Is this cheating?

CFO,,,, must be he was counting the brews consumed, yet, I see no clipboard or computer.

When in doubt, load up the boss first, then da party is ON!

 

The review linked to by @moodenba is inordinately thorough.

Joking aside, and without regard to whether it’s cheating, I’ll be surprised if this is a successful venture in the long run unless they do something about each ingredient kit having a unique, single-use QR code that sets the brewing parameters. Best I can tell the MiniBrew cannot be used for custom recipes without a 90€/~$107 annual subscription (per the review).

From the review:
"Before you can actually start a brew, you ned to scan a QR code on the BrewPack, which is the separate box of ingredients. The QR code will load the correct beer to be brewed with all the information about ingredients, mash program, boil program, hop additions, fermentation temperature and time, all the way to serving temperature. There is no way to change any of theses parameters with a BrewPack. You only get that freedom if you make your own recipe on the website, for which you need a yearly subscription to. The QR code is found on the inside of the BrewPack box and mine had a big chunk of glue on it to hold the lid closed while shipping, so I had to carefully remove that glue with most caution not to loose any black print. The QR codes are one time use only so you can’t save the code and brew another batch with your own ingredients.“
....also from the review:
"I can’t find the subscription fee on the MiniBrew webshop but on my LHBS Humlegården, it costs the equivalent to 90€ per year which I think should be a one time fee."

In addition to many of these all-in-one beer makers hitting the skids because the novelty wears off, I’m thinking MiniBrew might be pricing themselves out of the market at $1000+ for an entry-level system that makes 1.3-gal ($2000+ for a system that makes 4-gal), plus $100/year to make custom recipes.
However, peeps who are spending more time at home with ample doled relief might not even blink at $1k - $2k for a few gallons of homebrew and say, "I made it myself!"

 

I don't know, maybe it's because I'm a bit bias since getting a Brewmkr but, Its beer and I just don't take it too seriously anymore. Different strokes for different folks, will it last or fail? Not sure, but anyway you can make beer and share it, is a good thing in my book.

 

But my hobby IS cleaning! I just happen to make beer in the process.

 

It has been said that brewers are janitors of yeast. Which is kind of more true than false.