and sterilizing became too much of a burden. Now this might bring me back. I hope it's not too expensive.
 
Ticker305 said:
I've always been intrigued by home brewing but was just too lazy and chicken shit to actually make the mental and financial investment, but this looks like it might change things. If I end up buying this thing, brewing will be the easy part, explaining to my fiancee how I'm starting yet another expensive hobby will be a pita.
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Tell her about chocolate beer. Suddenly you'll have approval.
 
LeninGHOLA said:
It still takes a week to ferment and has the the same failure rate a normal brewing process has. It's just cleaner and a few days faster.

This will be nice for people looking to dabble, or for serious people who don't already have equipment, but I see no reason to switch from the setup I use now. I don't find it tedious.
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I agree, brewing is a fun hobby and not tedious. For people that find brewing tedious or need instant gratification, just go buy a beer.

When I think of the price of this, I think wow, I can get a badass conical fermenter instead!

-or-

I can build a decent brew sculpture so I dont need to keep moving kettles and mash tuns, and use the extra 900 dollars left over on ingredients for years to come.
 
DocFaustus said:
I agree, brewing is a fun hobby and not tedious. For people that find brewing tedious or need instant gratification, just go buy a beer.

When I think of the price of this, I think wow, I can get a badass conical fermenter instead!

-or-

I can build a decent brew sculpture so I dont need to keep moving kettles and mash tuns, and use the extra 900 dollars left over on ingredients for years to come.
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Yup. I can do it for faaar cheaper than $1400. A little cleanup and a little extra time, but I save close to a grand.
 
LeninGHOLA said:
Yup. I can do it for faaar cheaper than $1400. A little cleanup and a little extra time, but I save close to a grand.
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But are you able to be as consistent as this machine? The idea that your temps are always precise, your cook times always the same; that would enable a beginner to dial in a recipe they love, and always be able to make it the same every time (with slight variation due to ingredients).

I brew occasionally, and its a good bit of work, though rewarding.
 
lilbabycat said:
But are you able to be as consistent as this machine? The idea that your temps are always precise, your cook times always the same; that would enable a beginner to dial in a recipe they love, and always be able to make it the same every time (with slight variation due to ingredients).

I brew occasionally, and its a good bit of work, though rewarding.
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I'm consistent. Part of that is due to years of experience and logging all of my measurements for each batch. It's rare to see major variation, and this device would not stop that. Variation is usually due to user error or quality of ingredients. Here in Seattle, we have some very high quality brew shops. Ingredient variation is pretty minimal at this point. I can even grow my own hops if I want to.

Like I said earlier, this device could be very good for those starting out, and those that just want beer without the fuss. For those that already have some nice equipment and experience, there isn't much to gain at that asking price.
 
I would use this for pilots I didn't feel like brewing 10 gallons of.
 
Methadras said:
Very nice. Wish I drank more beer to justify getting something like this. Hell, my k-cup brewer is barely making it now. :D
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Your logic is all backwards. You buy something like this to justify drinking more beer.
 
lilbabycat said:
But are you able to be as consistent as this machine? The idea that your temps are always precise, your cook times always the same; that would enable a beginner to dial in a recipe they love, and always be able to make it the same every time (with slight variation due to ingredients).

I brew occasionally, and its a good bit of work, though rewarding.
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Trial and error. I'm currently using my free time to master WinDAS - a calibration tool for Sony CRT's. And while it would be nice if someone could build an "auto-calibrater" tool for it (learning this stuff is tedious and sometimes frustrating), the rewards of being able to calibrate your screen to manufacturer's specs are worth it. I would imagine the same thing would apply to brewing.
 
I've always wanted to brew, but I'm just too lazy. This is apealing to me because I just buy the machine, get a couple online recipes to try so I get familiar with it, then start playing around with different ingredients to find my own blends. The computer interface/control/recipe thing is nice so I know I can always repeat the same experience.

Oh and dishwasher cleaning.
 
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