Hopsy Review: The Perfect Home Beer Tap?

This post may contain affiliate links which means that, at no cost to you, we earn a commission from the vendor if you click through and order. Click here for full details.

Does pouring high-quality draft beer from your countertop (or office desktop…) sound good to you?

How about a beer delivery service that drops off half-gallon mini-kegs right at your front door whenever you want more?

If that sounds like your thing, I couldn’t recommend the Hopsy Beer Tap system highly enough.

Whether you’re looking for a great groomsman gift for a friend who loves beer or simply want to pour quality beer at your bachelor party, Hopsy makes a solid choice.

See below for my lengthy video review of the product. It covers all aspects of the product, setup, operation, and (most importantly) the taste of the beer it pours.

Or you can scroll below the video to see an abbreviated version in text form.

Already want to know where you can get yours? Click here to save BIG on one of the Hopsy starter kits which include the Sub Home Tap as well as 2, 4, or 6 mini-kegs.

In the interest of full transparency: The folks at Hopsy were nice enough to send me a SUB and two mini-kegs in exchange for me doing an honest review of their product and service. I polished off those mini-kegs in short order, so I paid out of pocket to have 6 more delivered every 6 weeks. And I plan to order one of these for my Dad’s birthday (I hope he doesn’t read our blog). So what you’re getting here is my unbiased opinion.

The Equipment

The easiest way to think about the Hopsy Beer Tap system is that it’s a Keurig coffeemaker, but for beer. Except you don’t even have to add water.

The SUB Home Tap is about 10lbs in weight (not including a mini-keg). It measures a foot and a half long, less than a foot wide, and a bit over a foot tall.

So it’s no exaggeration to say it’ll fit easily onto your countertop or even on an end table. And it requires only a standard outlet to plug into.

Manufactured by the highly-regarded Krups brand, I feel pretty safe saying that this product will last for awhile.

The mini-kegs contain 67oz of beer, enough for you to pour a full pint for yourself and 3 friends. They’re a slightly shorter, fatter version of a standard 2-liter Coke bottle you’d find at any grocery store.

Aside from the drip tray, there are no additional parts to the system — and none that will require cleaning.

Once a mini-keg is empty, you only need to remove it and pop in the next one.

You don’t have to worry about cleaning your lines like you would with a normal kegerator.

The Setup

Less than 10 minutes elapsed between when I opened the box and when I had the Sub set up and ready to go.

If you can operate a coffeemaker, you can figure this thing out.

All you have to do is plug it in, pop in a mini-keg, feed the nozzle through, drop the tap handle assembly into place, then close the lid.

The hard part comes when you have to wait an hour or two for the machine to cool the mini-keg down to the proper temperature.

You’ll know it’s there when the light on the front turns from red to green. You can shorten the cooling time by refrigerating a mini-keg prior to inserting it into the Sub.

The BeerFirst things first — Hopsy offers mini-kegs from some truly great breweries. You can see their full list here.

Their lineup includes big names like Lagunitas, Coronado, Southern Tier, Yuengling, and Gordon Biersch.

Regardless of your preferred style, you can find a pilsner, IPA, stout, pale ale, or red ale that matches your tastes.

And to make things better, you won’t just be getting the same-old, same-old offerings from these breweries. Hopsy gets access to limited release and seasonal beers on a regular basis, and occasionally has breweries make batches that are exclusive to Hopsy mini-kegs.

When you’re ordering a set of mini-kegs, you can go with several different options — their special seasonal offerings, a selection of lagers or IPA or stouts, or you can pick and choose each individual keg.

But How Does It Taste?

The first keg shown in the video review was 12th of Never Pale Ale from Lagunitas.

I hadn’t had that beer in a few months prior to shooting the video. Without a recent comparison, my initial impression was still that it tasted great out of the Sub.

As things turned out, about a week later I found myself on a Southwest flight from Austin to Baltimore that served 12th of Never. So I ordered up a can of it to see how it compared to what I’d gotten from the Sub.

I couldn’t distinguish any difference between the taste or aroma of the beer based on what source it came from.

Also worth mentioning is the fact that a mini-keg will stay pressurized and fresh for about 2 weeks once loaded into the Sub. For mini-kegs that you’re waiting to drink, Hopsy says they’ll stay fresh for about a month as long as you keep them refrigerated.

The Starter Kits

As I mentioned above, you can click here to get a steal of a deal on the Sub and 2, 4, or 6 mini-kegs. I’d highly recommend going with a full complement of 6 kegs, because Hopsy is basically giving the beer away on this initial offer.

The Hopsy Club

After you’ve finished your starter kit’s mini-keg allotment, I’d recommend joining the Hopsy Club. You’ll get 4 or 6 mini-kegs delivered to your door every 4 or 6 weeks — and save quite a bit by doing so.

Prior to each ship date you’ll have the option to swap out any kegs that don’t sound like something you want. You can skip, pause, or cancel shipments at any time with no penalty.

In Conclusion

In case I didn’t make my opinion clear, I strongly recommend the Sub Home Tap and Hopsy mini-kegs as a gift for anyone who loves great craft beer.

After I finished the first two sample mini-kegs I immediately ordered six more. And I plan to continue paying out of pocket for more in the future.

It’s got our highest recommendation when it comes to beer at home. But, we understand that it may be a little pricey if you need to buy gifts for several people.

If you need some other suggestions, you can check out this blog post about best craft beer growlers.