- BeerTender
BeerTender is a
beer tapping system for use at home, developed byHeineken and electronics companyKrups combining a very small home tapping installation with readily bought small beer kegs.BeerTender technology
The BeerTender uses small lightweight 4 liter (5 liter in the United States) kegs. These kegs are bought at stores or supermarkets. The kegs are made of plastic and contain a sort of aluminium bag containing the beer. The BeerTender cools the beer inside the kegs from outside the metallic bag. Kegs are preferably cooled before use but can be used uncooled, although the kegs will take quite a bit of time to cool down and be ready for use.The BeerTender pumps air from outside into the keg and puts external pressure on the bag of beer, effectively pushing the beer out of the bag when the tap is opened. Kegs are returned to the shops and collected by the breweries and refitted with new bags of beer.Because of the system without using pressurized capsules, Heineken claims the unit is safe and easy to use in a home environment.The kegs last up to 4 weeks in the BeerTender.The tubing must be replaced after every keg; these are available on their online store at the price of $11 for 10 tubes.
Where and what
The beers which are found in beertender kegs are from the Heineken Group and are currently found in seven countries namely The Netherlands, Austria, Switzerland, France, Hungary, Bulgaria, Greece and the United States.Brands:
In the Netherlands:
* [http://www.affligembeer.be Affligem abbey beer]
* [http://www.amstel.com Amstel] (Amstel pilsener, Amstel 1870, Amstel Bock)
* [http://www.brand.nl Brand] (Brand pilsener, Brand Urtyp)
* [http://www.heineken.com Heineken] (Heineken Pilsener)
* [http://www.murphys.com Murphy's Irish Red]
* [http://www.wieckse.nl Wieckse Witte]In Austria
* [http://www.goesser.at/inhalt.php?m=beertender Gösser beer]
* [http://www.heineken.com Heineken] (Heineken Pilsener)
* [http://www.csulb.edu/~parayner/zipferbrewery.html Zipfer beer]
* [http://www.puntigamer.at Puntigamer]In Switzerland
* [http://www.heineken.com Heineken] (Heineken Pilsener)
* [http://www.calanda.com Calanda] (Calanda Lager)
* [http://www.goesser.at/inhalt.php?m=beertender Gösser beer]In France
* [http://www.heineken.com Heineken] (Heineken Pilsener)
*Pelforth BlondeIn Hungary
* [http://www.goesser.at/inhalt.php?m=beertender Gösser beer]
* [http://www.heineken.com Heineken] (Heineken Pilsener)In Bulgaria
* [http://www.heineken.com Heineken] (Heineken Pilsener)In Greece
* [http://www.heineken.com Heineken] (Heineken Pilsener)In the United States
* [http://www.heineken.com Heineken] (Heineken Pilsener)
* [http://www.heinekenpremiumlight.com Heineken Premium Light]In Spain
* [http://www.heineken.com Heineken] (Heineken Pilsener)Rivalry with InBev and Philips
Heineken started out working with
Philips on developing the device, but this company pulled out of the project even before its introduction. Heineken subsequently joined up with Krups. After the success of the BeerTender, Philips reentered the market, with a similar product calledPerfectDraft , which was done in cooperation withInterbrew . Heineken accused Philips of copying the BeerTender and sued Philips, but Heineken lost the case in December 2005.External links
*http://www.beveragefactory.com/draftbeer/kegerators/mini_kegerators/B95+BeerTender.shtml
*http://www.beertender.com/
*http://www.beertenderusa.com/ (Unofficial USA Beertender Fan Site)
*http://www.coolness.nl/bweb/beertender.htm (Dutch BeerTender Site - very extensive and in-depth!)
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