Technology

Coming soon to a pub near you?

Byter Vince sent me an email of a video of a new beer pouring system, one in which plastic cups fill from the bottom up. It is quite amazing to watch and probably represents the biggest advance in brewing since young Tasmanian Albert Einstein discovered the secret of putting bubbles into beer by splitting the beer atom using emk.

You can see the video at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZ4g6PUlxgw

It was developed by Budweiser and is called Bottoms Up. The machine works by utilising a magnetic chip that looks like a poker chip at the bottom of the cup, covering a hole. When the cup is placed on the machine, the chip is pushed up and the cup is gilled from the bottom. When the cup is lifted from the machine, the chip again attaches to the cup base, sealing the hole. It is is argued that the increased cost of the cups will be offset by advertising on the chips.

The advantage of the machine is that it pours beers nine times faster than regular beer pouring. It also results in less spillage and in the pouring of uniform beers.

To the dismay of drinkers but probably to the satisfaction of the police, the system uses plastic cups.

See an explanation at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90UsUZ0kSYg&NR=1

A demonstration of how fast the system pours beers is at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQsXW5kLtTk

Whilst talking about beer, some beer quotes:

"No soldier can fight unless he is properly fed on beef and beer." 

- John Churchill, First Duke of Marlborough

"Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy."

-  Benjamin Franklin

"I am a firm believer in the people. If given the truth, they can be depended upon to meet any national crisis. The great point is to bring them the real facts, and beer."

-  Abraham Lincoln

"We old folks have to find our cushions and pillows in our tankards. Strong beer is the milk of the old."

-  Martin Luther

"He was a wise man who invented beer."

-  Plato

"Beer makes you feel the way you ought to feel without beer."

-Henry Lawson

“Ah, beer. The cause of and the solution to all of life's problems.”

-  Homer Simpson

"Without question, the greatest invention in the history of mankind is beer. Oh, I grant you that the wheel was also a fine invention, but the wheel does not go nearly as well with pizza."

-  Dave Barry

Actually, Dave Barry’s tongue in cheek comment above may be more accurate than it appears. Some archaeologists now argue that the rise of modern civilisation is linked to the invention of beer. Their argument is that the advent of agriculture in the Neolithic Period of the Stone Age about 11,500 years ago did not happen because of a desire to grow grains and cereals such as barley and rice to supplement their diet. At that time such items formed only a small part of the food consumed. Instead, the hard work and attendant difficulties and processes of planting, growing, gathering, winnowing, husking and grinding were motivated by cereal grains being turned into beer. According to archaeologist Brian Hayden at Simon Fraser University in Canada, "Beer is sacred stuff in most traditional societies.”

Once nomadic groups began to settle down and form communities, they interacted with other communities. Trade in cereal grains for beer production for feasts and festivals promoted farming of such grains. TYhis in turn led to the growth of more intricate societies and more intensive agriculture.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-501465_162-20022058-501465.html?tag=channelMore;pop