Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Sports Hop Up: Bridgestone Arena Set For Next-Level Beer-Dispensing Technology
Posted by J.R. Lind on Wed, Jan 26, 2011 at 1:10 PM
It's a good year to be a Predators fan. The team has made nice with the Sports Authority, Dan Hamhuis is making untimely turnovers somewhere else. And despite a rash of injuries and a run of streakiness, the team is, heading into tonight's game with conference-toppers Vancouver, just four points behind the dreaded Red Wings for the Central Division lead.
The injury-riddled Preds get a few days off for the All-Star Game (except for defenseman Shea Weber, who will be taking his DeathStar Slapshot to Raleigh for the proceedings), and at some point after they come back from the break, their fans will get to experience 21st century beer technology.
At some undefined point following the recess (sooner rather than later, team sources say), Bridgestone Arena will feature the Bottom's Up Beer Dispenser.
It's an ingenious piece of technology - all of which is explained at Broad Street Hockey, a blog covering the Philadelphia Flyers, whose Wells Fargo Center got the new toy earlier this week. It involves magnets and beer coming from — as you might have guessed — the bottom of the glass.
The long and short of it is this: there's no over-fill, there's no foaming and the machine cuts down on the need to have so many folks running the beer tap. But the real thrill? The machine drastically reduces wait times. The speed record by the Bottom's Up is 56 beers in a minute (ponder that). And in hockey, where it's impolitic to return to your seat while the puck is in play — which leads to people craning their necks in the entraceways to see the action until a TV timeout is called — it gets you out of the concession line and back in the arena more quickly.
Also set to debut post-All-Star? Redesigned team shops with repositioned counters, cutting down on the wait there too.
Now, if the team can end one more wait — the wait for a playoff series win — it'll be a great season indeed.
Comments (9)
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Yes! I heard about these about a month ago and it's brilliant! No foamy head, no lines, no need to train staff the proper pour.
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Okay, I will admit to being a craft beer person, but that is awesome!!! Well except for the lady with nasty fingernails handling the rim of the cup.
The fundraising crews at the LP Field concessions desperately need this technology- the first preseason pours are 90% foam (until the fans wind up teaching the booth operators beer tap technique). HINT: setting the cup beneath the tap and yanking the handle is not the way to go.
This is what the President was talking about last night - "Winning the Future" and the salmon and all that. I'm going to order eighty beers per game from now on.
If you dig deep enough, I'm sure you'll find that Sean Parker had something to do with this.
