Something new to blow your money on...

[aiptasia]

Part pizza oven, part aquarium. Announcing the Picobrew-Zymatic! The amazing handy dandy $1,500 solution for that perfect 3 gallon batch.

Kickstarter website here. I lul'd.

 

[beersk]

Hmmm, don't think so. 6-8 hours to brew? Shouldn't take anyone that long unless you're doing a triple decoction every brew. And besides, I can spare 4-6 hours now and then to brew. Brewing is a priority not just a thing I do now and then when I can fit it into my hectically busy schedule.

 

[JonM]

I spent a fraction of that amount for a far more versatile setup that makes bigger batches. But, if someone wants to spend $1,500 on a shiny gadget that allows them to brew without getting their hands dirty, hey, go for it.

 

[feinbera]

Well, they got one part right -- there's no art in scrubbing out a kettle. When they come out with a robot which will wash up and put away all my brewing equipment at the end of the brew day, I've got a $1,500 check waiting.

 

[JonM]

I could be wrong, but it looks like kegs, regulator, CO2 tank, lines and taps are not included. So $1,500 plus another couple hundred?

 

[fuzzy2133]

I agree brewing is a work of art and a labor of love (sometimes) and I would miss the hands on parts of the brew day. Already sold 80 to some people that have the spare change.

The end seems optimistic to me:
"When your beer has fermented you can either rack it (transfer the beer to another clean keg) or connect it directly to your kegerator pouring off the first several pints of trub. After carbonating overnight (we set ours to 20psi for this, but your mileage may vary) your beer is cold and ready to drink."

 

[TheZymurgist]

How boring.

 

[kh54s10]

Things came to mind when I first saw this.

1) It is a couple of ex Microsoft employees. I find it hard to believe they really need $150,000 or they cannot produce these things.
2) No provisions for cooling the wort.
3) You still have to clean up afterward. That is my least favorite part of home brewing.
4) This does nothing post boil for controlling fermentation temperatures which seems would be much more useful.
5) You will need more kegs, including one to use only for transfers, unless you really want to draw off several pints each time to remove the trub. I doubt this can be done without losing a significant amount of beer.

 

[Skep18]

Dumbest idea ever. Just go buy beer from the grocery store if you're not into homebrewing... Cuz this is not homebrewing...

 

[kh54s10]

Dumbest idea ever. Just go buy beer from the grocery store if you're not into homebrewing... Cuz this is not homebrewing...

As of right now 167 people and $115,387 do not agree with you.

I do though. The thing just does not address the parts of brewing where I want more automation, mostly fermentation.

 

[seefish]

Did anyone else notice that it doesn't actually boil? It holds temps at 208 F. I don't find anything particularly exciting about holding mash temps and so forth, I'd rather focus on recipe formulation. But all of these "set it and forget it" systems seem to have glaring weaknesses that a serious brewer wouldn't look twice at.

 

[LandoLincoln]

Well, they got one part right -- there's no art in scrubbing out a kettle. When they come out with a robot which will wash up and put away all my brewing equipment at the end of the brew day, I've got a $1,500 check waiting.

Now THAT would be a worthwhile Kickstarter campaign!

And another robot that will clean and remove labels from bottles.

 

[LandoLincoln]

Did anyone else notice that it doesn't actually boil? It holds temps at 208 F. I don't find anything particularly exciting about holding mash temps and so forth, I'd rather focus on recipe formulation. But all of these "set it and forget it" systems seem to have glaring weaknesses that a serious brewer wouldn't look twice at.

This is obviously not for serious brewers. This is for the "more money than brains" crowd.

 

[airdog_47]

I would rather spend my money on a machine like this. Brew and dispense all in the same machine. http://www.williamswarn.com/Shop

 

[dmiller224]

It's funny how they make you pay for shipping and taxes in my 5 or so kickstarters that I've been in this has never happened. Ever.

 

[JonM]

If they need money, they should put those cornies from the picture on the used keg market.

 

[GoodDogShelby]

Who here has a bread machine sitting in a closet? If you want it that easy, go to the grocery store.

 

[LovesIPA]

Like a lot of others, I fail to see the point. You would only buy one of these if you didn't enjoy the process of homebrewing. And if that's the case, then why bother at all? It's not like you're saving money either way.

Plus, this looks like it takes the fun out of brewing - the actual brewing process - and leaves you with all the cleanup and other stuff that most of us find the least rewarding part.

No thanks.

 

[JonM]

And let's not forget the joy of cobbling together plumbing parts and repurposing parts from all sorts of other machinery to make a beautifully efficient whole, not to mention those eureka! moments where you realize that "My gosh, this spaghetti strainer would be PERFECT to diffuse my sparge water!"

Because of that, I think my system far cooler looking than a shiny steel box.

 

[fpweeks]

I generally agree with everyone's comments....in that the work is the fun part......however, the idea that you can tweak a recipe four or five times without putting that many days of work is interesting to me.

 

[JonM]

^ Good point.

 

[m_stodd]

Wow. Everyone in this thread cooks every one of their meals from scratch also?
I enjoy the brewing process as much as the next home brewer, but you guys need to lighten up. If I'm running out of homebrew and don't have an afternoon to spare, I'd rather do this than spend $10/6-pack on micro.

Apparently every thinks that as soon as this arrives at your door, all your other homebrew equipment vanishes.

It doesn't look like a bad product. Brewbot on the other hand, that was a bad product.

 

[b-boy]

I'll pass.

 

[evrose]

This will be a stunning and quite spectacular failure. $1500 to "brew" 2.5 gallon batches?

Not a chance.

 

[kickflip_mj]

This will be a stunning and quite spectacular failure. $1500 to "brew" 2.5 gallon batches? Not a chance.

It's not a failure when he sends out a 67 products and makes $115k . Sounds like a business to me

 

[LandoLincoln]

Wow. Everyone in this thread cooks every one of their meals from scratch also?

No, but this isn't homecookingtalk.com.

 

[JoeyChopps]

Wow. Everyone in this thread cooks every one of their meals from scratch also?.

Wow good thought for now on instead of smoking ribs why not just buy them that's makes so much more sense. The first thing I thought about when I read this was also a bread maker. However a bread maker cost like 40 bucks and once I get sick of it who cares. Yet a 1500 dollar brew machine that only produces around a case of beer? This is a hopped up mr beer kit that only the stupid rich would buy. I could do a entire brewery renovation for 1500 bucks. I agree this is not for real brewers. Also apply a cost analysis of this item vs buying stuff from Kroger and it's a no brainier which is cheaper. I'm glad that the guys are going to make a a$$ load of money from the kick start but once this goes regular commercial I don't see this doing awesome.

 

[OhReally]

As was said earlier, don't you think several former Microsoft higher ups working together could come up with that kind of money fairly easily??

My question is: unless I'm missing something, it seems that the water is held in that one fish tank for the whole "brew." Since the grains don't go anywhere, doesn't this result in boiling your mash (spent grains and all) for an hour? How could this possibly be any good?

--edit--
I guess I should've read the FAQ first:
"The near boiling occurs in the heat exchanger, adjunct compartments and keg... Also in home brew systems, a vigorous boil ensures mixing of the brew kettle. In the Zymatic™, this mixing is done by circulating the wort."

Well, however it works, I'll still never be one of those (now 217) people who are throwing their money down a black hole...

This is not homebrewing; this is being a lazy scenester ********* with too much disposable income.

 

[evrose]

It's not a failure when he sends out a 67 products and makes $115k . Sounds like a business to me

really? How much did it cost to develop the product? What are the costs to make a unit? How many can he sell in a month? A year? $115k is his gross revenue from the fundraising round. It's not a net after costs. That's a tiny amount for a project like this... they will blow through that in seconds.

Getting a few people to throw some money at it on kickstarter doesn't make it a viable business. Not even close.

 

[Epimetheus]

Great idea for breweries to test small batches. That is exactly what the video mentioned. $1500 is cheap for laboratory equipment for a commercial brewery to test a new recipe. Home brewers, not so much.

Excellent idea for commercial use.