Ex-Microsoft execs launch beer making device on Kickstarter

[Golden Spur]

Ex-Microsoft execs launch beer making device on Kickstarter - Gadgets - News - HEXUS.net

Bill Mitchell, CEO and Co-Founder of PicoBrew LLC, worked at Microsoft “pioneering efforts in PDAs, smartphones, automotive and wearable computing”. He left MS a couple of years ago to work with his brother and develop a proof of concept brewing machine based on an off-the-shelf Arduino-based controller, off-the-shelf pumps, relays, valves and a custom heating loop.

Mitchell’s inspiration was the question “Why can't we brew beer at home as easily as we can make a loaf of bread with a bread-maker, or a shot of espresso with an automatic espresso machine?” He wanted the home brewing process to consist of more art – less tedium.
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During the last three years of R&D Mitchell and his brother were joined by another key team member, Avi Geiger, who was a Microsoft hardware architect. Last year a spurt of progress was made “on a sequence of 4 custom ATMEGA controller boards, firmware, web-side services and software”. Following this advance the reliability testing and repeat-ability of beer recipe testing on the machine has taken quite a lot of time.

“Now, after over 3 years, thousands of man-hours of effort and over a dozen prototypes, we're almost ready to manufacture the world's most automatic all-grain home-brewing appliance!” reports the PicoBrew Kickstarter page.
... con'td

 

[JuiceTheGator]

Sa-weet! I love my talking Pilsbury bread machine. I'd buy this:

 

[757Hokie83]

ignoring the cost of the thing, the actual brew day is one of the most enjoyable parts of the process, plus seeing how much doing things just a little differently from brew to brew gives you such creative license on the beer you're making.

this seems like it would take the fun out of it

 

[HuskerCradle2Grave]

It will be a massive failure...