This Machine Lets You Make Beer From Scratch Using Your iPhone

The "Internet of Things" is the idea that we'll one day be able to interact with our home and possessions the same way we load a web page or send an email.

Accidentally leave your lights on? You can turn them off from the other side of the world. Want to start your air conditioner as you leave work so that you might enjoy a comfortable home upon your arrival? You can.

Here's a use case that many will likely get behind: what if a robotic appliance brewed beer for you in your own kitchen, and you interacted with it via smartphone? That's the promise being fulfilled by Brewbot, a home appliance that works in tandem with a smartphone app to take all the tedium out of home brewing.

Here's what it looks like:

After selecting your ingredients (it comes with loads of recipes to help you get started) and adding water, the Brewbot appliance communicates with your phone to tell you when to add which ingredients, how long to let everything boil, and how long to let everything ferment. It's the Internet of Things, but for beer!

We have limited experience in homebrewing, but Brewbot welcomes people of any experience level. The company aims to make brewing as easy as following a ramen recipe, which is a welcome change of pace from a brewer's (sometimes manic) attention to things like water temperature and boil time. We love it.

This is an expensive gadget, however. American customers wanting one should be prepared to spend $2,800 for the device and an additional $580 to ship it to the States.

Alternatively, you could meet the Brewbot team as they take their technology on the "Hop'n Roll Tour" throughout their native Ireland this July.