Appliance manufacturers occasionally do some things that are, well just plain mental like Smeg’s garden thing and this may be one off beat idea that might actually work from our pals at Whirlpool.
The boffins at Whirlpool have come up with this, the Vessi home brewing rig!
Pretty isn’t it?
Probably it will appeal a lot to many right now with the spell of hot weather too. Not that we would say that the timing of announcing this, in summer, has anything to do with anything at all of course.
It’s pretty neat too if it works as Whirlpool say it will as it will ferment, carbonate and then even serve your freshly home brewed beer.
Whirlpool say this contraption can reduce the time it takes to make beer from a month down to seven days. However, the 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.
The Vessi is single-tank design and is sealed and pressurised with temperature controls to ensure the process goes smoothly, probably so people like us with zero brewing experience or knowledge can make beer we expect.
Whirlpool says that this design reduces the risks of issues like contamination and oxidation that are common to homebrewing.
It also skips the process of bottle conditioning by “retaining” the beer’s carbonation throughout fermentation, whatever that means, probably more to people that brew their own beer.
There’s also a Sediment Removal System at the bottom of the cylinder for removing any yeast and other particulate when fermentation is complete. That unwanted sediment can be removed without losing pressure Whirlpool say.
There’s also a Liquid Injection System for adding other flavours like coffee and more to your beer, if you’re into that sort of thing of course. Or if you’d rather fill bottles, a keg etc, the rig has a counter pressure port up top to make sure those containers are properly carbonated.
Whirlpool’s Vessi is a project from W Labs and is the result of “researching, testing, designing and rethinking the entire beer brewing process.”
In a bit of a twist the company is using the crowdfunding prowess of Indiegogo.
Part of the enterprise initiative it launched in January, Indiegogo is looking to become a spot where big companies go to gauge public interest in an R&D product and to drive drive pre-order sales before new products are even available to the rest of we mortals.
If you’re in the US and willing to commit funds for a Vessi, doing so during the campaign that launches today will set you back $1,200. That’s down a fair chunk from the anticipated retail price of $1,899.
Whether we will ever see this machine in the UK or even in Europe, officially at least, we don’t know.
But since we’re such teases or, we’re nice depending on how you look at things, here’s some more photos to whet your palate.
