‘The Device’ Does It All

Whether you call it beginner’s luck or divine inspiration, photographer and beer fan John Carnett seemingly tapped into both when he crafted an all-in-one beer brewing-and-serving contraption that has grabbed the attention of brewers everywhere.

Carnett is a staff photographer for Popular Science and a self-proclaimed DIYer—he calls his shop at home “very extensive.” As a fun weekend project for the magazine, he decided to build the ultimate homebrewing system: One that not only accommodates the entire brewing process, but serves chilled beer at the same time.

That’s right. This brewing system, which Carnett simply calls The Device, also has two taps on one end, allowing brewers to enjoy a beer while brewing more, and making the amateur brewer’s mantra “Don’t worry, have a homebrew” even more attainable.

“Everybody who sees The Device slaps their foreheads and says, ‘Why didn’t I think of that?’” Carnett said. “It’s the idea everyone thinks they should’ve thought of.”

But Carnett did think of it. And about 40 hours of labor later, over the course of about three months’ time, Carnett’s 6-foot-long, 21-inch-wide and over 5-foot-tall stainless steel homebrewery/tap system on wheels was ready for a test drive.

“It is all-in-one and is a bit rudimentary, but I added some Ducati motorcycle styling so it’s something the wife could live with,” said Carnett, who built the system without ever having brewed beer before, using information he found on the internet.

Cost? That’s a bit of a gray area. “Forty-five hundred dollars is what I tell my wife, so I tend to use that number with others,” Carnett said coyly. “All men need a few secrets.”

When The Device was ready, Carnett gathered his crew, which included an experienced homebrewer acting as brewmaster and a video crew to capture the moment. The video version can be seen on the Popular Science web site.

“I was worried that it would not work,” he said. “I mean, sure, I tested some things as I went, but never the entire deal. So, to ease any potential shame in front of my friends, I made a run and grabbed a case of Carlsberg. I tossed back a few prior to the first test run. I made them drink. I figured, ‘If it does blow up, we will feel no pain.’”

Carnett said firing up the burner to get the water boiling proved to be a nail-biting moment. “The proximity of the burners to the propane tank posed a bit of concern,” he said. “But God love it, it actually worked!”

Soon, the brewers were adding malt extract and hops to the boil. And then there was beer.

“We made an ale, sort of a Yards Extra Special Ale in honor of the Philadelphia Yards brewery,” Carnett said. “How was it? Good question. We never drank the first batch.”

It seems that despite all The Device can do, it still isn’t foolproof.

“I left a hose clamp on my fermenter loose. Left for a trip, and my wife called screaming that my machine was shooting beer all over the house,” Carnett said. “The fermenter had built up pressure and the escape path was the weak link. The blow-off valve was set at a higher pressure, so the hose let go first and shot off like a freakin’ beer snake. I’m still cleaning up from that mistake. But you tend to learn from these things—very quickly. You might say I triple-check all fittings these days.”

Thanks to the video on the Popular Science web site, The Device became an instant internet success, and Carnett’s inbox was clogged with homebrewers inquiring about how to buy one or make their own. “The whole homebrew community is all geeked out,” Carnett said. “They all share everything so [it was easy to talk about] how you could make it 10 times cheaper or 10 times better than what I did.”

Carnett said he chose not to build plans for the device because of the time it would take to detail some of the more complicated components.

“It became complicated with the refrigeration part,” he said. “The schematics of the electrical diagram get pretty involved. The refrigeration, the cold plates—it would take me a day to draw all that out in a way that someone could follow it.”

Instead, Carnett hopes The Device will become The Impetus for other DIY homebrewers to create their own all-in-one homebrew/tap system.

As for Carnett, he is turning his creativity to several other commercial versions of The Device after being bombarded with offers from venture capitalists and a host of others who want to take The Device to new heights.

Carnett said that includes putting all the ideas he couldn’t fit into the homebrew version into a high-end one. Will it also bottle and cap the beer? Offer more tap handles? Change diapers? Carnett won’t say just yet. But he does hope it will pay the bills.

Look for an exclusive update on The Device in an upcoming issue of BeerAdvocate. ■