New Combination

Because I click on and view / browse craft beer on the interwebs, the algorithm will keep pushing beer gadgets and the latest to stalk my feed is the Kombi Cool Tap.

It looks like a normal cooler except it is more vertical than horizontal.  The fly in the ointment for most portable kegerators is that hook-up can be daunting for some folks like non-handy people like me.  There is CO2 to consider and tools needed.  The Kombi is positioning itself as the easier way to use kegged beer.

I myself will stick to packaged beer or going to a taproom since I am but a lone drinker in my household

Needed or Not? – Upside Down Glass

If we had not reached and surpassed peak crazy glassware, this certainly puts it over the top…

…fully upside down glassware that makes drinking a real chore because the base of a glass was not built for drinking from in any type of dignified manner.

As I have brought up a few times now, innovation is great, love it. But just being quirky without adding a benefit is not helping at this point.

Not Needed! – Maybe it was pre-craft beer when everything was in a iced shaker pint in the U.S. and specialty beer glassware was only in Europe but not now. We all good now.

P 2 P

I know that every year for the last decade has been pronounced the year of pilsner but maybe if enough people wear this….

…it might come true. Head HERE if the shirt is perfect for you.

So Are the Days of Our Lives

First off, head over to Instagram to watch THIS

… now that you are back, I am honestly intrigued by this glass.  Not that I need any more beer glassware until I break more but I would like to at least attempt to pour into the hourglass and then attempt to drink from it without spilling over my chin.

Footsie

Untappd the ticking app for craft beer fans is known for badges that you can accumulate with each beer you taste.  And now those badges are immortalized in footwear in time for the holidays.  How many of them have you achieved?

1571f

Here in sunny SoCal, there are not a lot of winter traditions that colder climes get to celebrate. But, when it does dip below 60 degrees, you can use this cool tool

..which you heat up and then poke into your beer (carefully) to create a different profile on an imperial stout or barleywine.

Needed or Not – Beer Washed Jeans

I do not know about you but beer on / in my jeans is a bug and not a feature but apparently conservative Republicans think that Each Beer Wash Jeans “outfitted with a unique tag that features a Coors Banquet bottle opener and a patch kit for fans to customize their jeans” is cool.

I will be taking a pass, if I was going to have beer jeans, I would prefer to choose the beer I want scraping my skin myself.

Not Needed – but keep those wacky ideas coming your crazy marketing kids.

A Warm Fire

I am a big proponent of zagging instead of zigging when it comes to brewery merchandise. There is enough shirts, hats and glasses out there.

And for a while, when bottles of glass were in vogue, there was a definite uptick in candles in sawed off bottles. Most were not beer scented so I did not have much interest.

But maybe this candle from Stone Brewing might make a good gift alongside some Old Guardian barleywine as a pairing idea…

You could also check out the apple tinged candles at Benny Boy Brewing and Cider right here in Los Angeles. They have actual dried apples in them and they have them in various cider “flavors”.

Blazing Glass

Blazer Glassware is back and you can get Sharpe, Scoot or Clingan to hold a Portland beer in style.  Or use them for cocktails or cider.  Anything you put in the glass will be better than yet another rebuilding season of NBA basketball.