Bar.on wants to help consumers "print" their own beer, tailored to their preferences, at home. (Photos: Bar.on)
At-home mixology machines like Bartesian Premium Cocktails have invigorated a new generation of robo-bartenders; slot in vials of your favorite spirits and mixers, hit a button and expect a pixel-perfect martini, margarita or piña colada within seconds. Taking the template in unforeseen directions, Belgian startup Bar.on has been hard at work on a first-of-its-kind OneTap machine, which the company claims uses molecular-level compounds to stir up an assortment of beers at a moment's notice.
The genre-bending concept, first announced as a work in progress in April 2023, has progressed to a fully operational prototype, according to an interview published by VinePair on Wednesday.
“We do not need to prove that we’re making the best beer, because that’s different for every single person. What we were trying to prove is that for every single person, we can make a beer that he or she likes, because it’s fully customizable," founder Dirk Standaert remarked.
It's up for debate whether OneTap's beverages could be considered "beer" in the conventional sense. Rather than brewing or fermenting, the machine begins with six cartridges filled with various aromas and flavors, which are then combined with a malt mixture, tap water, carbonation and neutral grain spirit. Sliders allow users to customize qualities such as alcohol percentage, bitterness, fruitiness, sweetness and spices.
At public demonstrations, drinkers have been invited to try OneTap beer in blonde, brown, triple ale and IPA varieties. It can just as easily make non-alcoholic versions of each.
However, the specifics of the molecular technique operating under the hood have largely been left undefined. In conversation with VinePair, Standaert says he was inspired by Miguel Roncoroni and Kevin Verstrepen's 2018 book "Belgian Beer: Tested and Tasted," which broke down the chemical composition of hundreds of lab-tested beer samples. Bar.on recruited Verstrepen himself to help create the machine, though descriptions of which chemical compounds make up the recipe are currently absent from the website.
But can it possibly taste as good as the real thing? Standaert responded with confidence:
“I promise you that if you do a blind tasting, even among beer lovers, you will be surprised. If you put 10 beers in front of them and one or two are molecular, they will not be able to pinpoint them."
[caption id="attachment_76194" align="aligncenter" width="600"] Tubes marked "hop" and "aroma" created for Bar.on OneTap machines.[/caption]
With over 1.8 million euros of seed funding in its back pocket, the company plans to release an upgraded "OneTap Pro" to market in 2025. Whom the machine is aimed at will largely be determined by its size and price point. Most Keurig models clock in at less than $100 and can easily be carried with one hand; in contrast, the OneTap dominates a slim counter in its mock-up photos and will likely cost a pretty penny due to its many intensive components. Time will tell if it can make a splash with legions of loyal beer drinkers.
If you'd like to learn more, find Bar.on's website here.
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Tubes marked "hop" and "aroma" created for Bar.on OneTap machines.[/caption]
With over 1.8 million euros of seed funding in its back pocket, the company plans to release an upgraded "OneTap Pro" to market in 2025. Whom the machine is aimed at will largely be determined by its size and price point. Most Keurig models clock in at less than $100 and can easily be carried with one hand; in contrast, the OneTap dominates a slim counter in its mock-up photos and will likely cost a pretty penny due to its many intensive components. Time will tell if it can make a splash with legions of loyal beer drinkers.
If you'd like to learn more, find Bar.on's website here.
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