BeerBorg

I think this was posted before under the old name, Artbrew. If you want beer this fast, go to the bottle shop!

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/igul ... ewery--4#/

There are a couple of recipes I keep in my back pocket that I can get to go grain-to-glass in 9, MAYBE 8 days. Every once in a while, everything goes right and one of them is ready in 7...but it's rare. Hell, for most recipes, 2 weeks grain-to-glass is pushing it.

They're always improved by a little more time in the keg, though. A 3-4 week turn around time makes for better beer, but patience is hard. That last beer in the keg is almost always the best one, though.

I've done a 10 day before but I'd just rather keep close to a 3 week schedule for most of my beers because that's what works for me. But honestly, many of the styles of beer won't be good in 7 days. I guess it's possible that the extremely small scale of the system will help things along faster but until I taste it, I won't believe it.

Beer-lord wrote:I've done a 10 day before but I'd just rather keep close to a 3 week schedule for most of my beers because that's what works for me. But honestly, many of the styles of beer won't be good in 7 days. I guess it's possible that the extremely small scale of the system will help things along faster but until I taste it, I won't believe it.

In their description, it says 1-3 weeks.

Of course, they also say the machine boils the malt--soooo I'm not so sure how I feel about that! For the price, I think the Grainfather is a MUCH better investment for anyone looking to brew in limited space.

Ugh, another one of these things. I get the gimmick and novelty of it but there is no fun in these systems but that is just my opinion.

The only beer I have ever had done, ready and kegged or bottled at the 7 day mark is an Ordinary Bitter. It's a low gravity beer that is nice to drink fresh. Using S-04, the beer can be done quickly and cleared fast. But these systems really seem to push that envelope or possibility.

MadBrewer wrote:Ugh, another one of these things. I get the gimmick and novelty of it but there is no fun in these systems but that is just my opinion.

My opinion, too.

Part of the reason I like homebrewing so much is because it does take time. So much of my life is rushing around frantically, and I like to take my day off (often the only day off I get in a week) to spend the time crafting something good and something that I can truly call my own.

These machines take the obsession away from what we Brewers all have. That's why we don't quit this hobby right away. We don't mind the extra time it takes to brew good beer.

You guys are right....something like this really isn't for a group of dedicated homebrewers like us. We like writing the recipes, experimenting with water profiles, trying different yeasts, and we enjoy the brew day for what it is, no matter how long it takes.

But....there is a market for them, it's just not us. They've raised over $700,000 on their campaign. Someone is interested in these things. You never know, someone with the cash may buy one, then realize how awesome homebrewing is, and make the jump to the way we do it so they can have more control over their recipes and volumes. I see no reason to complain about them. Homebrewing is homebrewing, no matter how you do it. For some, its the time consuming efforts of all grain, others enjoy extract brewing to cut down on time, and for others, it's machines like this that will get the job done for them. Any way you do it, your brewing beer at home.

BlackDuck wrote: Homebrewing is homebrewing, no matter how you do it. For some, its the time consuming efforts of all grain, others enjoy extract brewing to cut down on time, and for others, it's machines like this that will get the job done for them. Any way you do it, your brewing beer at home.

I'm going to have to disagree with you, Duck. Here's why:

"Cooking is cooking, no matter how you do it. For some, it's the time consuming efforts of raw ingredients and fresh herbs and spices, others enjoy enhancing commercial sauces with their own additions to cut down on time, and for others, it's Ramen noodles and Lipton Soup Mix that will get the job done for them."

Sure, maybe some people will start with this and work their way to AG brewing/formulating their own recipes. But it would rankle me for someone to compare any "instant" kit of any kind to my original AG recipes and tell me they're just as good

FedoraDave wrote:

BlackDuck wrote: Homebrewing is homebrewing, no matter how you do it. For some, its the time consuming efforts of all grain, others enjoy extract brewing to cut down on time, and for others, it's machines like this that will get the job done for them. Any way you do it, your brewing beer at home.

I'm going to have to disagree with you, Duck. Here's why:

"Cooking is cooking, no matter how you do it. For some, it's the time consuming efforts of raw ingredients and fresh herbs and spices, others enjoy enhancing commercial sauces with their own additions to cut down on time, and for others, it's Ramen noodles and Lipton Soup Mix that will get the job done for them."

Sure, maybe some people will start with this and work their way to AG brewing/formulating their own recipes. But it would rankle me for someone to compare any "instant" kit of any kind to my original AG recipes and tell me they're just as good

He didn't say anything about the quality of the finished product. He just said "Homebrewing is homebrewing", which would be........um, brewing beer at home. Whether it's a 7 course All grain affair or just pushing a button on your microwave/beer machine.

Jeff...that's exactly what I was trying to say. I'll say it again....Homebrewing is homebrewing, no matter how you do it. Your making beer at home.

I never did compare the quality that this machine will provide. But since you brought it up, why bash it? Especially when you have no experience with it....Dave, how do you know it doesn't make good beer? Have you had one from this machine? Just because it makes beer differently than you do doesn't mean it can't be good. It may very well make excellent beer. But I don't know that for sure, so I won't bash it and say that this or any other "instant" kit of any kind can make beer as good as mine. Who knows, it may make beer better than mine. But again, that is kind of all relative. Just like you Dave, I like the beer that I make. And someone who buys this may very well like the beer they make with it....and they are doing it at home. In the end, that's all that really matters.

Pushing a button to make beer is not my idea of brewing beer but it may be someone who just can't wrap their head around what it takes to brew beer or maybe does not have the time or space for the effort of what we enjoy. In the end it makes beer just as we do no matter the process that we all do differently from extract kits, to BIAB, to propane burner, to cooktop, to electric to AG, to partial mashing......etc!
BREW ON!

BREW ON INDEED!

BlackDuck wrote:Just because it makes beer differently than you do doesn't mean it can't be good. It may very well make excellent beer.

As far as I can tell from information available, this machine would make beer as well as say a Picobrew Zymatic (which AFAIK can make beer as good as anything you can do yourself), except a lot less at a time. It seems to be able to let you create your own AG recipes, and mash them however you want, and hop schedule however you want. It might even make better beer then the Zymatic as it has a built in chiller (that seems to be what really limits the volume it can be designed to brew). To me it looks much better then Picobrews other cheaper "coffee pod" style device, that has no way to do anything custom and requires you to buy the pods.

It might make a good little pilot system for experimental AG beers.

It might not be what I want right now, but I won't bash it simply because it exists.

Of course if the build quality is crap then that would change, but since it has not been shipped as a fully completed device, who knows.

I've already read some complaints about the ingredient kits from some of these hi-tech machines saying that they don't sell enough of them to get them fresh. While you usually can use your own LHBS ingredients, most of these machines count on you buying your beer kits from them since they are pre-measured and ready to go and many have said the dates on some of the kits are old and they questioned the quality.
These machines are still in the early days so I would think the numbers might not be so huge (also do to the cost) so I can believe this might be a problem for some.
But stale ingredients aside, I would think these could make decent beer. I'm just not into that but as I age, and don't feel like lifting 6 gallons of beer, these may be something I'd look at.