This guy deserves the Noble Peace Prize: He invented the "Turbo Tap," a beer tap that pours a flagon in half the time. Link. Excerpts:
"I think this will change the way beer is poured," says Tom Geordt, director of training and business development for Micro Matic, a California maker and distributor of kegs, faucets and other beer-related equipment. If Mr. Geordt is right, pouring a draft could become as simple as flicking a light switch. Tilted cups and overflowing beer suds would be things of the past.
As an engineering student in college, Mr. Younkle concluded that gravity, not bartender incompetence, was to blame for long beer lines. Beer, like any liquid, accelerates as it leaves the tap. The force generated upon impact with the bottom of a cup causes the beer to foam. Too much force means too much foam. Too much foam means wasted beer and wasted time. . .
Mr. Younkle first offered his invention to big brewers, hoping one would buy it outright. When they declined, he began offering the product to high-volume vendors such as stadiums and concert halls, places that operate hundreds of taps at a time. He leases each TurboTap unit for $99 a year.
TurboTap has caught the attention of some of the industry's big players, and they're waiting to see what sort of impact it will have. Rosanne Leake, director of draft sales for Anheuser-Busch Inc., says the nation's biggest brewer has had "several discussions" with TurboTap but hasn't yet evaluated the device's performance.
