A BEER-MAKING machine developed in Adelaide is set to turn home-brewing on its head.

BrewArt, refined over eight years by beer lovers at Coopers brewery, is a wi-fi equipped brewing system that will allow users to create their favourite pilsners, stouts and IPAs at home, using a smartphone app to control the temperature and brewing conditions.

The neat piece of kit that looks more like a high-end coffee machine than the home-brew buckets of old could see budding ale-makers return from banishment in the back shed to claim their rightful place in the kitchen.

And while it promises to take the guesswork out of home brewing, its creators say they haven’t killed the fun and that there’s still plenty of scope for people to experiment.

Co-creator and marketing manager Scott Harris said BrewArt aimed to make the process “as simple as possible, without taking the science out of it”.

“We wanted to make something that gave people a good brewing experience. The ability to control the temperature also allows people to create beers that have been hard to make in the past, like a nice, clear lager for example.”

The BrewArt system features two components – the Beerdroid, in which the beer is brewed, and the Brewflo, which stores and pours the chilled beer. The water and ingredients are added to the Beerdroid and brewed at the temperature appropriate for that style of beer.

“You can control the whole process through the app,” Mr Harris said.

“The app will then send you messages throughout the brewing period, which takes five to 15 days, keeping you updated on the milestones. You can even put a brew ‘to sleep’ if you need to, by chilling the unit down to four degrees, and restart the process later.”

The finished beer is then transferred to a five-litre keg and stored in the Brewflo, which has a pub-style tap and stores the beer at the correct temperature.

The whole setup is finished in matt black and chrome.

The ingredients for each brew comes in separate components – elements, enhancers, hops and yeast – known as Brewprints.

“If the Beerdroid is the iPod then the Brewprints are the iTunes,” Mr Harris said.

“You can use them to stick to a recipe and create one of the Brewprint beers, or you can tweak it to your own tastes.”

The catch? Well it won’t be cheap – the Beerdroid will sell for $799 and the Brewflo will cost $699, with finished brews coming in at between $28 and $44 for 10 litres.

“You’re looking at about the same price as a good coffee machine,” Mr Harris said.

“You have this culture that’s emerged in the last few years of people making their own cheese, smoking their own meats. At the same time there has been this explosion in craft beer and all the different flavours. This allows people to combine those two movements.”

The Brewart equipment will go on sale at Harvey Norman in mid-July.

I tried two beers from the Brewart machine – a Czech pilsner and an American pale ale.

The pilsner will appeal to the everyday beer drinker – crisp, clear and refreshing, true to style and perfect for the beach or a summer barbecue. Very sessionable.

The American pale ale is sure to be a hit with the craft beer crowd – big and bold with plenty of piney hops. To be honest I could have done with a bit more hoppy bitterness, but I guess that’s the beauty of home brewing - if I was making it myself I could have simply added more hops.

Both beers had good head and carbonation and were lacking that “home brew” taste that can creep into some homemade beers. All in all, pretty close to what comes out of the tap at your favourite pub.

SO WHAT DOES IT TASTE LIKE?

I tried two beers from the Brewart machine, a Czech pilsner and an American pale ale.

The pilsner will appeal to the everyday beer drinker – crisp, clear and refreshing, true to style, and perfect for the beach or a summer barbecue. Very sessionable.

The American pale ale is sure to be a hit with the craft beer crowd – big and bold with plenty of piney hops. To be honest I could have done with a bit more hoppy bitterness, but I guess that’s the beauty of home brewing – if I was making it myself, I could have simply added more hops.

Both beers had good head and carbonation and were lacking that “home brew” taste that can creep into some homemade beers.

All in all, pretty close to what comes out of the tap at your favourite pub.