99 Problems

It’s happened to us all at least a few times: that heart-breaking moment when, with highly anticipatory beer in hand and empty glass waiting, a bottle opener is nowhere to be found. Brett Stern has suffered through such moments, too. But this Portland, Ore.-based industrial designer turned his solution-driven mind to finding quick and easy fixes for the problem of removing a bottle cap without an opener. And now he has put his favorite findings in a book.

99 Ways to Open a Beer Bottle Without a Bottle Opener is not only a handy compendium of ways to pop that top using commonly found items, it’s also fun, funny and useful in its own right: the spine of this hardcover book is the 100th method explained. Stern, who some might remember as the man who invented Beer Chips®—those kettle-style potato chips dosed with powder made from 1,000 gallons of dehydrated Bock—collected bottle opener ideas for years before documenting them for others to enjoy and try themselves.

He helps us get the job done using just about anything and everything in sight, from TV remotes to baby carriages, Tiki statues to dog collars and park benches to automated teller machines. Illustrated with color photographs, each implementation is accompanied by step-by-step instructions on how to pry that pesky top off.

Stern says there were others that didn’t make the cut, so maybe there will be a second edition. In the meantime, 99 Ways to Open a Beer Bottle is available at chroniclebooks.com for $9.95. ■