The Machine
This might be the neatest beer device since the keg: bottom-up dispensers. They transform the keg from a foamy, slow device into a beer-gushing machine: 44 pints a minute. So how do they get those holes in the bottom of the cup to reseal? Magnets: "The plastic glasses have a floppy fridge-magnet inside, a circle which sticks itself to a corresponding donut-shape strip around the filling-hole."
If you're curious at the economics behind these machines, go here. Excerpt:
Probably the most important improvement has been the "quick-fill" systems that not only get colder brew into beer glasses but also cut down on waste, therefore reducing costs and improving profit margins. These improved beer taps fill the beer glasses from the bottom to the top, therefore getting more beer and less foam into the glass. These "quick-fill" systems can get up to and beyond a 98% yield out of a keg, where the industry standard is somewhere between 75-80%. This is especially relevant when it comes to a novice bartender. A beginning bartender can produce as much as 25-30% waste on a keg of beer in a busy night. Their lack of experience in pouring draft beer literally makes them pour all of the owner's profit down the drain. There have also been small modifications to beer tap handles that have increased the success rate of the draft beer pour.
This system is perfect for stadium events. I don't even drink beer at ball games anymore (price is outrageous, and I have kids to tend to), but I'm always bumming when I get behind someone that orders a couple of beers. I know I'm going to miss a couple of extra batters or downs because it takes the workers so long to fill a beer order.
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I've never drank a Yuengling, but I've long heard of it. It's supposedly one of the most beloved beers along the eastern seacoast. I'm not even sure I can find it in Michigan, but those days might soon be over: The company recently snagged a brewery in Memphis, TN., the potential launch pad for a ground assault on the Midwest. Ohio is supposedly its initial target, but Michigan can't then be far behind.
