Here’s an odd new innovation (sent in by my friend Mike C.) from GrinOn Industries of Montesano, Washington. They’ve created the Bottoms Up Draft Beer Dispensing System. As they claim, “GrinOn’s proprietary Bottoms Up Dispensing System is the fastest dispensing system in the world and fills at a rate of up to nine times that of traditional beer taps.” Take a look at in action below.
GrinOn lists a litany of benefits to their system, though the most obvious is that it “improves speed-of-service increases customer satisfaction and sales.” I don’t know about the “customer satisfaction” but an increase in sales makes sense in the right setting, such as an environment where long lines make speed a real issue, and one where plastics cups are the only option. It seems ideal for a sports stadium or a fair. The homepage features a video showing two people filling 44 cups of beer in one minute, without even breaking a sweat. There are also a number of additional videos on a separate page.
Below is what the dispenser base looks like.
They also claim that their system “reduces the stress and cost of ‘foamy beer problems.'” Filling the beer from the bottom does seem like it would produce head in a very different way, though in the video it certainly seems adequate for the type of beer being poured. It also must use a proprietary cup, though the website talks about there being a FDA approved MAG™ — a round magnet — at the bottom of the cup which seals the cup. It apparently can also be used after you drink the beer as a refrigerator magnet, and they even can sell you a customized magnet that can be a souvenir after the fact or otherwise used promotionally.
I can’t see it being used by small breweries or brewpubs, or even most beer bars, but where volume of just a couple of different beers — the big macros and high volume micros seem likeliest — is the key to the business, then it seems like it could be viable. What do you think?
John Heylin says
As a rabid Greenie, I can’t help but think of all the added waste in the garbage by increasing plastic cup use and adding Iron to the mix. Seems odd when they came out with a fast-pouring tap five years ago that only requires a metal fixture and no change to the beer cup. Check out TurboTap: http://turbotap.com/
Awesome to see on video, but my little green heart bleeds.
easong says
I know I would appreciate getting my 16 ounce plastic cup of draught Bud Light in 7.2 seconds instead of 16.8 seconds as it is now. If you take that extra 9.6 seconds and multiply it by 5 beers, you have saved enough time to drain the snake once or twice.
Adam says
Yeah, for large crowds that don’t really care what they’re drinking, it’s probably a great move. But I’d like to see them fill a Westmalle glass with this…
beerman49 says
Agree 100% w/the rabid greenie, but I’d like to see how that system acts when the keg runs dry (assuming it doesn’t have a black box built in to monitor the liquid flowing & shut it off when 90+% gas is in the lines).
Picture a bartender/customer getting a head-smack from the cup gone wild 🙂