Monday, June 24, 2019

Corona wants to save the planet with new stackable beer cans

Corona may have just made the traditional six-pack a thing of the past.
In an effort to move away from plastic six-pack rings, Corona is testing out a new type of beer can. The new cans have threading at the top and bottom that allow them to be connected and stacked on top of each other, creating a long staff of Corona beers.
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Corona Fit Packs have been specifically designed for this interlocking feature, Yahoo Lifestyle reports. Not only will this allow Corona to sell beer cans without the plastic rings, but it will also allow for a wider variety of quantities to be sold. Apparently, the new system is strong enough to hold ten cans in a single stack.
Of course, ten cans would stand about four-feet-tall, which may or may not be more convenient to carry around than a traditional six-pack.

Wednesday, June 19, 2019

What goes into an $899 bottle of beer? Lots of coconut and hype

By. David Klein

What goes into an $899 bottle of beer? Lots of coconut and hype
Brewer Charles Rapadas measures salts to harden water in the process of making beer at Three Chiefs Brewing in El Segundo.

Want a taste of Los Angeles’ latest craft beer sensation? Grab a sleeping bag — or be prepared to empty your wallet.
If you’re not familiar with Three Chiefs Brewing Co., that’s understandable. Its online presence is virtually nonexistent with scant social media updates and a website that offers little more than the brewery’s name. Finding its actual facility is equally frustrating. It’s in a remote section of El Segundo, operating out of the R6 Distillery in a space about the size of a Manhattan studio apartment.

Despite the brewery’s limited output (or perhaps because of it), Three Chiefs has become a destination for craft beer die-hards who insist the effort to obtain bottles of its decadent, hyper-limited stouts — which involves camping out at the brewery the night before it goes on sale or paying a ransom on the secondary market — is worth it.Continue Reading

Monday, June 17, 2019

Here’s How to Turn Old Rice Krispies, Cocoa Krispies, and Corn Flakes Into Beer

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With a new microbrewery popping up in the world every three minutes—don’t check our stats, we’re right—finding new ways to innovate among a crowded pack of craft producers is an increasingly tall task. But the brewers at Seven Bro7hers in Salford, England have arrived at a solution for separating their suds from the rest: using bad cereal.
Last year, the brewery teamed up with BrewDog in Manchester to whip up a milkshake IPA called “Cornshake,” which naturally used leftover Kellogg’s Corn Flakes in the mash. Truth be told, Seven Bro7hers owner and founder Keith McAvoy didn’t think the brew was long for this world, due to litigation concerns.
“A few days after we launched the beer,” McAvoy says, “Kellogg’s got in touch, and as we had used Kellogg’s branding on the label, we thought we were in trouble, and they were going to ask us to remove the reference. But it was quite the opposite: They loved what we had done.”
Not only had McAvoy gotten the go-ahead from the cereal king to continue using the Kellogg’s name, but in fact, the company wanted to collaborate on a new beer. As you might expect, a mass producer like Kellogg’s lets a lot of food go to waste during the quality assurance process: Some flakes are too big. Some are overcooked. Some colors are wrong. Instead of going in the box, that leftover cereal goes in the trash. 
Kellogg’s wanted it to go somewhere else.
So McAvoy and co. began creating Throw Away IPA—a hoppy IPA created with those rejected corn flakes—and as discussions continued, he says, “it became apparent that the wider issue of food waste could be addressed, and we decided to officially continue the partnership and make two more beers.”
Those are Cast Off Pale Ale, a double dry-hopped pale ale made from recycled Rice Krispies, and Sling It Out Stout, a cocoa stout that uses surplus Coco Pops (a.k.a. Cocoa Krispies in the U.S.), both of which launched in the U.K. this week. Seven Bro7hers is selling all three beers in a limited-edition variety pack; they aren’t available in America yet, but we can only hope.


Friday, June 14, 2019

They're vaping booze in Wisconsin now

By. Jay BolleImage result for alcohol mistSince achieving statehood in 1848, its residents have guzzled oceans of the stuff via liquids -- beer, wine, spirits, god-knows-what-else. But now, in the age of V.C. #disruption, an innovative new method of getting shit-faced has emerged: vaping. 
Milwaukee's Werd Bar claims to be the first establishment in Wisconsin to offer vape shots, Patch reports
"Come be the first to experience the newest way to take a shot!" bar owner Drew Kent wrote last week in a Facebook post. "Alcohol Mist is a shot that is vaporized into a balloon for you to inhale! Each balloon is equivalent to 2 and a half shots! Don't worry about the calories because your not digesting the shot... you're inhaling it! First bar in Wisconsin to offer this NEWEST sensation."
Each balloon will set ya back $8; patrons will experience "an instant buzz that some describe as uniquely distinct from your everyday drinking experience," according the machine's manufacturer, Vapshot Inc. Tech website Gizmodo describes the booze-vaping process as "one hell of a fun gimmick."
Vapshot's $8,000 Alcohol MIST PRO machine doesn't technically vaporize alcohol (its $10,000 Vapshot PROdoes). Instead, it attaches "micro-droplets" of liquid alcohol to the mist shots, which go straight from a latex balloon and into your lungs, resulting in a virtually calorie-free drinking experience. A single 750-milliliter bottle of spirits produces 1,500 shots from the MIST PRO, like the one at Werd Bar. Inhaling alcohol is "potentially even safer" than drinking it, according to Vapshot, though that boast is disputed.
In any case, huffing alcohol presents a bold/boozy new frontier for our famously wasted neighbors to the East. Godspeed. 

Wednesday, June 12, 2019

Miller Lite Turned a Beer Can Into a Video Game Controller, and We Tried It

Original article By. Andrew Daniels

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Video games and beer are made for each other. Smashing buttons to beat bad guys is as good a workout as any; a crisp cold one, then, is the perfect reward for sitting and sweating. Ever play FIFA or Mario Kart in a dorm room without a six-pack present? Of course not. It’s a combination that simply makes sense.
Miller Lite knows this, which is why it’s cutting out the middleman. Today, the O.G. light beer is debuting a completely ridiculous, yet ingenious device that probably won’t revolutionize gaming, but will, at the very least, quench your thirst. Meet the Cantroller: a fully functional gaming controller fashioned from a full can of beer.
We get a lot of pitches for new gadgets here at Popular Mechanics and thus, carefully choose which products are worthy of coverage. But when Miller Lite offered to swing by our office with a Cantroller, a collection of old-school games from the ‘90s, and a 30-rack of beer, there was no such deliberation. Here was what appeared to be a glorious feat of engineering. Plus, we’re a bunch of lushes. The free beer definitely helped.
So Team Miller Lite rolled up, Cantroller in hand, and told us to go wild. But before any gameplay (and drinking) could begin, we wanted to closely inspect the thing and dive into the tech specs. Watch our video to see the contraption in action:

Turns out the design of the Cantroller—which took about three months to develop—is actually pretty simple. Here’s how it works: Engineers wrapped a flexible printed circuit board (PCB) around the 12-oz. can, then stuck metal dome switches on top with an adhesive layer. This lets you press the 10 buttons on the can, a number the engineers chose to make the Cantroller compatible with the most games possible without changing the can’s design.
The PCB is integrated with Bluetooth IC, allowing for wireless connection to a computer, which transmits when you press the buttons. And the Cantroller includes an integrated rechargeable lithium ion battery, with a micro-USB port for rechargeable game play. The battery lasts about 3 hours and takes approximately the same amount of time to recharge.
The Cantroller prototype is a human interface device (HID)-compliant, bluetooth low energy (BLE) gamepad that works with both OSX and Windows. For this launch, Miller Lite partnered with Steam, an online gaming store with thousands of games in its library. To get started, all you have to do is pair the Cantroller to your laptop, fire up Steam, and activate the device by defining the layout and calibrating it.Continue Reading

Tuesday, June 11, 2019

pappy van winkle

11 Best Light Beers

The craft beer revolution has finally come to light beer and we love the results. Here are our favorite IPAs, wheat beers, and lagers, all clocking around 100 calories.


The summer of craft light beer is here. We honestly never thought we'd be excited over light beers. But after decades of decrying the style as bland and watery, craft beer has decided to make it something worth celebrating. Instead of brewers watering down already watery beers (with admittedly impressive precision), they're designing versions of craft's favorite styles with lower alcohol and fewer residual carbs—both up the calorie count. It's a two-fold problem of creating a beer that feels pleasant to sip—not too dry, thin, or astringent—while providing big flavors with fewer calories to rely on. But these 11 beers achieve that. And in this expert opinion, it's a damn miracle of brewing science.

When beer shopping, note the balance between calories and ABV. It's not an absolute rule, but our testing confirmed that you'll typically get a little more to taste in the lower-alcohol light options that have a few more carbs to work with. Here are our favorites.



Southern Tier Swipe LightSouthern Tier Swipe Light
The most refreshing pale ale we've ever tasted. Unlike an IPA, there's a balance between the toasty barley flavors and the bright citrus hops. And the flavor is big enough to deliver that post-workout reward and satisfaction. Calories: 110, ABV: 4.0%

Sixpoint Brewing JammerSixpoint Jammer
Jammer was the most fun beer we tasted. WTF does fun beer taste like? Pleasantly surprising. Over a backbone of wheat was a bright, fruity, and sour character, but you weren't sure what you'd taste next. Try the 15-can Jammer Session Pack, which also includes berry, citrus, ruby, and tropical variations. Calories: 125, ABV: 4.0%

Session LightSession Light
Dang, this is refreshing. True to Full Sail Brewing's Session line, which provides craft beer takes on classic lagers and easy-drinking beers, Session Light indeed tastes like a light American beer—but improved. There's a clean, barley malt flavor, and none of the odd off-flavors that punish you if you let your typical light beer warm up. Calories: 100, ABV: 3.6%