If you don't want to read the full thread this is part of an honest review by owner
@stubrewworx which he posted in January it'll be interesting to hear if it ended up in the loft.
(link at the bottom)
Do I recommend the Pinter!?
Not really, not as the supplier intend you to use it. £15 to make 10 pints of not very good beer. You could enhance the kit with yeast, dry etc but it isn’t cost effective.
I suspect many of the Christmas recipients will soon move these into the loft once the supplied packs are consumed.
However, I do think the Pinter! has a place beyond being used with their kits. Especially for small batch brewers or test batches.
• It’s an enclosed fermenter (I live in a studio with a dog and have a fruit fly problem at the moment, which are not related to brewing so this is a plus for me).
• I think it actually looks ok and fits most places in the home.
• It ferments under pressure, so all the benefits of that.
• You can harvest yeast from the docking station.
• You could potentially use the docking station to introduce additional flavourings (hop teas, coffee/cocoa elixirs etc) after initial fermentation and dumping the yeast/trub. – I need to test if the docking station is one-way.
• You don’t need to bottle or re-keg and it fits in the fridge (side-ways for me but I do have the slimmest built-in fridge).
• You have the option to ferment without pressure. The dial allows to adjust desired carbonation but I’m unsure how effective it is.
• You can buy an additional vessel without the docking station for £35, this would allow you have a rotation of brews. One conditioning whilst other is fermenting.
Sure it has some disadvantages:
• Build quality. If the tap goes, beer is everywhere. Especially when fermenting as the tap is at the bottom. Carbonation dial feel flimsy (I read it blew off for one user, so yeast choice could be limited!).
• You can’t bottle. Well, if you ferment without pressure and the tap doesn’t aerate the beer too much, it could be a possibility?
• Once tapped, I’d say 2 days worth of drinking (which actually suits me).
• You can’t check how the fermentation is going, but a tilt / ispindel could sort that?
I have a few of my own brews planned to go in the Pinter! over the coming months, so I’ll update accordingly.
https://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/threads/pinter-beer-system.92034/post-996857
