Best counter top beer machine in 2024

Out of interest - why won't they support them here? MUP?

I have a blade around 3 years, so do a couple of my mates, great system. I have a 2 line cooler system aswell but I never use that anymore since i got the blade as there is a lot of hassle with cleaning lines, balancing gas etc. I have never had any issues getting kegs… you can order directly from here https://www.mybooze.eu/ Kegs are €30 but with delivery comes in at roughly €40-€42 per keg. We used to get them from a few off licenses up the north (First and Last) but they are actually more expensive now than mybooze.. think the last time we looked at them up north they were about €45 a keg, mybooze deliver directly to your door.

I looked at perfect draft, but if your drink of preference is Heineken or Moretti then the blade is a no brainer, the pints out of the blade wont be beaten. The only small thing to think about is there have been some issues with some of the earlier blade models having issues with cooling so make sure you get a warranty with your machine.. i havent been affected by it but two of my mates had the same issue and from reading online it seems a common fault . It can be fixed by disassembling and replacing a cheap temp sensor on the machine but its advisable to buy the units from a reputable source with a warranty to save you the hassle. One of my friends bought his from donedeal second hand and it broke a few months after he got it, so he had to replace the sensor himself, took him about an hour and the sensors where €10 on amazon.

I have a PerfectDraft and it's brilliant, the quality of the pint coming out of it is great and it's good craic when you have a crowd over. Machine is less than half the price of the Blade also.

However, as noted above it is hampered by unpredictable availability of the kegs. There are a few suppliers here but they seem to get deliveries infrequently enough so sometimes there is a huge range and others times you might only have five or six beers to choose from.

A few places in Newry always seem to have good stock though.

Got a "like new" machine from Amazon Warehouse for about 240 euro.

There's an off-licence near me that sells the kegs, but i've also used;

https://busbyscellar.com/product-category/beer-cider/perfectdraft-kegs-machine/

https://www.thebeergals.com/collections/6l-perfectdraft-kegs

https://www.thecru.ie/c/perfectdraft-kegs/1516

I have the Perfectdraft Pro, and the beers are great. Good variety with different seasonal beers, Oktoberfest beers will be launching in a few weeks. The big downside is the running costs, I put a monitor on mine and it averages around €16 a month in electricity costs and the fans tends to run loud in the Summer when it gets into the mid to high 20's, especially when keeping beers at lower temps. So I end up keeping mine off a lot of the time because of this, and just transferring the keg from the fridge to the machine when having a few.

Depends on your consumption, There are 17 pints in a blade keg, unless you are awful at pulling pints you will have zero spillage because the beer comes out perfect. The lines are attached to the keg so every keg is a fresh line which is the best thing about these systems, they pour perfect pints immediately.

For me personally a keg lasts 2-3 weeks but if you have friends around for a party\BBQ obviously you will need to change kegs. Only takes a few mins to change the kegs, you are meant to pre-chill kegs in the fridge ideally for 24 hours. But usually a couple of hours (4-5) will suffice as long as they are stored somewhere relatively cool beforehand. If im having friends over, I will have a freshly loaded keg in the machine, one in the fridge, then one outside (providing its not sunny etc).

And not cheaper than a can. I can't really see where these blades can be got much cheaper either.

These machines and the kegs are absolutely not a cheap solution, they're a premium product and priced accordingly.

The Perfect Draft beers work out as 3.50-ish per pint as well, which is significantly more expensive than cans but also better quality beer. You can keep an eye out for deals to bring the cost down but bargain pints they ain't.

I've always noticed a pretty decent selection of Perfect Draft kegs in the Carryout Off Licence in Tyrrelstown, which is thecru.ie

https://www.thecru.ie/c/perfectdraft-kegs/1516

They also have Blade kegs and a small selection of the 5 Litre kegs which I use myself, as I brew my own beer and these kegs are way handier than filling bottles