Best counter top beer machine in 2024

awec

What's the go-to option for beer machines in 2024? I'm talking about the small 5/9litre ones that sit on a counter top, not a kegerator / full tap setup or the likes. I know there are older threads on this but most of the info is from years ago with lots of dead links to retailers etc.

Two options I can see are the Blade and PerfectDraft.

My biggest concern is the availability of kegs, the Blade kegs look like they're hard to find in Ireland? PerfectDraft doesn't look a whole lot easier either.

Anyone have either of these and have any recommendations?

BeerNut

Your biggest concern should definitely be availability. These machines aren't as popular here as in other countries, and that has a massive impact on how useful they are. Until Heineken Ireland (Blade) or C&C (PerfectDraft) decides to support the machine in Ireland (they won't), you're effectively buying on an unreliable grey market.

bennyx_o

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122383247#Comment_122383247

Out of interest - why won't they support them here? MUP?

BeerNut

Speculating here, but if they went all-in on promoting home draught they would annoy their biggest customers: the pubs. But also, Ireland is small, and carving out a niche for a new format of beer is expensive. I doubt the return on investment would be there.

irish_goat

If you are near the North, Sub and Blade seems to be available in a good few spots. Although it's mainly just Heineken, Tiger and Moretti, from what I can see.

awec

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122383461#Comment_122383461

Yea not near the north unfortunately, I'm in Wicklow.

There seems to be a good few options in Ireland but most of them are out of stock which worries me. It's a lot of money to drop on a machine if I can't find kegs.

allybhoy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122383495#Comment_122383495

I have a blade around 3 years, so do a couple of my mates, great system. I have a 2 line cooler system aswell but I never use that anymore since i got the blade as there is a lot of hassle with cleaning lines, balancing gas etc. I have never had any issues getting kegs… you can order directly from here https://www.mybooze.eu/ Kegs are €30 but with delivery comes in at roughly €40-€42 per keg. We used to get them from a few off licenses up the north (First and Last) but they are actually more expensive now than mybooze.. think the last time we looked at them up north they were about €45 a keg, mybooze deliver directly to your door.

I looked at perfect draft, but if your drink of preference is Heineken or Moretti then the blade is a no brainer, the pints out of the blade wont be beaten. The only small thing to think about is there have been some issues with some of the earlier blade models having issues with cooling so make sure you get a warranty with your machine.. i havent been affected by it but two of my mates had the same issue and from reading online it seems a common fault . It can be fixed by disassembling and replacing a cheap temp sensor on the machine but its advisable to buy the units from a reputable source with a warranty to save you the hassle. One of my friends bought his from donedeal second hand and it broke a few months after he got it, so he had to replace the sensor himself, took him about an hour and the sensors where €10 on amazon.

awec

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122383981#Comment_122383981

Thanks this is great info. Now I just need to try and source a machine, which seems harder than I was expecting!

BeerNut

Just to note that mybooze.eu doesn't pay Irish taxes, so ordering from them runs the risk of being stung for duty and VAT (like this guy), or not getting your order at all. Their "Is this legal?" page is nonsense.

awec

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122384281#Comment_122384281

Actually forgot about that. 😌

Former Former Former

I have a PerfectDraft and it's brilliant, the quality of the pint coming out of it is great and it's good craic when you have a crowd over. Machine is less than half the price of the Blade also.

However, as noted above it is hampered by unpredictable availability of the kegs. There are a few suppliers here but they seem to get deliveries infrequently enough so sometimes there is a huge range and others times you might only have five or six beers to choose from.

A few places in Newry always seem to have good stock though.

awec

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122384475#Comment_122384475

Where did you get the machine from / the kegs from?

Former Former Former

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122384589#Comment_122384589

Got a "like new" machine from Amazon Warehouse for about 240 euro.

There's an off-licence near me that sells the kegs, but i've also used;

https://busbyscellar.com/product-category/beer-cider/perfectdraft-kegs-machine/

https://www.thebeergals.com/collections/6l-perfectdraft-kegs

https://www.thecru.ie/c/perfectdraft-kegs/1516

sibersha

Owned a Blade for the last couple of years and just sold mine. The pints are top notch out of it (better than a lot of pubs) but the selection is very limited and the recent price increases for the kegs make them quite expensive now

A few of my friends own the Perfect Draft, there is a far better selection available but from what I have seen they are not as good a pint as the Blade. Someone did mention to me that Perfect Draft Pro pulls a better pint and keeps them at a better temperature compared to the standard perfect draft.

jester77

I have the Perfectdraft Pro, and the beers are great. Good variety with different seasonal beers, Oktoberfest beers will be launching in a few weeks. The big downside is the running costs, I put a monitor on mine and it averages around €16 a month in electricity costs and the fans tends to run loud in the Summer when it gets into the mid to high 20's, especially when keeping beers at lower temps. So I end up keeping mine off a lot of the time because of this, and just transferring the keg from the fridge to the machine when having a few.

Gusser09

Would you not be lashing throught the kegs? They seem very small.

allybhoy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122385844#Comment_122385844

Depends on your consumption, There are 17 pints in a blade keg, unless you are awful at pulling pints you will have zero spillage because the beer comes out perfect. The lines are attached to the keg so every keg is a fresh line which is the best thing about these systems, they pour perfect pints immediately.

For me personally a keg lasts 2-3 weeks but if you have friends around for a party\BBQ obviously you will need to change kegs. Only takes a few mins to change the kegs, you are meant to pre-chill kegs in the fridge ideally for 24 hours. But usually a couple of hours (4-5) will suffice as long as they are stored somewhere relatively cool beforehand. If im having friends over, I will have a freshly loaded keg in the machine, one in the fridge, then one outside (providing its not sunny etc).

Gusser09

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122386361#Comment_122386361

The biggest blades I can see online are 8litre? That's 14 pints. I suppose it's not that bad value. Still though 3.50 for a pint at home. I'd like it to be a little less. Perhaps 2.50.

awec

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122386493#Comment_122386493

There's a few reasons I'm looking at it.

1. So long as you get a good price on the kegs it's cheaper than cans / bottles.
2. Sometimes I want to drink pints in the house, sometimes I only want a glass, this gives flexibility.
3. Don't have to keep cans to bring them back to a machine, don't have to collect bottles to bring to bottle bank. The keg is plastic I believe and can just be tossed in the bin. If it's easy to cut open I'll probably cut it open, wash it out and throw in the recycling bin.

irish_goat

€3.50 for a pint of Heineken at home seems terrible value, to be honest.

Gusser09

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122386640#Comment_122386640

And not cheaper than a can. I can't really see where these blades can be got much cheaper either.

jester77

€3.50 sounds a bit mad. No Heineken on the Perfectdraft but I am in Germany and I get a 6L Becks keg on the Perfectdraft for between €15 and €20 depending on sales. This works out at around €1.25-€1.66 for a half litre. Still more expensive than a crate of Becks but you get a nicer beer from the machine.

Former Former Former

These machines and the kegs are absolutely not a cheap solution, they're a premium product and priced accordingly.

The Perfect Draft beers work out as 3.50-ish per pint as well, which is significantly more expensive than cans but also better quality beer. You can keep an eye out for deals to bring the cost down but bargain pints they ain't.

Gusser09

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122386714#Comment_122386714

It's the Irish market that is over priced as usual due to various reasons.

sibersha

UK market not much better in terms of value for these kegs

Former Former Former

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122387558#Comment_122387558

For Perfect Draft? No, the UK is about the same price if not more expensive. I've got kegs from Newry before and it's not like going to Asda and loading up on slabs of cans, there isn't really a saving.

Can't speak to Blades.

awec

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122388197#Comment_122388197

Blade seems roughly similar, the only real outlier is Moretti which for some reason is a more expensive keg in Ireland. I don't understand why there's a big price variation between Heineken and Moretti tbh.

irish_goat

Italian is perceived to be fancier than Dutch.

BeerNut

I visited a Heineken brewery in Austria a few months ago and the guy mentioned that all the Blade kegs get filled at the same brewery in Italy, which is the one that has the equipment. So not only is your Blade Moretti probably genuinely Italian (though not from the Moretti brewery), your Heineken and Amstel likely are too.

the beer revolu

Can anyone explain to me why the pints are "better" from one of these machines than from a similarly chilled can of the same beer? Genuine question.

Hodors Appletart

I've always noticed a pretty decent selection of Perfect Draft kegs in the Carryout Off Licence in Tyrrelstown, which is thecru.ie

https://www.thecru.ie/c/perfectdraft-kegs/1516

They also have Blade kegs and a small selection of the 5 Litre kegs which I use myself, as I brew my own beer and these kegs are way handier than filling bottles

allybhoy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122392484#Comment_122392484

Im not a beer making expert, but i presume its got to do with how the kegs are made versus how cans are made and also maybe the length of storage. I can promise you though that the difference between Blade pints and Cans\bottles is night and day, its the same difference as cans of Guinness versus pints, freshness \ crispness etc. The pints from the blade are also full of carbonation \ activity, so when they pull they give a lovely creamy foamy head that stays, whereas cans can often be quite dead a few minutes after opening.

BeerNut

The machine is pouring the beer at a fixed and optimised temperature, whereas with cans and bottles it'll vary depending on your home cooling arrangements. That will have an effect on head, carbonation and mouthfeel of the beer when served.

awec

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122394984#Comment_122394984

Yea they do have a good selection.

The Perfect Draft does seem to be a bit easier to get kegs for, but the actual beers themselves don't really excite me. I would be looking for a standard lager that's in the 4.4% mark, they mostly seem to be pale ales or 5%+ lagers. Or pure crap like Bud Light.

Hodors Appletart

Just on that, Standard Lager TM would be about 5% ish, it's just that most brands sell into the Irish market at sub 5%

I see Camden Helles there at 4.6%

Former Former Former

If you can make your peace with giving money to Jeremy Clarkson, his Hawkstone lager is 4.8% and it's very good.

loyatemu

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122395323#Comment_122395323

I suspect that it's more to do with the beer being dispensed by being forced out with CO2 which is a more controlled process than being dumped out of a can with gravity. But I'd also say it's 90% psychological, for lager at least.