Category: Beer Gear

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Virtual Mirror Pond

Break out your VR gear and crack open wither Black Butte or Mirror Pond Pale from Oregon’s Deschutes Brewery.
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Then head to YouTube for a virtual look at the scenery that gave rise to the iconic beers.

Per the brewery press release, “Each film is about three minutes long, and viewers can immerse themselves completely. For example, while experiencing the Black Butte Porter film viewers can have a Black Butte Porter in hand, and toast at the summit with the folks who actually make the beer.”

Coming later this month a hop harvest themed video.

Then peer (and beer) into the future.

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Make Beer Not Bombs

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Want to open beers instead of inciting warfare? The Manual has a handy bottle opener for you.

And you can crack open beers during the remaining debates to keep up with whatever drinking game you have devised around our military policy. If they even talk about it.

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MiniBrew & Fizzics

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A double dose of beer gear news.

It looks like British competition is in the works for the automated homebrew appliance market. But as with past entrants such as PicoBrew. The MiniBrew system is as costly too. Hitting the 2K mark. With MiniBrew it looks as if you are tied to their ingredient packs though. That would be a negative for home brewers who like to experiment but that might not be the market this product is for. The ease of use is tempting but at that price point, you would have to make a lot of beer for an extended period of time before you broke even vs. brewery made beer. And you have the uncertainty of the beer being good.

If you are a fan of Shark Tank, like my wife is, then you saw the Fizzic’s guys Phil Petracca and David McDonald on the ABC reality show.

Their current product is a tabletop appliance that can fit beer containers from cans to growlers inside to give you the from the tap experience. They have also added a special feature that “sonics” the beer and creates more foam from tighter bubbles. The Sharks loved the creamier textured beer that resulted from that “foaming” but I am skeptical. The price is around $150.00 which seems much for a foaming action.

Some beer styles just shouldn’t be foamed that way is my first issue. Secondly, oxygen is a big beer killer and with an opening that can fit all sorts of beer containers, there will be plenty of oxygen inside eating away at the beer. So one will still have to finish that growler quickly once opened.

There will be a smaller, companion product, the Waytap coming which will be cheaper than the current model but I am a little concerned because they seem to be using Kickstarter and IndieGoGo and Shark Tank more for marketing and getting the word out while also getting money. Even though they have sales and profits plus Venture Capital too.

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Swipe Right

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What if you merged the worlds of whale hunters with Tindr? Well, you end up with Brewswap.

It is a craft beer trading app “ that will feature a prominent profile reputation system based on feedback scores as well as the ability to swipe on “for trade” photos from across the country or near your current location.”

Post your FT (For Trade) bottles and cans on the app and then head to your feed to swipe on other FT beers. If the magic happens and both users swipe right, the next phase is to message each other.

What I like: IP Mode
“In-Person mode which is in development, gives users the ability to discover and swipe on other Brewswappers within a nearby radius. This is ideal for those that like to meet up in person as well as people who are attending releases and festivals and want to see fellow Brewswappers in close proximity to them in real time.”

What I don’t like: Claims of troll elimination
“By giving users the ability to swipe and match with each other, Brewswap eliminates trolling and influencing of any kind, allowing for people to connect and iron out details in private without any added pressure.”

Maybe, by simplifying the trading process, users who don’t normally trade might be encouraged to give it a whirl and if that happens, the possibility of the trolls and Whale Bros. might be outnumbered or will leave for the more darker parts of the web.

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Just Add Hops! Why?

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Still scratching my head over why there always seems to be a new hop addition product being sold. The latest is Hop-Shine which promises that their “hop essences make each pint of beer taste fresher, more flavorful and more aromatic, increasing beverage satisfaction.”

This might be a good product for home brewers and mixologists to use. Maybe for educational purposes.

FRUITY
“Wonderful aroma and flavors of a fresh hop crushed in your hand. Specially extracted to show off the natural delicate balance of aromas and bite of fresh picked wet hops with fruity and floral character.”

MEGABLEND
“Wonderful aroma and flavors of a fresh hop crushed in your hand. Specially extracted to show off the natural delicate balance of aromas and bite of fresh picked wet hops with blended fruity-floral / piney-spicy character.”

PINEY/SPICY
“Wonderful aroma and flavors of a fresh hop crushed in your hand. Specially extracted to show off the natural delicate balance of aromas and bite of fresh picked wet hops with blended piney spicy character.”

AROMATIC BITTER
“An authentic whole hop bitter just like you get in the boil, with very little flavor and a tad of aroma. Great for bumping up the tickle in the back of your tongue and the aromatic nose on your beverage.”

JUST BITTER
“An authentic whole hop bitter just like you get in the boil, no aroma to speak of. This baby only bitters. But wow, it does it with extra special finesse.”

I read about Hop Shine HERE.

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Maybe Save Them

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There is some found art that is good and others that are just fine. I find the flowers that RVA Capworks makes to be really well done.

Joshua Stolberg makes more than flowers and you should check out his portfolio. It must take some serious dexterity to pull the bottlecaps into just the right position. I like the business card holders and star magnets as well. I think the larger signs get a little much but the little things have pop to them.

You can learn more about RVA Capworks in this Richmond newspaper article.

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Vessi

I don’t quite like the name (though Leo Messi should endorse it) the Vessi is the multi-thousand dollar appliance that I would buy simply because it simplifies the what I think is the harder part of home brewing while allowing the creative wort making/recipe tweaking open.

Peep the video here….

…then check out their Indiegogo page HERE.

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Beer-moji’s

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For those who bemoaned the paucity of beer related emoji’s and who are fans of Belgian beer. You can now Palm and Orval your e-mails with abandon now.

Now we just need to get some L.A. brewery emoji’s out there.

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In plastic

I have written about the (now extensive) 33 Beer journals in the past. Now they have come out with a Pro Edition made of plastic. Or as they call it, synthetic paper. That change means that the ink will not run.
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That is cool but the second addition has other tricks up it front cover. There is a foldout swatch book that you can use to evaluate the color of the beer as well as a reference table for common beer styles. A handy tool to help you judge how closely the beer hews to style.

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Different Type of Coffee Beer

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Not that I am advocating breaking the law. But if one wanted to sneak a can of beer where those things are not allowed then Lolo Lids are a clever way to evade the long arm of the law or security.

The lids snap on top of almost any regular-sized canned beverage. Whichever beverage you want and then attach to a coffee cup from your favorite java place. Two cups might work best to hold the full can.

Just make sure to act natural when carrying it. It’s a trick even some actors haven’t pulled off.