Brewing machines for the home brewer

Brewbot is a smart brewing appliance that you can control and monitor with your smartphone. Never brewed? No problem. Brewbot’s goal was to make an easy-to-use, controlled environment that is aesthetically pleasing, and frees up brewers to focus on the recipes. You don't need to know anything about brewing. You are guided through the process from beginning to end. Cargo, a multidisciplinary team of designers and developers based in Belfast, Ireland, have created this smart brewing appliance. However, the name chosen is somewhat a commonality, since designers, engineers and amateur brewers have constructed brew robots before, and in more cases a lot more sophisticated or more robust (in terms of brew process control and monitoring). Do a simple Google search with the term “brewbot” and you’ll see what I mean. Nevertheless this Brewbot is definitely more stylish. Check out their Kickstarter campaign, here.

The Brewbot system uses temperature sensors, load sensors, and flow meters to ensure users understand what is happening from start to finish. these sensors assist with the automation. Brewbot communicates with iPhones via bluetooth, supplying all the required feedback needed – from adding the grain on brew day, to how long you have to wait for the brew to ferment. In terms of production numbers, the appliance can brew up to 20 litres (or just over 5 gallons) of beer per batch.

Now off to the other side of the world. It has taken New Zealand start-up WilliamsWarn six years to get to the point of actually supplying commercial units, following the dream of creating a world-first : a micro-brewery to revolutionise home brewing. The truth is that at large they have succeeded. More than 800 people are on the waiting list for one or more of the micro-breweries, including 180 New Zealanders. That has been growing at around 100 a month since June 2012 when a brewer using a WilliamsWarn first-generation machine won the gold medal for his Pilsner at the Asian Beer Awards.

Users spend about 90 minutes cleaning and sterilizing the system, and adding supplied ingredients at the beginning of the process. After that, minimal input is required until a week later, at which point 23 liters (6 U.S. gallons) of beer should be ready for drinking. Part of the reason that it's able to make beer so quickly is the fact that the carbonation and fermentation processes take place simultaneously. The clarification process is also said to take no more than one day. The WilliamsWarn brewing machine sells for around 4,5k USD, and the ingredients for each batch of beer would set you back around 30 USD.