The video for this fill-from-the-bottom beer dispenser has been sudsing up the Interwebs for about a year now. Yet, strangely, it has never reared its frothy head as one of Anthill’s breathtaking (often thirst-inspiring) Beer O’Clock innovations.
Sure, we’ve brought you this beer tossing fridge and Melbourne based Beer Vaults, but not this well-lubricated lubrication machine that can crank out more than 40 pints a minute from a four-tap dispenser.
The BottomsUp system uses specially designed plastic cups with a lift-able cap on the bottom held in place by a magnetic ring. Posts on the dispensers push up the cap, allowing the beer to be pumped in. When the cup is lifted from the dispenser, the ring reseals the bottom.
The cups are, of course, more expensive than their normal contemporaries. BottomsUp’s company GrinOn says the venues will make up the cost with higher sales volume — and less staff necessary to sell it. (GrinOn’s founder, Josh Springer, also has said that advertising can be sold on the magnets to further defray costs.)
In case you’re wondering, the machines are being used in at least two Major League Baseball parks — in Boston and St. Louis — and in one National Hockey League area (Philadelphia). The basketball multiplex at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas was among the first clients — a major coup for a little company based in Washington state.
Alas, Australians will have to wait a while for lightning-quick beer pours at cricket or footy matches; GrinOn doesn’t expect BottomsUp to arrive Down Under until 2012.