Product Concept
The Festival Pourer
A quick solution for trouble-free pints
In my time in Ireland I have noticed that there is an inequality among beers.
Some beers are served in bottles. Some are served on tap. And some are served with a carefully-managed two-part pour.
The Two-Part Pour is one of the magic components in the serving of the perfect pint of Guinness. It ensures a beer of a good consistency, as well as a pleasant head for good aesthetics and texture.
The other is the use of nitrogen. In beers such as Guinness and Kilkenny nitrogen provides an even creamy head, and the pleasing spectacle of the bubbles falling down.
What is surprising to me is that only these precious Irish ales get the tender treatment of the perfect pint. Even on a busy night when a bartender can be crowded all around by thirsty patrons. When the cocktail and shot glasses are sticky with rushed pours, and the sinks are frothing with the heads of hastily poured lagers… Even then, you will wait for your Guinness to be done right.
This imbalance has always bothered me, because it is unnecessary. In truth, there is a simple way to pour a good draft beer. It is not the Two Part-Pour, but what I’m going to call the Tight Pour.
A good pint.
credit: unsplash @maplerockdesign
Tight Pouring
Every beer will respond slightly differently to being poured too quickly or from too great a height. Weissbiers (my personal favourite) produce an incredibly thick foam, which inexperienced bartenders usually flick away with a knife. It is wasteful, tactless, and leaves a sticky glass.
Enter the Tight Pour:
Raise your glass up to the edge of the tap. You will need to tilt it. The spout should be as close to flat against the glass as possible
Open the tap.
Keep the the spout as close to the glass as possible and slowly tilt the glass upright to prevent spilling
When tilting, keep the spout under the surface of the beer.
When the glass is 90% to the fill line, close the tap.
Remove the spout to above the surface of the beer, push the tap away from you to add a decorative head.
Serve the beautiful beer
Any good bartender will do this with every beer. Weissbier, lager, pilsner, ale, they will carefully pour it for you so that you have a refreshing beer, with a decorative bitter head.
Now you may have noticed I said any good bartender. However, even good bartenders do get overwhelmed. If you’ve ever been to a bar at a music festival you’ll know what that looks like: Twenty people trying to get the bartender’s attention while they’re checking cash, tapping cards, and keeping an eye on the taps.
This is the standard beer tap.
It includes a large handle to open it and a small lever to control the rate of flow.
Compromises
Often the busy bartender will place the glass directly under the tap, and pull the handle straight down, opening the tap all the way. They’ll then take an order, or payment, and turn back to close the taps once the glasses are full.
If there’s too much head, it’ll be flicked off, and the beer will be topped up.
It’s wasteful, but it gets the job done.
Now, what if we could build a tap that would improve this process?
This isn’t a delicate craft pour.
This is a dirty, sticky, poorly poured glass.
credit: unsplash @enginakuyert
Enter: THE FESTIVAL POURER
It’s so named to suit the bartender at busy events. I don’t see this replacing taps across the world. However in temporary bars with unskilled staff, this would be a welcome quality assurance device.
It’s a simple tap except for three differences
A mechanical flow regulator to stop the pour after a specified volume
A hinged spout to lower the nozzle into the glass
A telescopic nozzle which collapses after making contact with the base of the glass.
The principle is simple, it automates the tight pour.
Its user: the busy bartender who can’t keep an eye on every tap.
How it works:
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The regulator is set to the desired amount eg. 450ml
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The glass is placed under the spout on the drip tray.
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The handle is pulled towards the bartender, lowering the spout into the glass.
The nozzle is pressed against the base of the glass and collapses to the appropriate length.
This creates a flush fit while the nozzle’s shape is irregular to restrict the flow.
The nozzle stays put at the base of the glass.
As the handle reaches its terminus it will lock into place, activating activates the flow regulator and allowing the beer to flow up to the set amount.
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Once the set volume has been reached the tap automatically disengages.
The handle will pop up at this stage to just outside the locking position.
The spout should still be flush with the glass bottom.
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The bartender – seeing that the pouring is done – pushes the handle to the centre position.
This removes the spout from the glass.
Wipe down the spout.
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The bartender can now push the handle away from them to create the head.
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A perfectly poured beer, in a clean glass, with nothing wasted.
Want to build it?
I don’t know enough about manufacturing or engineering to make this happen myself. So if you’re reading this and you know how to get it done, why not get in touch and we can make it happen.