HopBox - Practical or another homebrew scheme

[Eugenio]

I think it's a nice looking, practically artistic, small brewing system. There could be a couple of minor issues with producing quality beer, but I think they would be easily taken care of.

So rather than bashing this thing, why not ask some questions about how it works and try to think of ways to overcome the expected issues, rather than just call it names ridicule it?

For instance, there is no temperature control. So? It's small enough to fit in a cool corner like some people do already. Maybe inside a cooler with some frozen pop bottles just like some people do already.

Small enough to place on a small table or shelf. Mostly self-contained. Actually very nice-looking. It's got a lot going for it for some brewers, I think even brewers who know how to brew good beer.

Are there any other possible issues?

I agree. Its a very nice looking storage system for the person with money who wants to give it a shot. Its not for the brewer making 10 gallons every weekend...and there is nothing wrong with that.

 

[northcal]

I think making the hop box out of stainless would be more practical for cleaning purposes, and it would look better too.

Are there any other possible issues?

 

[Homercidal]

I'm actually quite fond of the look of the thing. Personally, for me, it's the best feature. I have plenty of too-large equipment taking up too much room, but I'm not giving it up!

So, there might be an issue with the amount of time fermentation takes place. How much yeast do you use? A small amount of wort ferments quicker with a small, yet relatively larger amount of yeast. Maybe 3 days is ok for a primary here. I know some people who swear by a 4-7 day primary.

Yes, it's a small system. I'm sure plenty here would not be satisfied with such a small output, but it looks like brewing once a week or two might be good enough for some people. Maybe someone who enjoys the process and doesn't have the room to store a full 5G system and doesn't want to drink beer every day (Weird, I know!)

 

[Teromous]

So rather than bashing this thing, why not ask some questions about how it works and try to think of ways to overcome the expected issues, rather than just call it names ridicule it?

For instance, there is no temperature control. So? It's small enough to fit in a cool corner like some people do already. Maybe inside a cooler with some frozen pop bottles just like some people do already.

Small enough to place on a small table or shelf. Mostly self-contained. Actually very nice-looking. It's got a lot going for it for some brewers, I think even brewers who know how to brew good beer.

Are there any other possible issues?

If you find yourself in the market for something like this, I have some homebrew whizbangs that you can hang on the outside of your brew kettle. My wife calls them "old Christmas ornaments" but she doesn't have the entrepreneurial spirit. For a few hundred I'd be willing to part with them.

 

[Homercidal]

If you find yourself in the market for something like this, I have some homebrew whizbangs that you can hang on the outside of your brew kettle. My wife calls them "old Christmas ornaments" but she doesn't have the entrepreneurial spirit. For a few hundred I'd be willing to part with them.

So you are saying you can't brew beer with this?

 

[Teromous]

So you are saying you can't brew beer with this?

With my whizbangs you can brew whatever you like. You just have to provide everything else.

 

[BigRock947]

So you are saying you can't brew beer with this?

I understand about providing some constructive criticism and not just bashing...I get that.

Of course, it'll brew beer...small batches don't bother me because that's what I brew...

I think my problem with the HopBox is the description on the Kickstarter.

To me, it just seems like a glorified Pepsi crate with some brewing supplies included but the description makes it seems like the HopBox brews beer by itself.

Now if you want a neat little pine box that comes with some brew supplies for 3 times the price of a small batch starter kit then this is it.

 

[ktblunden]

I'm actually quite fond of the look of the thing. Personally, for me, it's the best feature. I have plenty of too-large equipment taking up too much room, but I'm not giving it up!

So, there might be an issue with the amount of time fermentation takes place. How much yeast do you use? A small amount of wort ferments quicker with a small, yet relatively larger amount of yeast. Maybe 3 days is ok for a primary here. I know some people who swear by a 4-7 day primary.

Yes, it's a small system. I'm sure plenty here would not be satisfied with such a small output, but it looks like brewing once a week or two might be good enough for some people. Maybe someone who enjoys the process and doesn't have the room to store a full 5G system and doesn't want to drink beer every day (Weird, I know!)

They're saying it takes 3-5 days to carb the bottles. 2 weeks total for finished beer. They also state that the kit includes everything you need to brew a batch of beer, but like mentioned previously in this thread there is no kettle included. They've packaged a 1 gallon starter kit with a wooden box, set the price point astronomically high, and demonstrate a lack of knowledge in the market they're selling.

 

[mxchap]

Edit: The individual recipe kits come with mesh straining bags for grains

It doesn't appear to come with a grain bag/strainer either.

 

[fletchergsmith]

That wine making kit looks pretty awesome I would like to just have it as a decoration if nothing else. The elevated fermenter at the right hight for syphoning seems pretty cool. The hop box does not have that feature so you would need to reposition half the set up to do any syphoning. Also why not fully inclose the box to keep out light. It seems this thing is made mostly for aesthetics but still needs to be placed out of sight or covered when in use. It seems to me that the box itself would be nothing more than storage. It would sit on a shelf collecting dust while your fermenters in the closet, and bottles are in the fridge.
Also for that kind of price I would want hard wood not pine.
I might just steal some of the design aspects from that wine kit for a racking station in my up coming ferm chamber build


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[Homercidal]

I understand about providing some constructive criticism and not just bashing...I get that.

Of course, it'll brew beer...small batches don't bother me because that's what I brew...

I think my problem with the HopBox is the description on the Kickstarter.

To me, it just seems like a glorified Pepsi crate with some brewing supplies included but the description makes it seems like the HopBox brews beer by itself.

Now if you want a neat little pine box that comes with some brew supplies for 3 times the price of a small batch starter kit then this is it.

They're saying it takes 3-5 days to carb the bottles. 2 weeks total for finished beer. They also state that the kit includes everything you need to brew a batch of beer, but like mentioned previously in this thread there is no kettle included. They've packaged a 1 gallon starter kit with a wooden box, set the price point astronomically high, and demonstrate a lack of knowledge in the market they're selling.

Well, it's obvious that there is small amount of practicality for most brewers. It's a minimalistic approach packaged in (what I consider) to be a system for storing everything that won't look terrible in an apartment with limited storage.

I agree there is some missing information, like the kettle. Not sure about the 2 weeks part, unless they mean you can bottle at 2 weeks.

Now there is no way I'd buy this. I have a full 5 gallon system (probably enough junk for 2-3 of them!).

They also offer up to 3 gallon size units.

I'm thinking that in order to brew enough to keep you happy you will have to hide bottles somewhere else, and of course if you are always brewing, you can't really keep the fermentor with the system unless you store the whole system in a cool place.

At least it's a real AG kit with boil hops and everything, and not a hopped extract el cheapo kit. The guys even advertise you can get supplies at your local lhbs. A lot of other companies would try to steer you to their pre-packaged kits exclusively.

 

[Teromous]

I agree there is some missing information, like the kettle. Not sure about the 2 weeks part, unless they mean you can bottle at 2 weeks.

From their kickstarter page:

"I’ve never brewed before. What’s the brewing process like?"

"We like to describe the start of the process as similar to making a cup of tea. By steeping grains in water of a specific temperature, you will extract the sugars from crushed grains (most commonly malted barley or wheat) and boil the resulting liquid, which is called wort. Hops are then added for bitterness and aroma. After boiling for (typically) an hour, cooling the wort to room temperature and adding yeast begins the fermentation process. After several days, the beer will be ready to bottle. After carbonating for about 3-5 days in bottles, it will be ready to drink. From start to finish, brewing a batch of beer takes about 2 weeks, but can be even less if you’re in a hurry! It’s easy and fun to do."

 

[geoffey]

I think it's a nice looking, practically artistic, small brewing system. There could be a couple of minor issues with producing quality beer, but I think they would be easily taken care of.

So rather than bashing this thing, why not ask some questions about how it works and try to think of ways to overcome the expected issues, rather than just call it names ridicule it?

Are there any other possible issues?

Well it's not bashing if it is true, and I believe providing constructive criticism is part of the point of a forum like this. I see nothing wrong with looking at a product being offered on kickstarter and wondering out loud on this forum what the point of it is. And anything that I don't "get" or doesn't appeal to me, I tend to dig into because I really want to understand things and understand why they appeal to other people.

So here's my problems with it:

-As has previously been stated I think they are mis-leading with how they go to market. This is a high end storage box which includes SOME of the equipment for brewing. Some of their marketing makes it come across as a brewing "system". Instead of answering a question about how this "system" does temperature control by saying "It doesn't", they instead answer by saying there are lots of different beer styles that have different fermentation temperature requirements. That's mis-leading.

-They state that it includes everything you need to get started. It doesn't. that's misleading.

-The idea that you need a fancy wooden storage box to make good beer, or beer at all, is abhorrent to me.

-The idea that most existing home brew kits are bulky and ugly is elitist and actually just stupid in many respects. For example: most basic homebrew kits take up a smaller footprint than their boxes. So in actuality their boxes are more bulky than most standard homebrew kits.

-And what seems to be the whole idea behind this, proudly displaying your homebrew gear, is illogical once you start using this thing to homebrew! The fermenter once it is fermenting should be stored not in this box but in a dark spot in the house or covered to eliminate exposure to light. The bottles, once filled and carbed, should be kept in a fridge. Again, I just don't get it and HATE seeing people throw their money at a kickstarter when they likely are just beginning brewers not knowing they are getting off on the wrong foot with this kit.

-They seem to be giving some bad advice on home brewing that will lead to off-tasting beer and exploding bottles.

These are the kinds of things that give home brew a bad name and lead to ridiculous commercials from BWW.

 

[geoffey]

I agree. Its a very nice looking storage system for the person with money who wants to give it a shot. Its not for the brewer making 10 gallons every weekend...and there is nothing wrong with that.

Personally I have no problem with small brewing kits or the homebrewer who wants to make 1 gallon batches or only brew from time to time. And I also don't have a problem with brewers who like bling and "need" to have the latest and greatest stuff out there. But there's something about this that screams Poser to me. Mostly I'm just not understanding how 400 people think this is cool enough to support on a kickstarter campaign, so I'm picking it apart. But good for them if they find a market for their stuff.

 

[mattd2]

WOW! this is amazing. Come on! Now a bunch of people will be brewing 1 gallon batches in 2 weeks realize it sucks, then claim home brewed beer is awful. Not good for the hobby.

They will not only be calling homebrew awful - but bloody expensive too

They're saying it takes 3-5 days to carb the bottles. 2 weeks total for finished beer. They also state that the kit includes everything you need to brew a batch of beer, but like mentioned previously in this thread there is no kettle included. They've packaged a 1 gallon starter kit with a wooden box, set the price point astronomically high, and demonstrate a lack of knowledge in the market they're selling.

I think they have demonstrated an amazing knowledge of the market they are selling too... it is just that market isn't actually homebrewers

 

[Teromous]

Well mmlangon sent me a PM explaining that HopBox is his company and that he fixed what he put up on the kickstarter page. It looks like this project stems from another thread he posted here.

Part of the PM said "Please know that we're listening, and are happy to address issues or concerns as you see them. Just let me know, ok?" so there you have it, you can address issues and concerns. It's good to see that the 2 week comment was addressed. It would be pretty awful to have some new brewers wind up with bottle bombs.

On a side note I did see the video on the Sabine Marcelis House Wine thing. Those wine bulb potion things are HUGE. I thought those were small like something that would fit in the palm of your hand.

 

[geoffey]

Well mmlangon sent me a PM explaining that HopBox is his company and that he fixed what he put up on the kickstarter page. It looks like this project stems from another thread he posted here.

Part of the PM said "Please know that we're listening, and are happy to address issues or concerns as you see them. Just let me know, ok?" so there you have it, you can address issues and concerns. It's good to see that the 2 week comment was addressed. It would be pretty awful to have some new brewers wind up with bottle bombs.

On a side note I did see the video on the Sabine Marcelis House Wine thing. Those wine bulb potion things are HUGE. I thought those were small like something that would fit in

Ithe palm of your hand.

I'm not seeing anything different on their kickstarter page.

Palm of your hand? For making one glass of wine at a time?





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[strambo]

The target market isn't current brewers so of course it seems stupid to everyone here. The target market is the wife or girlfriend of a beer snob who hasn't tried brewing yet. It looks good and would make a great gift. It is just a high end Mr. Beer kit.

Makes total sense to me as a popular product. No sense for cost effective and quality beer production, but you have to know about homebrewing already to know that.


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[Homercidal]

I think it's the old fashion vs function. I think it's a lot more fashionable than functional, at least as far as most of us would be concerned. And yet it still fills the requirement for brewing beer. Most basic homebrew kits don't come with a kettle. Maybe their site just needs to clarify that you need a kettle. Otherwise it's not that different from other basic homebrew kits.

Anyone interested in homebrewing enough to investigate the equipment will soon realize there is a huge price difference between the Hopbox and your run-of-the-mill basic kit. They aren't buying it for the practicality. They are looking for something smaller and with less plasticy parts laying around. It solves a storage problem and an appearance problem at the same time.

Again, I'd never buy it, because it doesn't suit me. But I can see how some others might be drawn to it. I don't see the creators trying to purposely trick anyone here. They show the thing clearly. Maybe there could be a few more tweaks to the information. Maybe the system will evolve as more people use it.

And I concur with the Wine Thing. I thought it was a tiny, single serving product until I saw the demonstration. It's actually pretty good sized! The design is useful and very artistic (From a guy who knows next to nothing about art!)

Hmm.... I wonder if the Hopbox could develop a steampunk styled fermentation temp control device to integrate into their design...

 

[geoffey]

Last two posts make great points on this I think. I'm beginning to understand who this makes sense for I guess.


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[Darwin18]

I've checked out the hop box website and from what I can tell this is literally just a wooden box with somewhat clever storage design. They're definitely targeting the hipster crowd with this product (rustic pine and cedar).