Stella Artois PerfectDraft Review

The weather down my way has been truly awful this weekend, really hideously cold, wet and windy in fact.  With that in mind it was rather lucky that I was sent a rather fantastic new device to try out this weekend.  An innovation that makes spending a weekend at home all the more bearable.  With the help of the brand new Stella Artois PerfectDraft and The Masters on the television my front room was about to become by own private golf lounge.

The US Masters has been taking place all weekend over in Augusta, Georgia, an event that is always a real highlight on the annual golfing circuit.  Although I was missing out on the glorious sunshine at the event I did have a well stocked supply of snacks and of course the PerfectDraft system to keep my fed and watered throughout the weekend instead.  Who needs sunshine anyway when you have food and good beer.   I upgraded my pork scratching and traditional bar snacks for some decadent cheese and biscuits from Paxton & Whitfield.  Unlike most golf clubs there is no dress code round mine  either therefore a comfy tracksuit was the dress of choice.

Well I am guessing that you really wamt to know the scoop with this PerfectDraft machine, don’t you? Well to be honest really the concept is so brilliantly simple, I can’t understand why these are not already a key part of every home.  Basically Phillips have created a mini version of the pumps that you would find down the local boozer.  Due to its size the machine has been designed to sit on your home bar or kitchen workspace and holds a 6 litre mini keg of lager.

I had visions of it being a nightmare to set up and myself (and the kitchen) ending up covered in golden nectar.  Luckily neither were true.  The front doors to the machine open with the touch of a button and the keg is slid into place.  Once you attach the handle and nozel it clicks and you know its ready to go.

The only drawback comes next as it takes a number of hours for the lager to reach the optimum temperature of 3 degrees when you switch it on.  Once it reaches this magic temperature it stays there for the lifespan of the keg (as long as you keep the power on of course) which is 30 days, or however long it takes you and your mates to drink 6 litres.  Which I imagine may be a little less than 30 days but do remember that both Stella Artois & The Everyday Man always encourage responsible drinking!

Pouring your lager does take a little bit of practise however a step by step guide from Stella helped me out.  Unfortunately there is no expert barmaid in the box so you have to do the pouring yourself but I think it adds to the experience.  I think it took me about 3 attempts until I poured my ‘Perfect Draft’ but it was certainly worth the wait.  Feet up, Sky Sports on watching Bubba Watson ride home in the penultimate day of the competition.  With the world cup and other major sporting events lined up for this summer I can envisage the PerfectDraft system becoming the must have gadget for beer lovers and party hosts across the country.

Anyway back to my golf…cheers!

Stella Artois gifted me with a PerfectDraft machine for the purposes of this post.  I was not paid for this post and all of the thoughts contained within are my own honest opinions.  PerfectDraft is not yet available in the UK.