Beer News

This Robot Serves up a Nice Cold One

Have you ever wished there was a button you could press and be served an ice-cold bottle of beer from your fridge? Thanks to new technology, that wish is now the PR2 robot’s command.

The PR2 is a “personal robot” created by Willow Garage, a robot development company based in Menlo Park, Calif. PR2 utilizes a completely open-source programming platform called the Robot Operating System (ROS). Using ROS, programmers can make the robot perform any multitude of tasks—including grabbing you that IPA.

A team of Willow Garage programmers spent one week creating an app called “Beer Me,” which interacts with the PR2. It sends the robot to the fridge to find a specific beverage, which it recognizes via its own cameras. The robot then grabs a bottle and carts it over to your location. Once its facial recognition software identifies the proper recipient, the PR2 can open the bottle, and will wait until the bottle is firmly tugged before it lets go.

Surprisingly, fetching beer was not PR2’s intended purpose. Keenan Wyrobek, co-director of Willow Garage’s personal robotics program, tells BA, “We do fun one-week projects periodically that we call hackathons. We pick hackathons that will use the robot and software platform in new ways and will be a fun break for our team. The Beer Me app was one of those hackathons.”

Willow Garage spent two years developing the PR2 and its programming environment. In May, the company gave away one PR2 robot to 11 institutions for two years of research as a beta testing program.

BrewDog Ends History, ‘t Koelschip Starts the Future

After losing the title of the “world’s strongest beer” to German brewer Schorschbräu’s 43 percent ABV Eisbock shortly after its launch of Sink the Bismarck!, BrewDog has come back once again to reclaim the title.

At 55 percent ABV, the new concoction is dubbed The End of History. BrewDog’s blog has described it as “the end point of our research into how far we can push the boundaries of extreme brewing, the end of beer.” The production was limited to a scant dozen 12-ounce bottles, 11 of which went on sale for £500 to £700 UK each (roughly $780-$1,090 US).

Why so expensive? Each bottle was delicately housed inside a taxidermied stoat (a squirrel), all of which were recovered roadkill. BrewDog co-founder James Watt explains to BA, “The idea was to create conceptual art—to fuse craft beer, taxidermy and impact art to make a statement about the beer industry.” Watt adds, “This is going to be our final high-strength beer, in that we will not go over 55 percent (or at least not for a considerable period of time). We may mess about in the 35- to 40-percent range again, but as of yet, have no plans to.”

Despite its prohibitive cost and unconventional presentation, all 11 bottles managed to sell out in a matter of hours, and BrewDog relaxed proud of their creation and newly reclaimed title. … At least for a few days. Less than a week after the End of History’s launch, Dutch brewery ‘t Koelschip introduced Start the Future, another mega-beer weighing in at 60 percent ABV, which again took the title from BrewDog. Bottles of Start the Future are available from ‘t Koelschip, and run €35 EU (roughly $45 US) per one-third-liter bottle (stoat sold separately).

“Brewed” Coming Soon to a TV Near You

Dogfish Head founder Sam Calagione will be the main focus of “Brewed,” a new series coming to the Discovery Channel this January. On the show, he will travel to some of the craft brewing world’s most prominent breweries, meet the brewers behind them and see what makes beer from each region so distinctive.

In a post on the BA web forum, Calagione disclosed some of the places the show will visit. He notes, “Some breweries … we have been able to get into what we are shooting thus far, in addition to Ted and Leo’s, include Allagash, Stone, Victory, Russian River, Epic (NZ), Sierra [Nevada] and homebrewer friends of mine.”

Additionally, Calagione and the rest of the Dogfish crew will be featured as they conceive new recipes and run day-to-day operations at the plant. Calagione stated via press release, “Beer has always been my passion. It is so much more than what you see in the glass. I’m excited to share the diligence, daring and creativity that we pour into our work.” He adds, “I’m confident that Discovery and this show are going to turn a lot more people on to the work of the amazing craft brewers around the world. I think that will be great for our whole community.”

Canadian Football Team Eradicating Beer Snakes

One Canadian Football League team, the Blue Bombers, has taken a stand, barring the creation of “beer snakes” at their events. To translate for readers south of the Great White North, a “beer snake” is a massive stack of beer cups, at least several hundred cups long. These creations often wind their way up a section of the grandstands and can splash fans, as well as cause minor injuries when they come apart.

The incident that sparked the team’s ruling happened during a July 9th game at Canad Inns Stadium, home turf of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Fans constructed a snake out of several hundred cups, and when the snake came apart, unruly fans started throwing the cups throughout the section.

Jim Bell, president of the Bombers, stated during a press conference, “Whether it be plastic or steel, it is a weapon, and it can be harmful to the public. If we allow it to continue and somebody gets seriously injured—if that beer snake starts making its way to the upper grandstand and somebody leans over, that could be an awful, awful situation.”

The Bombers organization has since enacted a new code of conduct, barring fans from creating beer snakes, throwing objects and engaging in other unruly behaviors at their games. ■