Three beer enthusiasts have come up with a new machine for the multitude of beer lovers in the world. It’s the PicoBrew Zymatic, and is a beer maker that has just a few buttons to operate. Two of the co-founders – Avi Geiger and Bill Mitchell – are former Microsoft employees. Mitchell is “well-known in Microsoft circles, having spent nearly two decades leading teams that developed PDAs, smartphones, automotive and wearable computing,” Taylor Soper explains at Geekwire.com. The other co-founder is Mitchell’s brother, Jim Mitchell. Just like his father, he is also a food scientist and physicist.
Geiger, on the other hand, was responsible for a lot of Microsoft’s hardware when working there. He’s of course the third co-founder, and has – based upon his previous background – done the engineering work on the device.
The product is quite simple, as Soper describes it as basically being a “brewing box connected by hose to a Cornelius keg.” The actual creation of the beer is also easy – throw in your malted barley, hops, and – the most important ingredient for beer – water. After you’re done doing that, you hit a few buttons to get the recipe started. In less than four hours, you’ve got your craft beer right there on your kitchen countertop.
The three men decided to invent a perfect machine that makes good beers at home. The work began in August of 2012 and they are now very close to selling the product. They are asking eager customers to kick in some money to get to the final point in production. How are they asking potential customers to help out? Through a Kickstarter campaign.
And if you aren’t interested in a beer maker, how about a $1200 high-tech beer pong table? That’s for the college crowd, but it is out there as well.
As someone who appreciates craft beer (I’m not interested in the beer pong table), this is definitely a product I’d like to have in my household. Cheers to these three men for coming up with such a great product!
