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| Song Dae-hyun, left, president of the home appliance & air solutions division at LG Electronics, and Kim Jung-tae, head of the firm's B2C group, pose with the HomeBrew beer-making machine during a press conference at the British Embassy in Seoul, Tuesday. / Courtesy of LG Electronics |
By Baek Byung-yeul
LG Electronics has launched a capsule-based craft beer machine to entice beer lovers who want to enjoy freshly made beer at home, the company said Tuesday.
The HomeBrew beer-making machine drew drinkers' attention when it was introduced at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January, as it is difficult to produce quality beer at home.
LG said the capsule-based machine is fully automated so that consumers don't need to worry about various brewing procedures such as fermentation, carbonation and aging.
"The HomeBrew is targeting beer lovers who want to enjoy their own beer in their private space," Song Dae-hyun, president of the company's home appliance & air solutions division, said in a press conference at the British Embassy in Seoul.
LG joined hands with British malt maker Muntons to roll out five different types of beer ― India pale ale, pale ale, stout, wheat and pilsner. It takes about two to three weeks depending on the beer type and the machine can produce up to five liters. Song said it held the conference to commemorate the partnership with the British malt maker.
The company decided to launch the home brewing machine to meet the growing needs of the growing single-person household demographic.
"We are witnessing that the number of single-person households are increasing and many of them want to spend their time in their private space. The HomeBrew is the result of our targeted focus in research to meet their needs," he said.
The HomeBrew machine costs 3.99 million won ($3,381), which includes a three-year-long maintenance service. A package of beer capsules costs 39,900 won and it is available at LG's online mall and LG's Best Shop offline store.
To improve energy efficiency, LG used its cutting-edge inverter compressor which minimizes the electricity needed by the machine.
LG said it costs about 1,374 won ($1.20) to craft five liters of beer. The company also ensures a 10-year guarantee for the inverter compressor, which decreases the noise of the compressor motor and helps it consume less energy.
Consumers can rent the product through the company's Care Solution home appliance management program. After making a down payment of 1 million won, users are required to pay a monthly fee of 69,900 won during the first three years, which decreases to 34,900 won for the fourth year and 14,900 won for the fifth year.
Song said LG is apparently targeting overseas markets as well, adding its main target consumers are Americans.
"When we developed the machine, we also considered selling it to overseas consumers because beer is widely consumed in many countries. Among many overseas markets, we have studied the U.S. market the most because it has the largest market size. I think our next market will probably be the U.S.," he said.
