People have brewed beer for millennia, including in ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, but it's never been more fashionable than during this century. Craft breweries have been popping up across Melbourne lately, from Collingwood to Cheltenham, often because of the owners' success with home-brewing.
It's a fairly easy process that essentially involves fermenting water, yeast and a prepared grain product. I tried it with the low-tech Coopers DIY Beer Brew Kit and BrewArt's BeerDroid, a smart, mains-powered machine whose greatest advantage is self-regulating the mix's temperature during primary fermentation. Keeping your brew within specific temperature ranges during this week-long process is crucial, so being reassured by BrewArt's app that all's well makes home-brewing a breeze.
Coopers’ beer brewing kitCredit:
Both set-ups can be used with their respective ranges of prepared ingredient packs to make numerous beer styles, and are also supported by plenty of online instructional videos – though it was strangely difficult to find out which of the various BrewArt packets and pouches should be added at each point in the process.
BrewArt creates considerable waste unsuitable for kerbside recycling (especially if decanting into kegs with single-use plastic liners, which are used in the associated BrewFlo mini pub-style dispenser, rather than decanting into reusable bottles).
VERDICT
Although I'm a brewing novice, both products delivered excellent results. The primary fermentation process is simple with the BeerDroid, while the Coopers requires potentially bothersome monitoring – though that's offset by its lower price plus it probably gets easier with practice. Either makes a fab Father's Day gift that keeps on giving.
COOPERS $115
This kit comes with everything required to make 23 litres of beer, including: a large, sturdy plastic fermenting vessel with a simple adhesive thermometer; a hydrometer for testing when the brew is ready for secondary fermentation in bottles; 30 reusable PET bottles; and the ingredients for a pleasant lager. The equipment is basic but effective and simple to use, especially if it's set up in a space where temperature can be easily regulated round-the-clock.
BREWART $799
Brewart Brewdroid kitCredit:
The BeerDroid makes 10 litres using ingredient kits that aren't supplied. Add water and certain ingredients then choose "lager", "ale" or "custom" via the app, or the simple control panel and back-lit LCD screen. Observe at leisure using the internally lit viewing window and the app, which also advises when the brew is ready for secondary fermentation. This stage requires the additional purchase of bottles or kegs, which are used in the $699, five-litre BrewFlo.
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Making cocktails at home is limited by available ingredients, but with the Bartesian all that's required is common spirits such as gin and capsules containing juice concentrates, bitters and extracts. There are currently seven capsule options including margaritas and whiskey sours. Select the drink strength, from mocktail to strong, and the machine does the hard work, including recommending glassware and self-cleaning.
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