Bottoms up! Brew your own beer with this countertop box
Just add water, grain, and hops. The PicoBrew Zymatic can serve up your homemade brew with minimal hassle and cleaning.
Craft beer and microbreweries have exploded in popularity over the last decade, prompting many enthusiasts to try making their own suds.
I've never done that, but it sounds like a lot of trouble. Not to mention a lot of time that could be better spent drinking craft beer.
Enter the PicoBrew Zymatic, billed as "the world's first fully automatic all-grain beer brewing system."
Developed in Seattle, the countertop box debuted on Kickstarter Monday, and is already more than a third of the way to its campaign goal of $150,000.
PicoBrew co-founder Bill Mitchell describes the device as "an espresso maker for beer." It consists of a brewing box and a Cornelius keg attached to it with hoses.
You load a series of containers with malted barley and hops, pour water into the keg, then select a recipe. It will produce unfermented beer in a few hours.
Then you put the stuff into the keg, add some yeast, and your beer will be ready about a week after carbonating. Check out the details here.
The developers say the PicoBrew Zymatic brings the reliability and quality of commercial brewing to the kitchen. The promo vid on the campaign page suggests that commercial brewers may also be interested in PicoBrew to experiment with new recipes.
The machine doesn't come cheap, however. It started at $1,299 for Kickstarter backers, and now it's only available for $1,399 and up.
Would you try home brewing with this? Or are you happy getting your brew from your local bar or corner store?
