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Gadget promises homebrew beer at touch of a button
A new automated gadget will soon offer beer enthusiasts the chance to make craft beer at the touch of a button.
The Pico allows beer lovers to create their own brews using pre-mixed brewing sachets (Photo: PicoBrew)
The Pico, which works in a similar way to a domestic espresso machine, using pre-mixed sachets or ‘PicoPaks’ to which one only needs to add water, is being put into production in the US via a Kickstarter campaign.
Invented by former Microsoft vice-president Bill Mitchell, the Pico is being marketed as “the world’s first automatic all-grain homebrewing appliance”.
The gadget allows the user to choose from more than 100 beer recipes or create their own bespoke brew, all at the touch of a button, its owner, PicoBrew, said.
The ready-to-brew ‘PicoPak’ ingredient kits have been created by “dozens” of craft breweries around the world
The Pico takes two hours to brew the beer and allows users to customise the alcohol content and flavour of the brew with a control on the front of the device. Each brew creates a five-litre mini-keg of beer.
The resultant brew must then be transferred to a keg to which yeast is added. The fermentation process then takes one week to complete.
The Pico is being funded through a Kickstarter campaign. The campaign had an original target of $200,000 but has already managed to generate more than $300,000 from more than 500 beer-loving backers.
The Pico is an updated version of the Zymatic, a table-top brewing machine launched by PicoBrew in 2013, which was dubbed the “Nespresso of beer”. The Pico is described as smaller, cheaper and easier to use.
Prices for the Pico machine start from $499 (£300) for backers of the Kickstarter campaign. This offer includes one PicoPak. Prices for individual PicoPaks start at $19 (£12). The device is expected to cost in the region of $1,000 when it is is fully launched in 2016, online magazine The Verge said.
The drinks business has previously reported on the success beer enthusiasts have had with projects funded through such initiatives as Kickstarter. View our top 10 crowdfunded beer projects here.