Instant beer: Beer concentrate for camping

Discussion in 'Beer Talk' started by RochefortChris, Aug 10, 2014.

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  1. Casterbridge

    Casterbridge Savant (1,055) Mar 26, 2010 Connecticut

    I prefer to carry in my beer the old-fashioned way.
     
  2. mattcrill

    mattcrill Pooh-Bah (1,845) Mar 16, 2004 Ohio
    Pooh-Bah

    This is why I don't camp.

    I prefer to walk to my DBF and grab a real one and serve at the appropriate temp and in the appropriate vessel.
     
  3. KingCobra686

    KingCobra686 Initiate (0) Aug 13, 2014 Connecticut

    Seems like a pretty small market that this is catering to.
    If your only goal is to get hammered after youre done hiking for the day, you would just bring hard alc.
    If you are interested in a good tasting beer, you obviously wouldnt choose this.
    If you are looking to have a bad tasting beer, not get drunk, and cut out some weight on your hike by replacing your michelob 12 pack, then I guess this is the product for you.

    But I might consider trying it for fun.
     
  4. stephens101

    stephens101 Pooh-Bah (2,778) May 5, 2006 Oklahoma
    Pooh-Bah

    Why wouldn't a person just have good beer sent in by drone when they get to their campsite?
     
  5. spacecake9

    spacecake9 Pooh-Bah (2,202) Apr 26, 2014 Illinois
    Pooh-Bah

    I'll just grab a couple cans of good beer thank you.
     
  6. Thirstygoat

    Thirstygoat Initiate (0) Nov 22, 2012 Illinois
    Trader

    How is carrying water lighter than cans of beer?
     
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  7. Oakenshield53

    Oakenshield53 Initiate (0) Aug 28, 2014 Minnesota

    Well, always an option. Not the MOST fun, but an option.

    I don't know, man. I am in the camp that thinks there's a time and place for every beer (almost), and a hot day 14 miles down the trail next to a waterfall is probably the place for this one.

    I appreciate the effort, I guess, is the thing.
     
  8. Kaz_DemonKnight

    Kaz_DemonKnight Initiate (0) Jul 8, 2014 Illinois

    This just sounds gross and weird. I have no desire to ever try this. I would rather lug bottles around.
     
  9. cavedave

    cavedave Grand Pooh-Bah (4,157) Mar 12, 2009 New York
    In Memoriam Pooh-Bah Trader

    Okay, now I think I gotta say something. Even though you say you aren't selling (and yes I am one of those guys who notice that you joined a week after last post in the original thread, and that you brought this back from the dead) you are doing as good a job selling as someone who is selling lol. I hope the other audiences to whom you don't try to sell this product care less about drinking good beer, and notice less that you need water to reconstitute this product, and that water weighs as much as beer. I suspect, though, that there are no people with average or above IQ to whom this product will make any sense.
     
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  10. Ridder

    Ridder Initiate (0) Nov 30, 2013 Minnesota

    Come on now Cavedave....harsh. Maybe he is selling, who knows, who really cares. My guess is that he can sell (or not) all he wants, the product will speak enough for itself. For all the people clamoring on about the weight of water, it would seem to me that they have never done any real back country camping.

    This product is not intended for your weekend campers, rolling into the campsite, setting up the pop-up camper. If that is you, then you have a cooler full of great brew. However, if you are paddling in for miles, portaging, hiking, getting back into the canoe to paddle and finally, portaging some more just to get to your campsite...hauling around a case of beer OR a case of water sucks. That is why they invented water filters. I enjoy my weekend camping, but I also enjoy my camping up in the BWCA in northern MN. A nice water filter system fits into my pack and means no hauling water.

    Although, I would suspect there are no people with average or above average IQ that wouldn't know that already.

    I did order a 4 pack of the Black IPA as a novelty/joke this summer. On a weekend trip were hauling anything other than my butt into my chair was not an issue, I broke it out with some buddies. We all had a laugh, and gave it a shot. The gel packs have a very watery consistency, not gel-like at all. As we mixed it looked like we were pouring soy sauce into our cups. The taste was pretty bad, no real hop profile to speak of, we all took a sip or two and then poured it out. As a joke, it was hilarious, as a beer, it was a failure. The idea is novel, the execution needs a ton of work.
     
  11. tshutchison2005

    tshutchison2005 Initiate (0) Oct 8, 2013 Indiana

    I bet a lot of people on here that haven't tried backpacking/backcountry hiking/camping would really like it. There's a certain reward that comes from it that you don't get from normal camping. With that said, everyone is different, and it isn't for everyone.

    BUT, there's nothing that would be more unsatisfying than hauling a 50lb pack through 15-20 miles of rough terrain, pitching camp, hauling off to a water source, filtering the water, and bringing it back to add beer concentrate to and "enjoying" a flat beer. It is a good idea, and I suppose there might be a "curiosity" factor that will garner it some sales early on, it just isn't for me.

    I'd taste it at home, though, to try it out. Maybe it's the next Heady and here we are bashing it. :rolling_eyes:
     
  12. cavedave

    cavedave Grand Pooh-Bah (4,157) Mar 12, 2009 New York
    In Memoriam Pooh-Bah Trader

    Okay, maybe you are right, maybe it is a great idea, maybe that back country camper will enjoy to ruin their filtered water with a gimmick they had to haul instead of other things that could have taken the extremely scarce space in a survival backpack.

    My brother and I will be doing 3 months on the AT next spring/summer, and are doing practice hikes now. This product will not be accompanying us. Nor will beer of any other kind. And I do not represent any outside interests:wink:
     
  13. Masters

    Masters Savant (1,217) Mar 7, 2014 Massachusetts

    mmmm :confused: this sounds pretty gross. Whats wrong with just bringing beer or not bringing beer. I'm all set on packing some squeezable beer jelly you add to water.
     
  14. otispdriftwood

    otispdriftwood Initiate (0) Dec 9, 2011 Colorado

    I would approach this like I approached cocaine back in the day - I'll try it but I won't buy it.
     
  15. Kanger

    Kanger Initiate (0) Sep 3, 2013 New York

    Reminds me of that powdered candy beer you can get in Japan that you mix with water:

    [​IMG]
     
  16. Ranbot

    Ranbot Pooh-Bah (2,463) Nov 27, 2006 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah

    Good. If everyone wanted to camp/hike etc. then there would be no real wilderness left for those that do. :wink: Honestly. I'm not trying to convince you... :slight_smile:
    You carry one of these.
     
  17. LeRose

    LeRose Grand Pooh-Bah (4,423) Nov 24, 2011 Massachusetts
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    The R&D guy/food scientist/process engineer sides of me are intrigued by this idea, actually. It seems it is more a matter of execution rather than the actual concept that is lacking. The idea presents an interesting technical challenge - how to make a "just addd water and bubbles" concentrate base, yet retain the flavors. If the beer is concentrated after fermentation, then I would think you lose the volatile flavors created by the process? Then you have to find a way to add those flavors back without diluting the concentrate. Technically, it could be done with the right equipment. So how do you end up with something that isn't just malt beverage concentrate in a baggie seems to be the technical hurdle? Forget about the alcohol...we all know we don't drink beer for the alcohol, it's just a byproduct of the process :astonished:

    Concentrated wort would be quite simple. Concentrated beer is a lot more complicated and challenging, but I believe technically possible. Probable - maybe not so much.
     
  18. abkayak

    abkayak Initiate (0) Jan 8, 2013 New York

    i know...but 50 something yr run and 1 billion in sales per.

    maybe these guys need an astronaut?
     
  19. Oakenshield53

    Oakenshield53 Initiate (0) Aug 28, 2014 Minnesota

    Quick, duck before those black helicopters get you! Pretty astonishing how I would post about a thing I thought was interesting fairly early on, in an existing thread rather than starting a new one!

    Dude, I don't give the south end of a northbound rat if anyone buys this stuff or not. I was simply wondering what people who have tried this have to say about it, because the reactions I get on the trail go from the initial "Holy CRAP! They have that now?" to a muted "Hmmm, yep, well, that's definitely a thing" after they taste it, and I think they're just being nice.

    So I told the story of how and why I got it, and wondered who else had a story. That's as green as the grassy knoll gets.
     
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