I know that I drank four homemade IPAs last night from my home kegerator. I also know how many ounces were poured, who poured them, what time they poured them, how much beer is left in the keg and I received a badge (I think Edward Forty Hands) in the app for being awesome. This is how drinking beer with the Brewskey kegerator monitor works. It’s scary awesome.
“It tracks EVERYTHING. You can’t hide from it. You can only revel in the data.”
– said that guy by the office kegerator.
Kegerator level monitors and gadgets to track how much beer is left in your keg have been around for awhile. If you wanted to install a tracking systems in the past you had to be fairly knowledgeable with open source Arduino programming and install specialized equipment. Systems like KegBot were popular (but required a dedicated tablet and a lot of programming know-how). Those days are over. All you need now is a basic smartphone (with app), some flow sensors and a control box.
Two companies are working hard to make tracking your kegerator pours on any home kegerator a breeze. KegTron and Brewskey both make installation very simple and have some cool features that set them apart from each other. I got a first-look at both the systems to find out for myself.
KEGTRON
First up is the Kegtron wireless monitor. It is a small box with integrated flow sensors and controller board. I like that everything is self contained and if you needed to get inside you could with a few screws removed. Setup only took a few minutes after downloading the app, naming the local Kegtron and choosing the keg size. They have various keg sizes to choose from and you can also enter in a custom size.
I spliced the kegtron into my kegerator beer tube and poured a brew. It was that simple. The app tells you how many drinks you have left in the keg. It doesn’t try to do too much. It is like having a fuel gauge for your kegerator. They have single and double tap models available, but you can pair multiple together if you have a large tap wall.
The Kegtron box is waterproof and can be mounted on the interior wall of the kegerator. Simply plug in the power adapter and it lives inside your kegerator and out of the way. The iOS and Android apps easily accommodate the home beer lover and the tap room. It’s ready to track on a single tap kegerator or a wall of twenty taps.
Available at Kegtron.com
BREWSKEY
The brewskey system is anything but simple and I’m not saying this in a negative way. Brewskey is a cloud based, feature-rich kegerator monitoring system that has the ability to monitor keg levels, track pours and show a leaderboard of the current imbibers and their usage. The Brewskey can add a level of security to home kegerators or a commercial bar tap wall. Permissions can be set to only allow pouring for approved users. This would come in handy to keep kegerator thieves in check or keep your kids out of the kegerator.
You earn badges and reach new kegerator levels of awesome as you try new beer styles or tap a new keg. It also has a leaderboard with user tracking so you and your friends know who is putting the largest dent in the keg.
Brewskey updates automatically over wifi with the latest enhancements and fixes. When you pour a beer the Brewskey lights up green and the pour tracking begins. The number of ounces being poured is viewable on the control box that sits on the counter next to the tap.
Brewskey is in beta testing and should be ready for purchase very soon. You can see the packages they offer over at Brewskey.com or watch their video below for more info on how it works.
