Category: Beer Gear

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Think and Drink

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One of the facets of modern beer drinking life is the lit screens that everyone is holding in one hand while drinking with the other. I bemoan TV’s in bars because it pulls focus but it doesn’t matter if the screen is tiny and brought in from the outside or is huge and part of the bar environment.

One aspect of craft beer taprooms though are games. Jenga being a popular one but I have seen card games being played including the current fave, Cards Against Humanity.

Now another card game by the name of Thinking & Drinking “will feature profiles of 300 craft breweries” on each card. Plus a question designed to get the table talking to each other and not to someone at another location via text.

My pull quote from their press release, “Instead, enjoy the moment you’re in and enjoy the people you’re with,” and any game that can do that is a step in the right direction.

Thinking & Drinking launched on Kickstarter this month.

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Put your Glass Down

Coasters.  Beer geeks have a ton of them.  Usually the cardboard kind.  They eventually fall apart and get tossed.  But what if you could remember a favorite beer or brewery for a much longer time?

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As if Firkfest wasn’t already great with the beer and the chili but then they had Nick Gingold with copies of California Brewmasters on hand but you could also get some high quality, SoCal made coasters.  I even spied a Brew 102 coaster in the “classic” section.  Check out Stella Divina for your next beer gift.

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Booze Calculator

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A bit of whimsy mostly with a hint of education on the drinking habits around the world. Follow this LINK, then enter your drinking activity of the last week of beer, wine and spirits and you get a country equivalent. And if nothing else, you might become a little less ethnocentric.

Kinda spooky that I got Namibia since my family hosted a student from there for a brief time. One of those crazy convergences.

Beats a Buzzfeed quiz any day of the week though.

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Beer Cap Maps

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I have a plastic tub with hundreds of bottle caps and corks in it. I also have a shadow box with some of my favorites inside.

But if you want to show pride in your home state or your favorite brewing state, then might I suggest Beer Cap Maps. Lovely wood in the shape of a state or the whole US that you can plug your bottlecaps into.

I see them as perfect for your part of the home that is dedicated to beer décor. Much prettier and less gaudy then a neon sign.

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Sippy Cup

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I had to laugh at the beer bottle shaped sippy cup that I read about in the L.A. Times because I knew it would cause a minor kerfuffle amongst the keep your baby in a bubble crowd. If your child is “harmed” by faux beer images, well then I don’t know what to tell you.

It really is no different from any other adult passions we foist on kids. If I remotely wanted kids I would dress my imaginary one in Blazer and Linfield attire to the point of comedy. Will the kid end up being a Blazermaniac like his old man? Who knows? My dad was a Celtics fan and you don’t see parquet floor in my apartment.

Save the outrage for bigger things.

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Topography and glassware

Combining data from the United States Geological Survey and 3D printing.  You can add Mt. Hood to the bottom of your beer glass.

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Now what landmark would be perfect for the City of Angels.  Walt Disney Concert Hall? Randy’s Donuts?

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Fermented Reality

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You may have seen the special IPA specific design glass, and like me, thought, that would be cool but I have a car trunk full of branded shaker glasses and tulips and taster glasses from festivals.  So I haven’t bought one yet.

But the people at Fermented Reality who will also sell you a beer caddy, beer t-shirt or a print for your wall have gone and created a plastic, shatterproof version.  The downside is that it is only wholesale now and won’t be ready for a few months but you can mark it down for future thought.

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Cardbeerd

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Do you like wood-aged beers?  What about wood-fiber beers?  Looking to sustainability, Carlsberg premiered the Green Fiber Bottle which they have been working on with the company ecoXpac who have bullet pointed the bottle attributes on their website:

  • Optional design of bottle with either screw cap or single-use seal. And fits in with any existing filling plants.
  • Made from paper pulp, which also is renewable resources.
  • New patented production technology guarantees high level of energy saving – up until 80% compared with conventional moulded pulp production.
  • After use the bottle can enter into recycling systems on equal terms with cardboard and paper, or decompose directly in nature.
  • The production unit is small and compact, thus it can be transported and put up wherever in the world the bottles are to be filled.

Admirable, yes.  But this country struggled to use cans because of early versions that affected the beer (oh, and association with big beer that were considered negative).  And the elephant in the room is how will this protect the beer from light?  Gotta be better than green or clear glass, right?

So I don’t see how this bottle will be more than a novelty.  Though it would be really cool to see an L.A. Beer Week beer packaged this way.  Would make quite the collectors item. Tip of the Hat to the Brookston Beer Bulletin for posting about this earlier.

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Beer Map App

The new wave of beer apps are making the effort to better match beer lovers with similar beers in the way that Netflix suggests you watch Movie B after you watched Movie A.  The latest to come to my attention via beer buddy Rich is the Beer Mapper app (only for iPad)

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Similar in vein to the Next Glass app but harnessing the reviews of Rate Beer, Beer Mapper creates a visual look to beer choices.

Here is the 411: “Each of the 25,000 beers is represented as a unique pin on the map.  A beer’s coordinates are determined based on how it tastes in relation to every other beer on the map.  The closer the beer pins, the more similar the beers.  Tap and hold on any one of the dots on the map to pull up a beer pin.  Tap on the beer’s flag to find out more info on the beer, find similar beers, or add it to a custom beer list. ”

Currently on sale at .99 cents but will sell for more later. This app looks more complete out of the box than Next Glass.  I will test it out and see if it works.

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A Puzzling Development

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In SoCal, most stores either encourage or enforce reusable bag use. And though I recycle my six-pack holders religiously, I do wish that stores had re-usable options.

There are other options out there but because the PuzzlePax can be emblazoned with a logo and store name, and are not nailed together. It can be folded up like origami. So it might have a better chance of being used by breweries or bottle shops. But what would a regular beer customer really use them for?  I love the re-use idea but is it feasible?  The beer in stores is already in cardboard holders or held together plastic if they are cans.  If I buy singles, I can carry them home in it.  But a re-usable bag already does that trick (with more clinking and clacking, granted). Until the beer in stores come in these wooden containers and people or the breweries can get them back, I fear it is simply a nice presentation for carrying beer and that is all.