Thoughts on fully automated brewing

Uncle_moe

Just wanted to know what people thought about the new mini fully automated machines on the market like picobrew, mini brew and igulu

Obviously it takes a lot of of the skill out of brewing but just curious to see if people think it will take off or if experienced brewers would still use one as an addition to current brewing methods just for ease of use?

cyburger

i think it's a pretty expensive way to make a small amount of beer.

The thing about the more traditional methods is that it's easy to move from Kits to BIAB to HERMS or RIMS or whatever if the desire takes you, and even at the basic level you can have a lot more control over the hop additions (that thing looks like it's limited to four during the boil) and dry hopping, decoction mashes etc etc, and the obvious difference is volume... although, I suppose if there's not much effort involved then you're probably happy enough to spend less than an hour to get five litres of beer.

Having said all that, if the prices were more reasonable, I think they could be more popular.... assuming there's no proprietary ingredients i.e. yeast comes in a single use container and it costs €15 a whack etc. However, just because it's easy and cheap, doesn't mean people will do it - it's easy to make your own yogurt, but not many people do.

Uncle_moe

Some fair points definitely. I've kind of always been in two minds about brewing beer. For one, the space it requires might make it prohibitive for me as I don't have a garage or shed wired for electricity. I also just didn't really know where to start which is why these machines piqued my interest. You can use your own ingredients and make your own recipes but as you said, it's far more limited than traditional brewing.
Think I've got to the point where I want to start brewing but not sure the best way to start. Read some very negative things about simple kits you can buy.

feylya

This strikes me like a Nespresso vs decent espresso setup. Sure, you can get hot brown caffeinated liquid from a Nespresso machine for ~€150, but it won't be anything near as good as you'd get from a quality grinder, and espresso machine costing 10 times it. They're interesting devices, but I'm not sure how successful they'll be.

That reminds me. I need to get my kickstarter reward from BrewBot...

stecleary

That's grainfather money. absolutely crazy money for what it is.
then again it's not aimed at homebrewers, its for the hipster market so they can brag about ultra rare beer to their beardy mates

cyburger

stecleary wrote: »

That's grainfather money. absolutely crazy money for what it is.

Very good point - you can get systems now that are pretty automated as it is, but much more orientated towards traditional homebrewing than this psuedo-homebrewing, albeit with a larger commitment on time and space, but with a larger reward for that difference (if that makes sense?).... a grainfather (or similar), a fermentation bucket and a dose of mini-kegs and you've more control, involvement and beer for the same costs and similar space.

BeardySi

It's not for brewers, it's not about brewing - it's for people who want to be able to show off their ultra exclusive beer to their mates without the hassle of making it themselves.

The nespresso analogy is a good one.

Uncle_moe wrote: »

Think I've got to the point where I want to start brewing but not sure the best way to start. Read some very negative things about simple kits you can buy.

Buy the higher end kits like Youngs - they make great beer from the get-go and are still very good value for money compared to a trip to the offie for something equivalent.

cyburger

BeardySi wrote: »

Buy the higher end kits like Youngs - they make great beer from the get-go and are still very good value for money compared to a trip to the offie for something equivalent.

+1; I think the St Peter's kits are decent too and to be honest, I've made Coopers stuff (their Brewmaster IPA and the European Lager) i really enjoyed

Most kits can be improved on too, by using a different yeast or even making a starter or adding extra hops etc; most of the stories of bad kits are more likely down to the process than the product - temperature control is a big part of the flavour, as well as good sanitisation etc.

Start with some kits, then move to partial mash and then all grain if you want, whatever way you do it, it doesn't have to be a huge job. You can stick a kit on in a very short period of time and it takes very little space.

As for homebrewing... just try it.. you'll like it!

Uncle_moe

stecleary wrote: »

That's grainfather money. absolutely crazy money for what it is.
then again it's not aimed at homebrewers, its for the hipster market so they can brag about ultra rare beer to their beardy mates

Been looking into the grainfather alright. Would this be much of an improvement over the more automated machines or is it just a matter of more volume?

Uncle_moe

cyburger wrote: »

+1; I think the St Peter's kits are decent too and to be honest, I've made Coopers stuff (their Brewmaster IPA and the European Lager) i really enjoyed

Most kits can be improved on too, by using a different yeast or even making a starter or adding extra hops etc; most of the stories of bad kits are more likely down to the process than the product - temperature control is a big part of the flavour, as well as good sanitisation etc.

Start with some kits, then move to partial mash and then all grain if you want, whatever way you do it, it doesn't have to be a huge job. You can stick a kit on in a very short period of time and it takes very little space.

As for homebrewing... just try it.. you'll like it!

I'll definitely look into one of the simpler kits so before I think about a more expensive product.
Thanks for the responses.

stecleary

Uncle_moe wrote: »

Been looking into the grainfather alright. Would this be much of an improvement over the more automated machines or is it just a matter of more volume?

it would be much more volume and you'd have much more control over it too.
Grainfather is still on the pricey side for me at the moment, currently mulling over a choice between the Ace when they come back in stock or the bulldog. Ace is more automated that the bulldog but not as good as the GF.

Ronan|Raven

plastic boiler with a kettle element or two in it and have at it.. they can keep their systems..

d2ww

I started off doing kits two years ago with the intention of graduating to all grain brewing. But given the quality and most importantly the ease of putting on one of the kits, I've been quite happy to stick with them.
So far, I've found Festival Dubbel and Belgian Pale, MJ roasted stout and IPA, Munton's Belgian style, St. Peter's stout all good.
St. Peter's honey porter was however an acquired taste, and their red ale, imo, lacked depth.

stecleary

d2ww wrote: »

their red ale, imo, lacked depth.

Depth that could have been added with grain