Review It's no secret that this vulture is partial to an adult beverage or two. But brewing your own? That way lies madness due to the complexities involved. However, the iGulu F1 seeks to make home-brew disasters a thing of the past thanks to automation and idiot-proof ingredients.

We were sent the iGulu F1 automated beer brewer, which has almost everything needed to create nine pints of delicious beer. The device comprises a barrel into which the fermentation keg is placed and left for a couple of weeks while the process does its thing.

This isn't our first rodeo when it comes to home brewing. Even though the results of our DIY efforts decades ago were universally received as revolting, we were ready to try again. We ensured that everything - the pipes and fermentation keg - was sterilized beforehand. The keg took around 4.5 liters of distilled water, and we tipped in the ingredients, taking care to not stir as per the instructions.

We also invested in a CO₂ cylinder - a screw-type one for Sodastream devices will do the job, although it isn't strictly essential.

The iGulu F1 has a bright touchscreen, and after tapping the RFID tag from the ingredients package on the side, the appropriate brewing program appeared. In our case, we went for the Amber Lager, which required 15 days of fermentation, according to the screen.

According to iGulu, the F1 does not come with an ingredient kit, although the company told us that every first-time purchaser also tends to pick up at least three kits. Something to remember when totting up the cost (see below).

The system keeps track of pressure and temperature during the process and chills the brew down towards the end in the case of the Amber Lager. Pressure was also monitored, although it never got to the point where we were worried the office space might end up being redecorated with an explosion of semi-brewed beer. A user can manually release the pressure if needed.

In use, the iGulu was quiet and did not produce much of an aroma of brewing beer. There was the occasional sound of the compressor kicking in to chill the mixture, but overall, it was no worse than an average refrigerator. The screen showed the temperature, pressure, and a countdown of time before beer consumption could commence. It was responsive and easy to use.

The device has a stated power consumption of 60 W and uses 1.5 kWh of electricity per brewing cycle. The compressor uses R513A as its refrigerant and does a sterling job of keeping the temperature correct, regardless of the ambient temperature around it.

After 15 days, with the temperature going up and down a few times and the pressure climbing from a worrying 0 psi to above 26 before tumbling back down during the chilling process, we tried our first brew from the iGulu F1.

It was... good. Surprisingly so. While not crystal clear like some lagers - if a bit of haze bothers you, look away now - the Amber Lager we brewed was nicely chilled and had a good flavor. However, like many other reviewers, we found the system also produced prodigious amounts of foam. We asked iGulu about the colossal foamy heads that await the unwary and were told:

"Regarding the issue of foam, please rest assured that we have already improved this problem through software programming to reduce the pressure of automatic repressurization; and by adjusting the maximum pressure relief structure of the fermentation keg."

Your mileage may vary, but our first pour was almost all foam. By the third glass, it had settled down a bit.

One huge question mark hangs over the iGulu F1. It can certainly make a decent beer, but does it make economic sense?

At $699 it is not cheap, and a less fully featured version is on the way in the form of the S1 at a lower price, although the S1 is currently available via Kickstarter, so the usual warnings apply for backers: there's a chance you might never receive what you thought you'd paid for.

The ingredient packs come in at around the $19 mark - a bit less if you subscribe - and considering that each kit will only produce approximately nine pints of beer, it'll take a while before a user breaks even compared to visiting a local grocery or liquor store.

However, for an amateur brewing enthusiast, the iGulu has appeal, particularly when "Master Mode" is enabled. This allows a user to create their own recipes and brewing processes, but it costs an additional $100 (although iGulu will bundle it with the brewing device at the point of purchase for a limited time).

The company's reason for not making Master Mode standard was accessibility for beginners: "For beginners without such experience, it may be difficult to understand the relationship between various parameters and how different settings can affect the final taste of the beer."

Fine, but it seems a bit penny-pinching not to make the option freely available once a user feels confident to start experimenting.

To make the iGulu F1 anything other than a novelty, we'd argue that Master Mode should be included by default since the price point puts the device out of reach of occasional users who want to impress their friends with home-brew that won't necessitate a scurry to the bathroom. Instead, we can see this being used more by enthusiasts to experiment with different flavors and recipes.

For users like us who are happy with the pre-packaged recipes, a variety of options is available, and iGulu will gladly sell a subscription. However, the wait for the beer to brew is unavoidable, meaning there would be little point getting in more than two or three kits per month. Equally unavoidable is the cost comparison of an iGulu setup versus going into a store.

Overall, the iGulu succeeds in its goal of making brewing beer something that an enthusiastic amateur can achieve without too much effort. More expert users might like to exercise more control than that offered by the RFID and pre-packaged ingredients approach, but for everyone else, it all works well.

And there is a particular pleasure to be had in quaffing beer produced, at least in part, by one's own hand. Even if that same hand could also pick up equally tasty beverages from a local store without the wait. ®

https://www.theregister.com//2024/09/01/igulu_f1_home_brewer/