From the brewer to you: HomeTap pours a pint of your favorite beer
Order your beer of choice through Hopsy, then pour it through HomeTap.
In pursuit of beer nirvana, the Hopsy HomeTap lets you pour a pint of your favorite microbrew, fresh from the tap on your kitchen counter. A Bay Area product only for now, the HomeTap is the newest piece of the Hopsy beer delivery service. Order a growler of your favorite local brew, and if you have the HomeTap, Hopsy will deliver it in a specialized canister you can plug in and pour.
The containers hold a little more than a growler, actually -- 2 full liters (around 68 ounces) vs 1.9 liters (64 ounces). Slide one into the cylindrical HomeTap, connect the tube to the tap, and close the door on the front. Then pull the tap handle and HomeTap will pour you a frothy glass of beer while keeping the contents of the container cool and fresh. Hopsy claims that the beer will last up to two weeks after you plug it into HomeTap.
If you're in the Bay Area, you can preorder HomeTap now. Expect delivery starting at the end of this month. On its own, HomeTap costs $150, but you can also get it as part of various subscription plans to Hopsy's delivery service. Since the HomeTap only works with proprietary bottles, you'll need to use Hopsy's service to use HomeTap. Later this year, Hopsy will expand to San Diego, and the growing business will hopefully reach markets outside of California before too long.
Krups, makers of the popular Nespresso, made the HomeTap for Hopsy. Handily, it cools and pours your beer without forcing you to hassle with a carbon dioxide canister. HomeTap bottles keep your beer pressurized in a bag inside of the hard exterior of the container. HomeTap pours your beer by using oxygen to squeeze the bag. That's an interesting way to get around the need for carbon dioxide, but you can't switch out bottles once you've plugged them into HomeTap without losing pressurization.
Outlook
Since Hopsy works directly with breweries, even once the company expands, you'll likely be limited to using HomeTap with local beers. I like the idea of fresh beer delivered straight from the brewery, and Hopsy promises to deliver varieties you won't be able to get in bottles. But $150 is a lot to spend on a device that keeps the selection so local. That said, if I lived in Hopsy's service area, I'd be excited to give HomeTap a try.