Sunday, February 19, 2012

THE BRAULER

Awhile back I was reading through Popular Science magazine and came across an interesting invention.  Popular Science is always good at turning up new devices or gadgets that have the potential to change the way we live, work, and play while at the time also helping us spend our money.  What I found in this edition was something that appealed to the side of me that enjoys beer, but in particular good beer.  Craft brews often come in growlers.  The biggest problem, well maybe problem isn't the right word to use, the biggest issue with growlers is that once you open one it's best to finish it.  They don't store well as the beer tends to lose carbonation and become flat.  My dad's policy has always been, "once you open it you have to drink it", which made for some great times spent between the two of us polishing one off.  Typically this is reserved the holidays like Thanksgiving or Christmas.

Anyway, some further digging around the web led me to The Zythos Project who are responsible for the design of The Brauler.  On their website they label themselves as a "Portland, OR-based brewing, design, and engineering firm. Dedicated to innovating the art, science, and enjoyment of craft beer℠."  What they created was the world's first virtually indestructible stainless steel modular growler system.  For more information on the company including its vision and mission statement check out this link.

http://thezythosproject.tumblr.com/brauler

What surprised me the most about this was that they were established in 2011.  People have been using stainless steel water bottles for years now, so I thought it was interesting that no one decided to make the leap into other potable liquids until 2011.

By going with stainless steel the group offers several advantages over the more traditional glass bottles.  These include weight savings, which makes transportation easier.  Stainless steel will not chip or shatter like glass.

Also, like so many companies nowadays they offer a green advantage.  Stainless steel is 100% recyclable and because it's shatter proof their is no loss in the cycle do to shattered containers.  The metal also allows for faster cooler, which cuts down on energy usage.

They have already begun to think of enhancements for the product such as various caps that be used to suit different purposes from the traditional carabiner attachment to the more applicable CO2 cap tap.

Right now the product is being targeted at breweries and is currently available for order in bulk.  Once they are able to make enough bulk sales I believe they will be expanding to more one-off sales at which point I will definitely consider picking up one or two of them for myself, and will be buying one for my dad as well.

1 comment:

  1. I happen to be a huge fan of the guy that made the metal coke bottles that have the same curves as the glass ones. I actually found an industry insider (on forming metal, not making beer) about the lack of stainless steel containers. As it turns out, it wasn't until laser welding was widely available that stainless steel bottles can be made at a "cheap and cheerful" price. Otherwise, forming metal into a bottle was an expensive ordeal, and involved a series of deep-forming that lead to many defects. So for a while, stainless-steel bottles were mostly the things that you buy for $30 as a reusable unit. Another benefactor of this technology is the battery pack in your cell-phone.

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