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Ease of Use - 10/1010/10
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Performance - 8/108/10
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Cost - 9/109/10
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Features - 9/109/10
Summary
Hopsy is a really innovative product for any beer lover. While it may not replace bottles and cans entirely from your lineup, Hopsy has a great line-up of breweries to select from and the tap system is perfect when inviting a few friends over.
Hopsy Coupon
$140 off a new system.
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The wonderful and ever tasteful craft beer industry is reaching unprecedented heights as technology opens new and exciting doors of the brewing world. Automated brewing machines, such as Pico Brew, completely automate the brewing process, making homebrewing less intimidating for newcomers. A more recent entrant to this “brewing tech” market is Hopsy, which aims to deliver fresh on-tap beer directly to your home. We got our hands on one of these bad boys to test out.
How Hopsy Works
Hopsy is essentially an all-in-one home tap system that eliminates any guesswork. Think of a Keurig-esque design but for straight-from-the-brewery beer. There are two main components of the system:
SUB: This is the draft system. It’s a compact appliance that sits on your counter (or anywhere else in your home) and plugs into a standard electrical outlet. The SUB Draft System holds the beer in place, keeps it cold, and of course, has a draft handle to pour.
TORPS: This is the beer. Beer is delivered in 2 liter containers and you have the option of joining the monthly beer club for discounted pricing or purchasing individual beers. The TORPS are placed directly inside of the SUB Draft System and connect to the tap. Before you get worried about these being only 2L – remember that this isn’t like a regular tap system. Swapping an empty TORP out for a new one takes seconds.
Breweries
They have some pretty big names in the brewing world as partners as well, including Sierra Nevada, Lagunitas, Ommegang, and Heineken, among many others. Depending on where you live, the availability selection can change. But one of the most beneficial aspects of Hopsy is being able to obtain fresh (and sometimes limited release) beer from breweries you may not have regular access to.
What About the Cost?
This was a bit of a surprise for me, as I thought this system was going to cost a lot. The SUB Draft System typically retails for $179.99, but they often have a $100 discount for new customers (here is a coupon link). As for the beers, they typically run $14.99 for 2 liters with the Club Discount.
Hopsy Review: Taking the SUB for a Test Drive
Setting up the Hopsy system is ridiculously easy. Plug the SUB Draft System in and press the power button. The button will light up red as it begins cooling and will turn green when it’s ready to add beer. The manual said it can take up to an hour but it only took about 25 minutes for me.
Once the light turned green, I pulled the cap off of my TORP (Gun Hill IPA for the first test. I also refrigerated the TORP beforehand.) which has a little hose connector sticking out of it. I opened the hatch on the SUB, loaded the TORP (pretty interesting names they picked, huh?), connected the tap lines, and closed the hatch. And now we are ready!
The Pour
Once you begin pulling the tap, you might be caught off-guard by the noise that it makes after 2-3 seconds. This is the pump activating to maintain pressure in the tap – so it’s completely normal. I tilted my glass 45 degrees and poured, only to be surprised by the amount of foam (nearly 50%). I figured this was due to the warm tap lines hitting the cold beer, because after the second pour, while still a little more than a typical bottle pour, the foam had decreased quite a lot. However, my second TORP poured flawlessly from the beginning, so I think the first beer I tried was an exception.
Final Thoughts on Hopsy
Overall I am very pleased with the company and product. It won’t fully replace my urge to grab a bottle or can from the fridge after a long day, but it’s a really innovative and fun product when you have a couple of friends coming over to watch the game. But what’s possibly more important, and a reason why I continue to use Hopsy even when I’m drinking alone (#SadFaceEmoji), is the fact that you can find new limited release beers from breweries I can’t seem to find in local stores AND have it delivered to your door. How can you beat that?
13 Comments
Alex
Here is the thing. I received a link to this product and at the top of the page are the buttons to order the product. Well, at the very bottom of this page is the fine print that says you will be in the beer club for at least 3 shipments. I feel its very deceptive and disappointing to hide this information and never once draw the customers attention to it during the order process. I also feel that is a deliberate choice by hopsy. When I complained to customer service about this after my surprise order showed up they said I had agreed to this when I placed the order and I could pay $99 to cancel if I wished. The attitude of customer service was “we have you in this contract you were unaware of and we don’t care if you stop buying our beer after the 3rd shipment, we already have your $250.” Very disappointing business practice and I will tell everyone I can about this.
Jonathan Fields
Same experience, and difficult to cancel. Horrible company
Jimmy
Thank you, If not for a problem ordering this thing , I would have been sucked into the same situation as you.
It’s really a shame too because if not for all the bullshit , this product standing alone would be winner. Sell the machine at a reasonable price and allow the customer to use your brew or his favorite from the supermarket……
Todd Reinerio
Yeah I had high expectations for this. I’ve truly a beer lover I have been nothing but disappointed with the service. While most of the beers are good there’s a lot of bait and switch. I want it nothing but darks and low and behold I get light lagers in my club. even when I switch to all dark beers magically mysteriously somehow a longer shows up or an ESB or an IPA. They say it’s five cents a glass well I’m pretty damn good at math and you get 5 1/3 pints and roughly comes out to $4 to 5 a glass if you include shipping on the equation. well this is an awesome idea now they started adding things like $0.10 for returnable bottles that well how the hell are you supposed to return them. It’s a typical hipster millennial run corporation great idea 0 planning longevity logistics or follow through. They use lso to ship their beer which is the god-awful shipping company in the whole of the world. you never know when or if your beer is going to show up and often one it does it said not that great of a shape. My best advice would be hold off for a year and see if they make it see if they work out the bugs and pull their heads out of their asses
Andrew J Rongo
Thanks, very helpful!
Tricia
Hopsy is horrible. You sign up for particular beers that they say will be shipped, then they send crap beer you can get Walmart.
Inventory problems are huge and there is no one to talk to. They have zero interest in customer service.
Don’t waste your money.
Marc Fittante
I love beer so I was initially excited about this….. But let’s get into the details. A) they sign you up to a membership without really being up front about it.
B) you need to be home to get the delivery because it’s alcohol and it’s not like they deliver when your around. You need to literally waste a day waiting for them.
C) it’s expensive. You can just get a six pack cheaper at the market.
D) the system is garbage, mine wouldn’t shut off after the first month. Like you pour a beer and put the tap back and beer keeps pouring. They offer no replacement or guarantee and I had it less than 60 days.
E) to cancel the service it’s extremely hard. You need to send multiple emails to their customer service dept and wait until they get back to you. Which is B.S. because your card can get magically charged for the next/last month.
Basically it’s a great idea with poor excecution. I’d be super surprised if they are around in 2 years.
Alex
I purchased this product end of the 2018 and in the past 3 months I have regretted every moment since my first delivery. The day after I ordered the price dropped $50 and since has dropped even lower. You have to keep track of your “order date” on the website. There is no notification by text or email until they place the order. If you do not check the website during your order week you are stuck with what they send. If you return it they don’t refund your credit card they give you a “credit”. You would think that credit would apply to next order, but it didn’t. Forget about making a complaint; You’ll be lucky to get a response the same day. I really wanted to support local breweries but this whole project has been one of the most horrible experiences. Maybe they’ll get their act together, but while they work out their problems you are better off going to the actual breweries and giving them your money directly. This product is not worth the headache.
Todd
I agree, if you buy this device, you’ll be stuck with dealing with Hopsy… and they are a TERRIBLE company.
So, let me be clear — I used to love Hopsy. I have five (yes, 5!) Subs and I have referred (literally) dozens of new people.
But… my opinion has changed. BE WARNED — AVOID THIS COMPANY!!!
Hopsy is interested in getting new customers that they’ll sign into a “beer club”, but they are NOT interested in treating existing customers well. They’re like one of those record-clubs-from-hell that we signed up for as teenagers, and then wished that we had just stuck with listening to our parents’ 8-tracks. In a word: MISERABLE!
Stay FAR away from Hopsy.com because:
1. ~90% of the orders are wrong, come late, are damaged, etc. At first I though the problems were because of something I did (yes, I’m blaming the victim!), but now I realize its a genuine problem that the company seems entirely uninterested in fixing.
2. Getting help/support used to be easy, but now it’s next to impossible. The online chat doesn’t work, they disconnected the phone number so you can’t call them (and they refuse to call out), and the agents that answer email are terribly trained and misinformed (they are trying to help, but they don’t know what they’re doing, and agent turnover is rapid so by the time they know what they’re doing they leave — TBH, I feel badly for them). I’d accuse the agents of lying, but it’s more likely that that they’re just given bad/no training and information.
2b. More than a week ago I was promised a call from a “supervisor”, and I’m still waiting for that!!
3. Claiming a credit is difficult. I tried to claim one recently and was told something like, “Sorry, you can’t claim that… no, we can’t verify that you are entitled to it or not (because we used a vendor to handle those, we don’t work with them anymore, and we don’t have their records… no, it doesn’t matter that you have proof, we don’t have proof (and we never will)… so, you’re out of luck, sorry”.
4. No one else in the US sells beer that will fit the Subs (the bottles are called ‘Torps’, and they seem to be proprietary). So, you’ll buy a Sub (or get a “free” one by joining a beer “Club” that they’ll continually renew without your permission! …be sure to read the fine print, but don’t expect that they’ll actually honor the terms!) and then be stuck with an expensive and beer-less paper weight!
5. They’ll change the terms/pricing without warning — be sure to always VERY carefully check your order before you buy! They are always finding new ways to increase the total cost.
6. At first you’ll like the Sub/Hopsy, and you’ll share your code with family and friends, and they’ll sign up. And, then everything will start going bad for you (and for your friends and family), and then you’ll feel like a complete and total jerk.
7. The beer selection keeps declining in quality and variety. I can only assume that they treat their vendors as poorly as they treat their customers, and thus they have fewer decent breweries as partners. Before long I’m afraid the choices will be either “Bud Lite” or “Coors Lite”!
8. Note the dating of the reviews here on Yelp. For a while they were positive, but nearly all of the recent ones are TERRIBLE (aside from the ones that seem to say the same things in the same ways… seems like someone is trying to scam the system!). I have never written a Yelp review before (I didn’t even have an account), but I am so angry with this company and the way they are treating me, that I feel compelled to warn other people.
BOTTOM LINE:
Buy your beer in a supermarket… ultimately, it will cost less, you’ll have better selection, you won’t have the endless aggravation, and you won’t be tempted to lure in your family/friends and then feel really terrible about introducing them to this complete cluster-F of a company.
Larry Mowrey
Guess I’m among the lucky few. I had a couple of issues during my time using Hopsy (a non-functioning dispenser and a faulty torp) and both were resolved quickly and without issue. However, I finally gave up waiting for the quality and variety to improve. Over the course of a year or so, month after month the beers available to me in SoCal were mediocre at best and very few in terms of variety. Definitely not worth the price or the nuisance of making myself available to sign for delivery.
I finally cancelled after taking a look at the current month’s choices.
Klint Ketcher
So first of all I am a lover of craft beer and my wife bought this for me, for Christmas. All was ok except for a couple things
1) delivery for your product takes forever!!!! They were advertising get your beer for superbowl 2 weeks before the game, knowin it takes at least 6 weeks for delivery. They absolutely suck with delivery time.
2) on the same note above, I ordered 2 months out because I was having a craft beer celebration, ready to show off my system with some nice craft beer. Guess what? It took over 4 months to get my order!!!
3) after no shit after 15 emails back and forth about the issue, I get an email from the CEO stating they are no longer delivering to my area!!! I’m in Dallas, it’s not like this is a small market.
So now this is sitting in my garage on a top shelf! Why? You cant buy these torpedoes of beer anywhere else. They get you to invest in the system and then take away your ability to get product. They just said “we are so sorry” I’m like wtf am I going to do with this system? They were like “we are so sorry, maybe we will continue delivery at a later time”!
This company is a joke and I would stay waaaaay away from these RIP off artists!! They will get you to buy the system and just say we dont deliver there anymore.
Look somewhere else, anything else other than these con artists.
Sam Hurley
As per the beer deliverer in Calgary, the most important things to care about th while beer delivery is that person always prefer beer which is chilled and pretty much on the verge of being freeze. So the it obvious to carry the container which can be either filled with ice and can be small cooling box as well.
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James P
I purchased my Sub from Hopsy in December of 2018. The Sub works fine. I joined their club to get 4 torps monthly and was told I would be able to choose the beers from their menu before shipment. They screwed up my account immediately and instead of delivering to my home in NJ, which they said they’d be unable to continue doing, I would receive the beer by courier at my office in NY. This part of the arrangement worked okay. At first I was receiving truly awesome beers from some famous and other obscure breweries. I was very happy. Then, around August or September, they stopped shipping due to some kind of problem that they didn’t bother to clearly explain, but said they’d be “back”. They started shipping again in December. I received 4 torps and the beer was flat and stale, as if it had been sitting in a hot storeroom for a year. No choice was given as usual, which was not the worst part as I love beer, all kinds, and I like to try different ones. The next shipment came in December and it was worse than before. I had to remove the top from the sub, cut it open, and pour it down the drain. No famous breweries were represented (like Sierra Nevada or Yeungling) in the shipment, just undrinkable beer from unidentified places. When I next looked at the website to choose my next shipment, they had only styles of beer listed, not the brewer or the origin. It’s like buying subscription drugs on the street. I stopped them from taking any further payments on my cc and then cancelled my subscription from Hopsy. They sent me a formulaic letter with no admission of fault and no recourse or resolution for my situation. As a previous commentator suggested, buy your beer in your local seller, he or she will be glad to serve you.