Still struggling to find a gift for the beer lover in your life? Our round up of nifty beer gadgets could offer some much-needed inspiration.
From icicle beer chillers and mind-bending beer taps to at-home draught beer kits, the world is full of gadgets from the practical to the perplexing.
Click through for our pick of some of the best beer-themed gadget gifts on offer this Christmas…
The Chillsner beer chiller
Never subject yourself to a warm beer again with The Chillsner – which claims to be the “only in-bottle, drink-through beer chiller” promising to keep your beer cool to the very last sip, assuming you finished a bottle in under 45 minutes. Simply freeze, insert into any bottled beer and enjoy.
IWOOT, £18.99
Head band pint pourer
While not yet available to purchase this mind-bending gadget, which could one day hit the market, deserves a mention. Dubbed “The Muse”, this piece of kit developed by a Canadian tech firm allows beer lovers to pour a pint using the power of their mind. The head gear used brainwaves to detect a user’s emotional state and then translates these into computer signals in order to control all manners of gadgets.
One of the first uses developers at InteraXon came up with was allowing people to use the device to control a hands-free tap by “imagining” themselves pouring a pint.
The Braüler
The Braüler is essentially a pressurised thermos flask for beer providing a solution to transporting draught beer and keeping it cool. Fill it up with your favourite draught brew and travel with it to the nearest party, safe in the knowledge that it will remain cold and carbonated. It will carry two litres of your favourite brew and comes with an insulated zip-up sleeve.
The Braüler, $45
Beer can chicken rack
The GrOpener
The GrOpener
A typical “stick and screw” bottle opener
The GrOpener is a one-handed bottle opener that require the same force as using a pair of scissors to operate. Its inventor, Mark Manger, got the idea for the device having been inspired by the “stick & screw” openers encountered on his travels in Africa in the mid 1990s. As the name suggests, these simple bottle openers use only a stick and screw to crack open a bottle.
Describing the product, Manger said on its website: “It is unique that this tool uses motion and force from the act of grabbing the bottle to also remove the cap. But, it is special in that it has been designed in a way that accommodates amputees, stroke victims and others who may only have full use of one hand.”
Bike beer bottle opener
A handy gift for any beer-loving bike-rider, this nifty gadget will ensure you’re never caught without a bottle opener when hankering after a cold one during a long cycle ride. Simply attach it to your bike frame and away you go.
State Bicycles, $9.99
Sonic beer foamer
The Sonic Foamer, made by ThinkGeek.com, sends ultrasonic waves through your pint glass at the touch of a button to create a foamy head on any beer, without making it go flat. Once loaded with six AA batteries the device has enough juice in it to provide “3,000 foams” and “will not flatten the beer”, according to its makers.
Explaining how the device works, ThinkGeek said: “It releases vibrations that produce uniform bubbles creating a great head on your beer. You can recreate the head on your beer at anytime, even if you’re at the bottom of the bottle.” Its makers also claim the sonic vibrations release the aroma of the beer, much in the same way a decanter does for wine.
ThinkGeek.com, $40
Glow-in-the-dark beer pong kit
Beer pong – the well-played game known by students the world over. Add a whole dimension to the ball-throwing, beer-shotting party favourite with his glow in the dark version. Using three plastic cups and ping pong balls, in this case glow-in-the-dark, the aim is to successfully throw your ball into your opponent’s cup forcing them to drink its contents.
Handpicked Collection, £12.95
Heineken at-home draught beer dispenser
Heineken has tapped into the design flair of Apple’s Marc Newson to create a “revolutionary” draught beer dispenser for use at home. Introducing this new gadget called “The Sub”, which represents a collaboration between himself, Heineken and technology firm Krups, Newson drew a comparison with the Nespresso machines that helped people to make their own high quality coffee at the touch of a button.
Mark van Iterson, Heineken’s global head of design, has confirmed that the device will launch in the UK next year, bringing with it a much broader range of draught beers than the company is currently able to offer this market. Currently priced at €249 (£195), The Sub is already available in Europe in black or silver and stands 41cm high in the shape of a small beer cask. The user inserts a two-litre pressurised “Torp”, which comes in a range of Heineken brands, and then pulls their own pint.
Price: €249 (£195)
Underground beer cooler
This eco-friendly fridge which chills your beer underground, without the need for electricity, could be yours for just £178 ($300).
Promising to save the world, “one earth cooled beer at a time”, eCool refrigerates cans of beer without the need for electricity, requiring only a deep hole in the ground. Once installed, eCool uses a crank to bring your earth-cooled cans to the surface. At four feet tall, the device can hold 24 cans of beer and is designed to remain underground all year round.
Its creators, four men from Mors, a small island in northern Denmark, recommend using a garden drill to install it, or a shovel, “if you’re a real man.”
ECool, £178 ($300)
