Now There's an Actual SodaStream Just for Beer

SodaStream machines might be designed to make all sorts of sodas and seltzers, but as evidenced by brilliant experiments over the years, they're also pretty great for making boozy drinks. Now, it looks like SodaStream is finally embracing alcohol with the launch of an all-new SodaStream machine for making your own draft beer at home.

SodaStream announced the new machine, the Beer Bar, on Monday, describing it as a "new home beer system" that allows you to make "quality home-crafted beer." As you may have guessed, it's very similar to your typical SodaStream in that it works by mixing sparkling water with what the company calls "a unique beer concentrate," instead of the soda flavorings you're used to. Basically, it's homebrewing (if you can even call it that) dumbed down -- a lot.

As for the aforementioned "unique beer concentrate," SodaStream said it's releasing a light beer called Blondie that has a "smooth authentic taste, and a hop filled aroma," per the press release. The resulting beer contains 4.5% alcohol by volume (ABV), and one liter of the concentrate will allow you to make about three liters of beer. Apparently, the whole "brewing" process is done in seconds.

If beer made from sparkling water and concentrate sounds appealing to you, you'll likely have to wait a while before you can get your hands on the Beer Bar machine as SodaStream said it will only launch in Germany and Switzerland at first, with additional markets coming later this year. (We reached out to SodaStream to see when you can expect to see it in the US). Of course, there are already similar gadgets, like the Fizzics machine, on the market, among others.

Consumer appliance giant Whirlpool is also getting in the homebrewing machine game with a slick fermentor and tap system called Vessi that's aimed at more advanced homebrewers, according to a report by Engadget. In other words, there's about to be beer-making machines fit for every level of laziness, which more than likely means more beer for you. Cheers to that.

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Tony Merevick is Cities News Editor at Thrillist and can't wait to see how people hack this one. Send news tips to news@thrillist.com and follow him on Twitter @tonymerevick.