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PicoBrew moves beyond beer to tackle coffee, kombucha and more
You've got to hand it to PicoBrew: The company is ambitious, if nothing else. After years of trying to perfect an automated, counter-top beer brewing machine, it's branching out to other beverages. In fact, it's basically branching out into all beverages -- at least all the ones you would call "brewed." The Pico U is what the company is calling a "universal" brewing machine, capable of making beer, coffee, tea, kombucha, horchata and a host of other drinks.
Brewie is back with version 2.0 of its automated homebrew machine
Over the last few years, we've seen a number of automated homebrew machines promise easy beer making for homebrewers of all skill levels. Some of them offer the freedom of using loose grains and hops, while others rely on pre-packaged ingredients straight from the company. Brewie falls into the former category and the company is back with a follow-up to the machine it first debuted back in 2014. The new device, dubbed the Brewie+, has been retooled to make the unit faster and the brewing process more efficient.
Teamosa brews tea using ultrasound
We've seen a handful of tea-brewing gadgets over the years, but none have managed to break into the mainstream. The latest to step into the ring is Teamosa, a startup that's planning to launch its first product September 13th. Teamosa itself is a small, Keurig-style device that uses ultrasonic extraction technology to brew your tea much more gently than traditional methods.
I bio-engineered glowing beer and it hasn’t killed me (yet)
I've been making beer for about 10 years and, in the name of fun and experimentation, I've done some weird stuff. Toss some sarsaparilla and birch bark in the pot? Why not? "Dry hop" with a box of Apple Jacks? Try and stop me. But I may have finally gone a bit too far, when I genetically engineered a beer to glow green. All right, so how did I do it? With a technology called CRISPR, which is pretty much the belle of the science ball right now. CRISPR stands for "clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats" and it essentially lets you snip out bits of DNA and replace them with whatever you want. It actually relies on a basic feature of bacterial immune systems.
Picobrew's next goal: A safe and affordable DIY distillery
Picobrew has a new, cheaper countertop beer brewing system. That you already knew. But the company is now dipping its toes into distilling. The Picostill is an add on for the Pico Model C that turns that weird custom designed keg into a countertop distillery. Specifically it's a reflux still that uses vacuum distillation, which doesn't look as cool as a pot or column still, but makes far more efficient use of the space.
PicoBrew tries to make countertop beer brewing affordable
Brewing your own beer is surprisingly easy and cheap. But, it can seem intimidating. Plus, some of the equipment takes up a lot of space if you really start to embrace the hobby. Companies like Picobrew have been trying to simplify the process to make it more appealing to newcomers and those with limited space. The Pico Model C is the latest in a line of "countertop" brewing machines. It looks more like a coffee machine than anything else. In fact, it looks a lot like the company's previous machine -- the Pico -- except the stainless-steel body has been replaced with a black powder-coated finish.
ICYMI: The alcohol creating energy and removing pollution
try{document.getElementById("aol-cms-player-1").style.display="none";}catch(e){}Today on In Case You Missed It: The University of Colorado, Boulder is diving into a beer project with a surprising twist: Researchers have managed to use beer brewing runoff to grow a species of fungus that not only cleans the water but can also be used to create lithium-ion batteries. Meanwhile the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center is helping paralyzed people regain a sense of touch through a robotic arm, by implanting electrodes in the participant's brain. The flexible phone display for music is here, and the BMW concept motorcycle that had everyone talking is here. In case you're friends with someone on Tinder, they should know about this story. As always, please share any interesting tech or science videos you find by using the #ICYMI hashtag on Twitter for @mskerryd.
Smart sensor helps you brew the perfect cup of tea
Given the quantity of gadgets specifically designed to brew the perfect coffee, it's easy to think the tech world hates tea. Thankfully, 42Tea's new brewing sensor is designed to let people get as snobby about chai as most people do when arguing the merits of Arabica versus Robusta. The device is a small white cube that, along with a companion app, will hold your hand through the brewing method necessary for specific blends of tea. You'll still have to make the cucumber sandwiches yourself, unfortunately.
AI is being used to brew beer in the UK
Brewers have a lot of tools at their disposal when it comes to brewing beer: hops, yeast, grain and loads of equipment. One brewery in the UK is employing AI to perfect its recipes though, and it claims it's the first to do so. IntelligentX Brewing Company is a collaborative effort between machine learning company Intelligent Layer and creative agency 10x. Together the two companies created algorithms that process consumer feedback as a means of helping brewers improve their beers.
Whirlpool's Vessi is a homebrew fermenter that pours a pint
There's no denying the popularity of homebrewing beer among DIYers, and we've seen a number of devices that aim to make that process easier. The latest small appliance comes from a familiar name: Whirlpool. With the Vessi fermenter and tap system, the company says it is reducing the time it takes to make beer from a month down to seven days. Of course, that fermentation time depends on what style you're brewing, but for a 3.3% "light blonde ale," Whirlpool says that 7-day turnaround is possible.
WoW Brewmaster: Dumping Ziebart into a glass bottle
Work Warning: No cursing or nudity or sex or anything like that. But this is a column about beer and brewing, so that's somewhat an adult theme. When last we left our noble brew, I'd just talked a bit off the top about how I was making Ziebart Stout. Long story made short: I was brewing a relatively basic oatmeal stout but putting some Scotch in it. The Basics Let's talk first to the totally new folks. The ones who know WoW Insider is writing about brewing beer, and wants to get involved in their own Pandaren hijinks. After all, if we can do it... so can you! (I'm not being snarky. Seriously, trusting me around open flame is a little like trusting your lasagna to Garfield.) How tough is extract brewing? It's not. If you can navigate a canned soup recipe, you can handle extract brewing. Assuming you arm up with the basic supplies, all of which can be had relatively inexpensively, the entire process is mostly about thoroughly cleaning and watching a timer. The step-by-step works something like this.
BrewTroller simplifies homebrewing, makes it doable while inebriated
It's been a mystery for ages, but at long last, it seems a simple DIYer has found a solution. We all know that the best beers are the ones brewed at home, but after a given amount of "test sips," things can easily get a little out of control. In order to simplify the homebrewing process, the brilliant BrewTroller was concocted during a short stint with sobriety. In essence, the system utilizes a Sanguino microcontroller platform which was inspired by the tried-and-true Arduino in order to give brewers complete control over temperature and the like. When connected to a simple menu-driven display, it removes the need to bang out a paragraph of code while tipsy in order to tweak the flavor ever so slightly. Hit up the read link to have a look at the progress, but make sure you strap on those Beer Goggles first.[Via HackedGadgets]
PTR Notes: Brewfest is coming
MMO Champion has a tip on a brand new festival that is probably coming to Azeroth (and Outland) in October. It's called Brewfest, and already in the 2.2 PTR patch files, they've found the ability to attack kegs, signal Dark Iron dwarves, race rams, and even eat sausages. Of course we're not sure that it's coming in October, but considering the similarity to the very famous Oktoberfest, the guess is probably not that far off. And of course whenever you mention brewing in World of Warcraft, you've got to mention the Pandaren-- could Chen and the gang, hope against hope, finally be making an appearance in Azeroth?Boubouille also points out that the flying broom mount spells are in the game as well-- because they mention only giving one ride per mount, it's very likely that these too will be used on a temporary holiday, most likely Hallow's End. So sounds like lots of fun events coming this October-- I'm sure we'll learn more at Blizzcon.
Learning coffee machine on the horizon, could use GPS / RFID
Although a coffee machine that slowly but surely learns your daily preferences in regard to cups of java may sound outlandish, the already-created RFID-enabled refrigerator certainly brings things back into focus. A "provisional patent exploration into coffee machines that learn and react to their users" is underway in Lafayette, Indiana, as James Pappas is hoping to take ubiquitous computing to the next level on coffee makers of the future. While internet-connected and weather-displaying renditions are already on store shelves, Pappas is hoping to utilize some form of GPS / RFID technology to create a machine that learns and adapts to your coffee drinking ways so it can automatically have a white chocolate cappuccino ready and waiting each weekday (except Monday, which is your straight-up black coffee day, right?) without you having to touch a thing. Furthermore, he's hoping to take the idea to the mobile front, as he refers to a cellphone interface to dial-in your next request so that it's ready to go by the time you hit the kitchen. Still, it sounds like the invention is a few years off at best, but serious drinkers better hope this thing automatically alerts you when the beans are running low, too.[Image courtesy of CoffeeToThePeople]
