Innovation of the week

A new Kickstarter-backed machine aims to take home-brewing into the 21st century. The PicoBrew Zymatic, conceived by former Microsoft executive Bill Mitchell, may look like an oversize microwave, said Nathan Ingraham at TheVerge.com, but think of it more as “the Nespresso of beer brewing.” Its computerized controls give hobbyists unprecedented precision in fine-tuning their recipes. They need only load the device with the appropriate hops and grains, select a recipe, add water, and step away. After four hours, the five-gallon keg attached will be filled with unfermented beer; add yeast to finish. But refining your IPA isn’t cheap. “At $1,300, it’s not really for the casual home-brewer,” said Casey Johnston at ArsTechnica.com. The device may prove most valuable for commercial craft brewers.