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beer

August 3, 2017

New On Tap: Coasters That Interact With You

With thousands of craft beers inundating the market, how does a brewer go about getting noticed? At Coronado Brewing Co., which is one of San Diego County’s oldest craft beer makers, the answer lies in sensor-based coasters that engage the brewer’s consumers with the simple tap of a smartphone.

Coronado Brewing’s smart coasters are based on Thinfilm’s technology, which embeds NFC sensing in packaging, labels and many other kinds of items. Consumers tap NFC-based products with their smartphones and then see a customized landing page, video or other digital asset provided by the brand. The brand can, in turn, see a customer’s data inputs in real-time.

“Any physical product can be turned into a channel at any point in time,” said Davor Sutija, Thinfilm CEO. “Thinfilm’s integrated mobile marketing solution empowers brands to own and manage the communication no matter where the consumer is, whether in the store, at the bar, or in the home.” Thinfilm also has a downloadable case study on its work with Coronado Brewing and the coasters’ impact on online conversions:  “Innovative Coasters Help Brewery Boost Website Conversions”

By deploying the coasters, Coronado Brewing Co. reportedly saw a significant increase in consumer engagement, particularly compared to click-through rates of 0.2% for its existing advertising. In fact, the coasters produced a 13 – 17.5X increase in website conversions, as measured by visits to the website resulting from consumer-initiated taps. Overall, Thinfilm has driven an estimated 92% lift in mobile traffic to the CoastWise landing page.

The smart coasters have been tested with CoastWise Session IPA, a new craft beer introduced by Coronado, brewed in collaboration with Surfrider Foundation, an environmental group. Coronado donates part of its revenues to Surfrider.

“Competing for the attention of craft beer drinkers is intense,” said Brandon Richards, COO, Coronado Brewing Co. “Getting people to hear your brand story without interference is even harder. The Thinfilm team made everything a snap. And our customers really enjoyed the interactive experience.”

Coronado Brewing Co. plans to have its remaining coasters direct consumers to its ecommerce page. The company is also considering using Thinfilm technology for additional point-of-sale opportunities.

Sensor and infrared technologies are also having an impact on managing bars. For example, we’ve covered Nectar Labs’ Getnectar, an IoT-based inventory management system. It uses sensor and infrared technology baked into bottle stoppers to track volumes left in each bottle at a bar. The system produces a dashboard of data that shows amount poured versus estimates and connects to an app to alert the manager when a given bottle is finished. The technology connects to ordering system to keep inventory topped up.

Meanwhile, Thinfilm is expanding its use of NFC sensing and tags within the beer industry. You can find a related set of case studies here.

Image credit: Flickr user John Kannenberg under creative commons license. 

Want to learn about the use of connected commerce in restaurants? Come to the Smart Kitchen Summit. Use discount code SPOON for 25% off of tickets.

July 22, 2017

PLAATO Adds IoT Smarts To Beer Fermentation

Here’s how Craft Beer & Brewing Magazine describes the purpose of a fermentation airlock:

The sole purpose of any airlock is to allow an otherwise sealed fermentation environment to relieve internal pressure. That’s it. Airlocks aren’t designed to tell you anything, and they aren’t indicators of fermentation. 

Sorry to break it to you Craft Beer & Brewing Magazine, but the folks behind PLAATO have different ideas.

That’s right, the Norwegian startup is looking to take what is typically a dumb $3 piece of plastic used to release excess CO2 during the fermentation process and add IoT smarts to create a tool for beer brewers to monitor beer gravity, temperature and estimate the alcohol content of the beer using algorithms.

Sure, the PLAATO isn’t a beer brewing appliance, but as it turns out, when it comes to modernizing the beer brewing process not everyone wants a turnkey system like PicoBrew and BrewArt. Some home brewers want to brew their beer the traditional way, but aren’t against the idea of applying modern technology to refine the process and elevate their craft. PLAATO helps do that by monitoring the amount of CO2 generated by fermentation, send that data via Wi-Fi to the cloud, which then allows the brewer to monitor the brew process in a mobile app.

The PLAATO app

The PLAATO airlock, which can also be used for fermentation of cider, wine and mead, has reached its target via the company’s Kickstarter campaign. The campaign, which as of this writing has six days left, has raised a total of $165 thousand.

The team behind the PLAATO started working on the concept a year and a half ago. After finishing their first prototype in May of 2016, the company finished hardware design in February of this year and started the process of moving into production. The company plans to ship the PLAATO to backers by October of this year.

July 17, 2017

BrewArt, The HomeBrew System From Australian Giant Coopers, Hits Kickstarter Goal

If at first you don’t succeed, run another crowdfunding campaign.

That’s exactly what the people behind home beer brewing system BrewArt have done. After an aborted campaign in March in which they only raised just under $3 thousand after three weeks, the BrewArt is already in the money after hitting their $30 thousand goal in just one week.

Of course, it’s not like there was ever any doubt the system would make it to market in the US. That’s because BrewArt – which has been available in Australia since 2016 – is from that country’s largest brewer, Coopers, a company responsible for roughly 70 million liters of beer annually.

Chances are if you’ve heard of Coopers in the US, it’s because the company is a force in DIY home extract brewing. The company created its extraction process in the early 80s and has been selling DIY brewing kits ever since. The company also acquired their biggest DIY extract competitor, Mr. Beer, back in 2012.

And, just like Cooper’s own DIY kits, the BrewArt system utilizes extract ingredients in making a brew. Only unlike Cooper’s syrupy looking extract, each brew made with the BrewArt brewing system utilizes a series of packets of powder-based ingredients called Elements and Enhancers, as well as packet each of yeast and hop oils.

The video below walks through how the BrewArt ingredients are added to a brew.

BrewArt: Brewing Using BrewArt Ingredients

Unlike whole grain brewing systems such as those from PicoBrew and Brewie, BrewArt’s powders simplify beer brewing by allowing the home brewer to skip the mashing process. While some home brew purists prefer whole grain brewing since it puts them at the same starting point as most craft breweries which use raw ingredients, the truth is that there are some breweries that make very good beer using extracts. Add in the extra convenience and time-saving benefits of extract brewing, and you can see why it has its converts.

BrewArt convenience also goes beyond a simplified brewing process. The system streamlines the cleanup process with disposable linings for the store kegs, something I find appealing since cleaning out the serving kegs is the least enjoyable part of using my PicoBrew. The BrewArt disposable linings mean I wouldn’t have to mess with home detergents or going to your local homebrew store to pick up keg cleaner.

Another difference between the BrewArt system and other automated home brew systems is it comes in two full parts: The BeerDroid, which is the beer brewing component, and the BrewFlo, a refrigerated kegging system that houses the Store Kegs (where the beer is fermented and stored).

The full retail price of the BrewArt system will be almost $1,700, but Kickstarter backers can save 40% and get the full system for $995.  If that’s too much or you prefer to use your kegerator, you can pick up the BeerDroid by itself on Kickstarter for $495.

And much like PicoBrew Pico users need to buy brew ingredients in the form of PicoPaks, BrewArt backers need to buy the BrewPrints ingredient packs when they want to brew up a new keg of beer. However, the BrewArt allows the user to mix and match their ingredients to change flavors such as making beers extra hoppy or more fruity*.

Bottom line, there are definite advantages to the BrewArt in a simplified brewing and cleanup process, as well as slightly more control over brew ingredients than competing systems like the Brewie.  However, the retail price is still fairly high compared to the PicoBrew Pico C, which will sell for $549 this fall, and some purists may shy away from the BrewArt because they want to brew from whole grains.

*The PicoBrew PicoPaks do allow for customization, but that’s done online through the company’s online PicoPak customization tool, the BrewCrafter. Once you design your customized PicoPak, it is made in the PicoBrew packing facility and sent to your home for brewing. 

Update 7/22/17: On Kickstarter, the creator of the BrewArt system, Scott Harris, described what their powders are made. We asked for these details in an email interview, but the company was vague in describing how exactly the brew ingredients were made. This new description gives us a much better understanding of what a brewer is getting in the BrewArt Brewprints. 

Lastly, while he says these aren’t the “extracts” home brewers have become accustomed to, I would suggest the BrewArt Elements are still an extract in the sense they are a concentrated powder made of mashed malted barley. 

The Smart Kitchen Summit is less than three months away. Get your ticket today before early bird ticket pricing before it expires to make sure you are the the one and only event focused on the future of food, cooking and the kitchen. 

June 8, 2017

Meet U-Bruu, The Latest Take On The Modern Home Kegerator

Back when I was a kid, my dad converted an old fridge in our garage into a kegerator that served both beer and soft drinks from small minikegs he’d buy from a local distributor. While I was too young to consume the beer, I downed frosty mugs of cold Coca-Cola and root beer and became convinced a fridge that served up draught beverages was maybe the coolest invention ever conceived.

As an adult, I still think a home draught serve system is a very good idea. Unfortunately for me, I don’t have an extra fridge laying around. But the good news is we live in a golden age of beverage serving innovation that continues to bring us new ways to take simple cans or bottles of our favorite beverage and serve it up pro-style.

The latest take on the modern home serving machines is the U-Bruu, an interesting new spin on home draught machines that can not only serve up most any beverage on tap, but can also infuse the drink with nitrogen or CO2 and any number of ‘flavor enhancers.’

The U-Bruu has an inner chamber that allows the user to connect store-bought bottles or growlers of their favorite beverage and inverts them, ready to dispense. The system can fit up to twelve 12 ounce bottles of beer, eight sparkling wine bottles or four growlers.

Perhaps the most interesting feature of the U-Bruu is the flavor infusion system. The system allows the user to use “flavor enhancers” to add flavors such as bacon, peach or peanut butter to the drinks. The U-Bruu will include a recipe book for special drink mixes such as coconut infused coffee or bacon flavored beer.

I’m also intrigued by the nitro/CO2 infuser capability of the U-Bruu. Being a fan of nitro coffee, I like the idea of doing it at home without weird contraption and also avoiding paying my local Starbucks $5 a glass.

The U-Bruu is the latest in a wave of interesting new home drink dispensing systems that have come to us via crowdfunded startups over the past few years. One of the earliest was the Synek system, which launched in June 2014. Then came Fizzics, which allowed users to turn any single can or bottle and promised draught-like foam. Last year we saw the Growler Chill, a system to create a tap-serve system for growlers.

While we’ve seen strong interest in home beer making startups like PicoBrew and MiniBrew the last few years, the reality is more people would prefer to skip the hard work of making a fermented beverage and get to the drinking part.  Luckily for us, nowadays we don’t have to convert our fridge to a kegerator to get a pro-style serve at home.

The U-Bruu, which is available for pre-order via Kickstarter, is expected to ship in October to backers and has already surpassed its funding goal of $39,000.

May 12, 2017

PicoBrew Surpasses Anova To Become Top Food Kickstarter Campaign Of All Time

With just one day to go, PicoBrew’s latest Kickstarter campaign surpassed Anova to become the top campaign of all time in the food category. The company’s Pico C campaign reached $1.812 million to eclipse Anova’s $1.811 million campaign for the Anova’s 2014 Precision Cooker campaign.  The company announced the milestone in a livestream update on the campaign page.

While the Pico C reached its initial funding goal of $350 thousand within hours of launch, breaking the record was no sure thing. After an initial surge of backers who gobbled up the best backer rewards that offered a $279 price on the company’s latest model beer brewing appliance, momentum slowed. Earlier this week, the campaign still stood more than a $100 thousand away from the record.

But thanks to a last minute surge of backers in the waning hours of the campaign, the Pico C is now tops in the the food category on Kickstarter.

“We picked the Pico Model C as a Project We Love early on and are thrilled that, with the help of over 4,100 backers, it broke the record for Most Funded campaign in our vibrant Food category,” said  Clarissa Redwine, Kickstarter’s Design and Technology Outreach Lead for the West Coast in an announcement.

PicoBrew seemed to have its sights on the becoming the top food Kickstarter from the beginning. The company announced new backer rewards throughout the campaign, including some fairly surprising new hardware add-ons. First came the PicoStill, a device that can be used to make essential oils and even whiskey, and last week the company announced the PicoFerm, a fermentation monitor. The company also announced the Pico would be able to brew kombucha and offered free PicoPaks as additional incentives throughout the campaign.

Anova was unseated after holding the #1 spot in the food category for almost three years. Of course, both campaigns are a long way from the top when looking at top Kickstarter campaigns of all time, with Pebble (now owned by Fitbit) claiming two of the top three spots and the troubled Coolest Cooler claiming the #2 spot.

May 2, 2017

PicoBrew Adds PicoFerm In Effort To Become #1 Food Kickstarter

Today PicoBrew announced a new stretch goal in an effort to become the #1 food Kickstarter campaign of all time.  The new goal features the PicoFerm, a web-connected fermentation monitor that lets brewers monitor the status of their fermenting beer.

The reigning food champ is Anova, which has held the top spot ever since its highly successful Kickstarter campaign for the Anova Precision Cooker three years ago which went on to hit $1.811 million.

The target amount PicoBrew set for its next stretch goal? $1.812 million.

With the Pico campaign currently sitting at just under $1.5 million, Anova’s record looks very much in reach. Typically, successful campaigns follow a pattern: a surge of early backers, a mid-campaign lull, and a surge at the end as those sitting on the fence rush in. By adding extra stretch goals like the PicoFerm, campaigns hope to nudge the undecided into pulling out their credit cards.

So what is the PicoFerm? While the details are a little fuzzy, it looks like an small keg monitor that gives users of the PicoBrew Pico C (and the original Pico) the ability to monitor the progress of fermenting beer. According to PicoBrew, the PicoFerm will send “a precise forecast on when your beer will be ready to drink. It will also send tips on how to improve or speed up the process.”

Lastly, why would PicoBrew care about surpassing Anova? The answer is simple: bragging rights and free marketing. By becoming the #1 food Kickstarter campaign, PicoBrew will raise their profile further and generate a series of “new Kickstarter food champ” articles that will give them momentum as they make the Pico C available for presale after the campaign.

April 17, 2017

PicoBrew Announces PicoStill, A Home Still That Makes Whiskey (And Oh Yeah, Essential Oils)

One of the worst kept secrets in craft distilling is nearly every whiskey maker gets their start making the good stuff at home. One only has to look at the many home stills for sale online to see there’s a strong market for home distillation equipment. Everything from big vats for making moonshine to smaller copper pot distillation kits for “essential oils” are widely available on the internet.

The reason home distilling is a semi-secret at all is because it’s against federal law. Of course, that doesn’t stop most wannabe home distillers, since local authorities don’t have the time or resources to bust people for making hooch unless they sell it or present a danger to your neighbors. (Related: Read about the state of home distilling laws in 2017 here).

Even with lackadaisical enforcement of federal anti-home distilling laws, the number of home liquor distillers has remained just a fraction of the size of the beer brewing market. While federal anti-distilling laws have hindered the growth of the market, the reality is home distillation is just not as easily approachable as beer making. Not only is making liquor at home technically more dangerous, it’s also a more complex, multi-step process.

But now, PicoBrew, a company that has simplified the craft of making beer with its beer brewing appliances, hopes to help make home distillation easier too. Today the company announced the PicoStill, a new device that, when combined one of the company’s brewing kegs, utilizes a patent pending process to transform beer into the hard stuff. Of course, PicoBrew emphasizes the PicoStill is for making essential oils, concentrated oils extracted from plants that can then be used for such applications as incense or adding flavor to food or drink. PicoBrew also lets you know that if you have the “proper licenses and permits”, the PicoStil can also make a “wide range of alcohols”.

The Pico Still

If spirits distilled from beer sounds strange, it shouldn’t. In fact, pretty much all whiskey starts as what is a form of beer.

“All bourbon is whiskey, all whiskey is ‘beer’,” says Nate Kaiser, the founder and head distiller of 2Bar Spirits, a craft distillery in Seattle. According to Kaiser, his distillery’s bourbon starts as a form of what he calls “corn beer”, which is basically a relatively low alcohol beer.

But as with most whiskey, the fermented “beer” distillers get from grains isn’t meant for consumption. Usually it’s just a step in the process towards eventually making whiskey. That’s not to say you can’t make whiskey from fully finished, drinkable beer and, increasingly, more professional distillers are doing just that. Some of these whiskies, such as Marko Karakasevic’s Charbay Whiskey R5, have garnered rave reviews.

And now, PicoBrew hopes that those who buy one of their beer brewing appliances  – provided they have the proper licensing and permits (wink wink) – can make great spirits too. The new PicoStill is available as part of the company’s Kickstarter campaign for their third generation brewing appliance, the Pico C, for $170. Backers can buy the Pico C and the PicoStill as a package for $499, and the PicoStill will be available for retail for $349 in the fall.

Nate Kaiser, who got his start without the benefit of something like the PicoStill, thinks that the device could help usher in a new a generation of craft distillers. “This allows people to try distillation in a simple and direct way, to learn the process by which essential oils or spirits can be made” said Kaiser.

Want to meet the leaders defining the future of food, cooking and the kitchen? Get your tickets for the Smart Kitchen Summit today.

April 5, 2017

PicoBrew Breaks Kickstarter Record In Food Category

You do this crowdfunding thing for a while, you start to get the hang of it.

Especially when you’re a company like PicoBrew, which has had three successful previous campaigns for its beer brewing appliance products. According to a statement made by the company, this time around they reached their target funding goal in just seven hours, making the campaign for the Pico C brewing appliance the fastest funded campaign ever in the food category for Kickstarter.

From the Kickstarter update:

Our campaign goal of $350K was achieved in a mere 7 hours? WOW! OK, we were hoping the Model C would be popular, but this is insane! This is a faster start than any Kickstarter Food campaign in history!

The company is also on pace to break their own previous Kickstarter record for backers.  As of this writing the Pico C has 1807 backers, compared with a total of 1898 backers for the original Pico.

Breaking the total funds raised might be a bit more of a challenge. That’s because the Pico C pledge tiers are for smaller dollar amounts, the result of lower-cost product (For this campaign, the Pico C was available at a starting point of $279, while the original Pico pledges started at $499). However, with 37 days left in the campaign and lots of interesting new incentives for backers yet to be introduced, there’s a good chance this campaign could also easily become the company’s biggest in terms of funds raised.

Related: PicoBrew Debuts All-You-Can-Brew Subscriptions With New Lower-Priced HomeBrew Appliance

Want to meet the leaders defining the future of food, cooking and the kitchen? Get your tickets for the Smart Kitchen Summit today.

April 3, 2017

A Look At The New Machine Washable Pico C Keg

This morning I wrote about PicoBrew’s new Kickstarter campaign and their new lower-priced Pico C homebrew appliance (starting at $279).

While much of the focus for PicoBrew in this most recent product launch was reaching a more affordable price for new brewers, the company also focused on making the process of home brewing a little easier. This effort included a new brew app as well as a new beer subscription service, but perhaps the biggest step forward in ease-of-use is the new Pico C Keg.

What’s the difference with the C Keg and the older ball-lock model that came standard with the original Pico? For one, the connectors move away from a ball-lock model to a much simpler hose-barb connector.  According to PicoBrew CEO Bill Mitchell, newer brewers often will neglect to fully lock in the ball-lock connectors on the older model, so the newer connectors should eliminate that possibility.

But perhaps the biggest difference is the new Pico C’s removable lid and machine washability. One of the challenges with home brewing is the need for home brewers to make sure equipment is really clean, which usually requires special cleaners that need to be purchased at a local homebrew store or speciality retailer online. With the Pico C Keg, the need for special cleaners are eliminated since you can just drop in the dishwasher.

Of course, this doesn’t eliminate the need for cleaners for serving kegs, but one step at a time, right?

You can watch PicoBrew’s Bill Mitchell explain the new C Keg in the video below.

Want to meet the leaders defining the future of food, cooking and the kitchen? Get your tickets for the Smart Kitchen Summit today.

April 3, 2017

PicoBrew Debuts All-You-Can-Brew Subscriptions With New Lower-Priced HomeBrew Appliance

Today PicoBrew announced the latest addition to their connected homebrew appliance lineup, the Pico C, in a newly launched Kickstarter campaign. Alongside the lower-priced entry, the company also is debuting BrewUnlimited, an all-you-can-brew subscription service for $59 a month.

The newest Pico is a cost-reduced version of the Pico S, the original Pico model. By offering their new beer brewing appliance at $549 retail (and starting at $279 for Kickstarter backers), the company is looking to make the homebrewing more affordable to those who may have been curious about trying tech-enabled brewing but were unwilling to drop the $800 required with the previous generation. At these lower prices, chances are both existing home brewers who may have been reluctant to abandon their traditional methods and homebrew-curious newbees will be more likely to take the plunge.

In order to make the latest version of their homebrew appliance more affordable, the company made slight modifications such as replacing the all stainless steel exterior with a black powder-coated exterior and a slightly lower fidelity OLED screen.

Today the company is also introducing its first subscription service called BrewUnlimited. The service will cost $59 a month and will allow a Pico user to brew as many PicoPaks as they wish per month (with the only limit being the customer can have only two unbrewed PicoPaks at any given time).

In an interview, company CEO, Bill Mitchell told me the thinking behind the new all-you-can-brew plan.

“We’re committed to make sure people will see new PicoPaks they want to brew,” he said. According to Mitchell, the company is adding new PicoPaks based on recipes from craft brewers at a rate of five per week, and the BrewUnlimited plan will allow Pico users to explore these new beer recipes more freely.

“It’s like Netflix for beer,” said Mitchell.

As with any subscription plan, the individual user will need to do the math and see if they brew enough to make it worthwhile. Mitchell told me the typical Pico user brews two PicoPaks per month. With the typical PicoPak costing about $23-$25, the new subscription service makes sense for anyone who brews three times a month or more.

The BrewPulse App

With this announcement, the company is also adding its first mobile app. Called BrewPulse, the app will allow you to order new PicoPaks as well as monitor the progress of the brew. While much of the monitoring by the app is based on standard timelines for fermentation, the new app will be able to make more precise estimates of the fermentation curve progress if the homebrewer leaves the fermentation keg next to the new Pico. According to Mitchell, the Pico C has an ambient temperature sensor that will be able to help better predict progress. In short, higher temperature means faster fermentation.

The company is also introducing a newer, simpler brew keg. The Pico C keg, which unlike the older ball-lock kegs, is dishwasher safe. The newer keg, which is the same volume (1.75 gallons) as the old keg will have simplified connectors.  According to Mitchell, there will be conversion kits available for those with a Pico S so they can also use the Pico C keg.

Update: You can watch a video of the new Pico C Keg here.

Related: The Complete Pico Home Beer Brew Appliance Review

Want to meet the leaders defining the future of food, cooking and the kitchen? Get your tickets for the Smart Kitchen Summit today.

February 16, 2017

Beer And Tech Get Cozy As Future Of Drink Heats Up

This morning I opened my email to see a new Product Hunt post from angel investor and entrepreneur Jason Calacanis about a new “Inside” newsletter he’s launching called Inside Beer. Calacanis has founded a couple of tech and startup based pubs, including Engadget and “This Week In Startups” along with LAUNCH but also started “Inside,” a series of industry-based vertical newsletters.

To date, Inside has tackled issues like security, San Francisco, venture capital, VR and AR so covering the latest news around beer feels a little off-brand. That is, unless you’re paying attention to what’s happening between tech and the beverage industry.

Says Calacanis,

“This may seem like a “fun” vertical for an Inside newsletter, but the reality is that beer is multi-billion dollar industry and many people – from restaurant folks to brewers to distributors – have a pressing, professional need to stay up on this news. Inside Beer provides it, in one email.”

Considering the emerging startups in the space and the partnerships between Big Beverage and tech to bring things like home brewing and the smart bar to the mainstream, we’re pretty sure 2017 is the year that tech starts to play a major role in the future creation and consumption of beer, wine and spirits. We’ll be watching the Inside Beer newsletter and the future of drink space closely.

January 9, 2017

AB InBev & Keurig Team Up to Create Home System For Beer & Cocktails

While companies such as Picobrew and Whirlpool’s Vessi were showcasing their high-tech methods for brewing beer at CES 2017 in Las Vegas, two giants of the beverage industry confirmed a partnership that could shake up the market for home-based brewers. AB InBev, the world’s largest beer brewer, and JAB Holdings, the corporate parent behind the Keurig pod-based drink system, announced they are teaming up to create a home-brewing system that can deliver beer and spirits to consumers.

The deal should come as no surprise given that JAB Chief Executive Olivier Goudet is also the chairman of AB InBev.

The announcement leads to more questions than answers, but the partnership is likely to take advantage of the technology behind Keurig’s Kold machine which offered single-serve sodas. Considered a bust, Kold was discontinued in the summer of 2016 when customers who owned the product were given refunds. Some of the Kold features, such as “Party Mode,” which allowed a user to crank out more than 30 drinks in a row, will be useful for the new unit.

The new appliance will be able to serve beer, spirits, cocktails and mixers. Given that those beverages require vastly different brewing methods, In-Bev and JAB might be looking at two machines. Beer requires a lengthy fermentation process which would be challenging to distil into an on-demand dispenser. For beer lovers, the two companies could develop a popularly priced home-fermentation machine along the lines of Whirlpool’s Group W Indiegogo project, Vessi. Such a machine might carry the branding of AB InBev’s popular Budweiser or Stella Artois, targeting the fan bases of those already popular brands.

The AB InBev/JAB Holdings partnership will have little impact on the higher-end home beer brewing market. Entrepreneurs looking to build DIY systems are focused on experienced hobbyists who want to create highly customized brews. Home brew masters are rarely novices and are more likely to want machines that allow them to focus more on the art of brewing rather than the mechanical process. The brewing appliance created by the new partnership will target those wanting to up their home entertaining game rather than sophisticated drinkers.

The Keurig for the cocktail set is an easier play for the two companies, with a retooled and improved version of the Kold (a 2.0) ready to tackle that segment. The robotic bartender market is already well established with such companies as Barbotics, Blend Bow and Bartesian already creating interest with early adopters.  Bartesian is making cocktails in second utilizing a proprietary cocktail capsule. Neither InBev nor JAB owns any companies in the spirits business, but plenty of brand names in that space would be eager to partner with someone able to crack the mass market with an adult beverage Keurig machine.

On the surface, building a market for home beer making could appear to be a conflict for In Bev. In actual practice, companies such as Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts and even JAB’s Peet’s Coffee did not lose branded-store customers when they expanded their reach to include retail channels and Keurig K-Cups. In fact, by allowing beer drinkers to enjoy a fresh Bud or Stella from their home taps could extend customer brand loyalty to bars and restaurants. The challenge for the two companies will be to create an easy-to-use set of ingredients and recipe to replicate the branded brews while allowing the advanced home brewer the opportunity to put his or her signature touch on the final product.

One thing is certain—anything proprietary that results from AB InBev/JAB alliance will be more closely guarded than Keurig’s original K-Cup design. The patent for Keurig’s single-serve pods expired in 2012 because of the ambiguous wording of its original claim. Failure to protect its IP cost the company billions as competitors lined up to create pods for the popular machine.

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