Turn your kitchen into a pub with PerfectDraft’s new app-controlled beer machine
If you want pub-style pints at home there’s no doubt the PerfectDraft Pro delivers. You simply cannot replicate what this does with cans, bottles or even one of those mini-kegs with the built-in spouts – and they won’t keep cool on their own either. The app is useful rather than essential, and lager-only drinkers will see less benefit from the variable temperature settings, but for those who take their beer seriously the PerfectDraft Pro is an excellent drinking companion.
Pros
- Easy to use
- Pours well
- Very quiet
- Recyclable kegs
Cons
- Big and heavy
- App is of limited use
- Expensive
- Not all beers available
Living in a pub might seem like a great idea but there are only so many times you can have crisps for dinner before it starts to impact your life expectancy.
Instead, bring a bit of pub life to your home with the PerfectDraft Pro – a beer dispenser that does for bevs what Nespresso capsules did for coffee (although without the nasty environmental stuff).
Costing £335, it slots in above PerfectDraft’s smaller, older machine, which costs £110 less but lacks some of the Pro’s features, such as app control and adjustable temperatures.
So does it bring a taste of the pub to your living room? And is it worth forking out the extra for the Pro model? We had the tough job of finding out.
PerfectDraft Pro: Design and price

No matter how much you want to pour pub-ready pints at home, there’s one thing you’ll definitely need if you buy a PerfectDraft Pro: plenty of room.
Measuring 44.5 x 29.4 x 40.1cm, the machine is about the same size as a large microwave turned on its side, so you’ll need a fairly sizable space for it to live in. Don’t forget to leave some room around it for the air to flow, too.
The PerfectDraft Pro weighs around 11.5kg without a full keg loaded inside, so it’s not something you’re going to want to move around very often.
It really needs a permanent (or at least semi-permanent) spot, so you’ll want either a big kitchen with plenty of counter space or a utility room of some sort to keep it in.
The machine is made of black and grey plastic, which makes it look a bit like a shredder, but in general it seems well made – the tap in particular feels pleasingly solid, especially considering it’s removable, with a nice authoritative action.
The retractable drip tray is a bit flimsier, but at least you can tuck it away when it’s not needed, and it’s certainly higher quality than the four coloured ‘medallions’ that you can use to customise the look of the tap – the magnet fell off one of ours less than 36 hours after being attached.

Once you’ve shelled out the £335 for the machine itself you’ll need to order some beer kegs for it. These range in price from £28.90 for six litres (about 10.5 pints) of Bud Light (although if you’re drinking that you might as well pour it out of an old shoe) to £42.90 for the same quantity of various strong Belgian beers, so it’s a definite saving on pub prices.
PerfectDraft also offers various money-saving bundles when you buy the machine, which include a keg and two glasses.
With over 50 beers available there’s a decent enough range, including Stella, BrewDog, Leffe and even a cider, but if your favourite’s not there there’s not a lot you can do about it.
The kegs are only available from Beer Hawk, so you can’t shop around for a wider range or better price, although you can return your empties to be recycled for free and get £5 credit for each one.
You don’t get that down The Red Lion.
PerfectDraft Pro: App and features

You don’t have to download the PerfectDraft app before you can pour yourself a drink (there are also controls on the front of the machine) but it will make things simpler.
When you load the keg, a fairly simple procedure that takes less than a minute (although there was a plastic cap on top of ours that the instructions didn’t say you had to remove), you can tell the app which beer you’ve chosen and it’ll automatically set the machine to the recommended temperature.

The previous model only had one setting (a chilly 3º) so being able to choose different levels for different types of beer is definitely an improvement, although most people are likely to stick with what the app suggests.

By default you can set it between 3º and 7º, but enable the extended range and that increases to between 0º and 12º. In other words, the PerfectDraft Pro has you covered no matter how cold you like your beer.
The app itself is pretty basic, but it’s clear and easy to use, if a little slow to refresh. From the home screen you can see what beer you’ve got installed, how cold it is, how many days you’ve got left until it’s past its best, and how much is left in the keg.
The latter is the most useful, and more accurate than the indicator on the front of the machine, which only gives an approximation, plus you can choose to display the amount in litres, pints, fluid ounces, or 33cl glasses.
We managed to make our keg of Tiny Rebel’s Pineapple Express last nearly three weeks, but it probably helped that it was 6.2% – not exactly a session beer.
The machine connects to your Wi-Fi network, so you can check in on the status of your beer remotely. It’s quite fun to show to people while you’re in the pub waiting for your six litres of Löwenbräu to cool down, but it has limited practical use outside of that.
If you could buy kegs in your local supermarket it might be useful to check whether it’s time to pick up a new one while you’re doing your weekly shop, but while you’re limited to ordering online it’s hard to think of a reason why you’d need remote access to the machine.
PerfectDraft Pro: Performance

Or should that be pour-formance?
We installed our keg just before midnight and it was chilled to the recommended 5º by 10am the next morning – just in time for a late breakfast.
That’s two hours faster than the previous model, and storing it in the fridge beforehand will speed things up even more, but it’s still long enough that you’ll need to plan in advance if you want it to be ready in time for Monday Night Football.
PerfectDraft says the Pro has ‘Smart Pour’ technology, and while it doesn’t elaborate on what that involves, it’s hard to argue with the results.
As long as you follow the instructions – hold the glass at a 45º angle, keep the spout as close to it as possible, gradually straighten it as it fills up, and fully open and close the tap in fluid movements – you’ll soon be holding a pint that any publican would be proud of. Our first one was a little frothy, but pints two to ten came out just right.
It’s also worth pointing out how quiet the PerfectDraft Pro is. There’s a compressor inside that occasionally lets out a short blast of noise, usually just after you’ve poured yourself a drink, but very often the machine is totally silent.
Even when the fans do spin up it’s a sound that easily blends in with the other appliance noises you get in the average kitchen. A lot of the time you wouldn’t even know it was plugged in.
You can buy the PerfectDraft Pro direct from Beer Hawk now. It’s £335 and you get a couple of beer glasses included.