Wednesday, June 11, 2008

The Beertender: Gotta Have It, Or Complete Junk?

Boy, is it hot out. Let's jump the gun and say that summer is officially here. And as noted by this bit of rebellious grafitti, the price of gas isn't coming down anytime soon. On that note, in the words of Boston greats Gang Green, "Let's Drink Some Beer!" But I'm all about keeping things as cheap as possible when imbibing. Or am I?

Last night I saw a commercial for the Heineken Beertender. (Manufactured by coffee giants Krups, who may or may not have had involvement in some WWII conspiranoia, according to some sources) Anyways as mentioned, I am one of the biggest cheapskates around. But when I saw the spot for the Beertender, I said to myself, "I gotta get this!" The long and short of the spot was "turn your house into a bar". I have seen the results firsthand, and I must say, it's a fantastic idea. Well, I couldn't find said commercial on YouTube, but this gives a pretty good visual of how the system works.

So, these bad boys go for about $300. Ten bucks cheaper if you get the version that doesn't let you adjust the temperature. But if I can't have my beer at a chilly 36 degrees, than the terrorists have won. You also have use a disposable line every time you tap one of those kegs. And what does a Heineken mini keg cost these days, 20 bucks? I'm hoping these things take off here in the U.S. and other companies like Amstel get on board. And could Guinness successfully manufacture a mini-keg? I mean, we did put a man on the moon, right?

So what do you think, is the Beertender worth it? Or a complete ripoff? I say to hell with the recession....it's Miller time! (Or as the case may be, Heineken time)

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

We walked... the loneliest mile we...oh sorry the Hotels just came on music choice.

Anyhoo, yes worth it Mr. Frosh. Although I don't drink Henekin I do buy those mini kegs and reap their rewards the whole weekend.

Funny you should mention Miller it was the High Life at my house last weekend. good cheap beer is making a comeback

Miller the Champagne of beers! Cheers!!!

Scott Forbes said...

I'm hoping more Beer companies will get on board.

This eliminates the hassle of C02, cleaning dirty lines....Oh, and it's trendy and will look cool next to the wife's Keureg coffee maker!

Anonymous said...

I saw that thing at Macys and it looked pretty cool EXCEPT for the fact that it was dedicated to Heineken. If there were a few different brands that you could connect then I would be much more excited about it. When Rolling Rock, Sam Adams or (to a lesser degree) Corona gets on board then they might have something there. But I am not paying a premium for that skunked Amsterdam swill.

Katty Kat said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Katty Kat said...

Here are my ideas: If you got an economic stimulus check--use it. There are two positives for that argument. That bush paid and not you and you're helping the economy (in holland)! Otherwise I might wait until other beers jumped on board so you could use the keg and the disposable hoses interchangeably (they aren't that cheap) Also, I'm predicting like the VCR, when the novelty wears off those babies will come down in price. Just hang tight.
If you already blew your bush check or never got one, I would seriously consider resurrecting my successful ebay business for this. I always looked forward to your auctions of total junk. How many pints is it?

Scott Forbes said...

Just like the iPhone, I'm sure there is a "hack" so you could use it for other beers.

If you're ingenious enough, you can probably get a mini keg of PBR flowing out of that thing.

But then, would that defeat the purpose of it's "la-ti-da" steez?

Laughing @ the thought of the 15 hundred dollar VCR.

Katty Kat said...

I would be nice to be the first one on the block with it. You might even get a mention in the local paper. Can you take it outside? Does it have wheels? I like that its stylish stainless steel to go with all the other fingerprinted up appliances in the kitchen. What genius thought of that?

Stamford Talk said...

I don't get it- is it just prettier than a mini-keg?
Or... a place to put a mini-keg where it looks ok in the kitchen and/or be able to keep the beer inside?
Does it last all weekend and stay cool? That would be handy.
What's the benefit besides looking pretty though... less waste than bottles?

Unknown said...

This is the way to go (on sale now, too)! And just forget about that cleaning the lines on a frequent basis nonsense...you think that was on the list of things to do at the Nite Cap?

Scott Forbes said...

Geez, it took a write-up about beer to get you guys to finally post some comments. It's about friggin' time.

Dob, you may be on to something. I think we even have a $50 Sears gift card due to some customer service dissatisfaction issues.

We all know Marchese cared less about clean lines than he did about paying off the fire marshall so he could pack more underage drinkers into that rat trap.

RE: lasting the weekend: The beer is supposed to stay good for almost a month in the Beertender.

Katty Kat said...

Truthfully I think its to appeal to the wives. The husbands want it but the old style was ugly and bulky so the sleek design appeals to ladies. My uncle has one of those fridges that has the keg built in. Imagine how far we've come. From ridiculous to compact and cute.