A DIY version of a hop torpedo (courtesy of http://klausshuler.com).

The most recent issue of Vue Weekly (last week) the Dish section had a theme – gadgets. My contribution to the issue looked at three gadgets that have revolutionized (in small ways) our experience of beer.You can read the article here.

For the most part beer has not been a gadget kind of industry. The process of making beer is pretty straightforward and other than computer controlled systems, not much has really changed. Sure, I could have talked about conical fermenters vs. old fashioned squares and their impact on beer, but that is hardly the stuff of new and groundbreaking. And fun little tools like refractometers are just a little to geeky to be the subject of a wide appeal article. As I look across the beer world, gadgets are not really predominant.

However, I think the three technical innoviations I do examine are pretty darned cool. The first is the now famous Guinness widget, which, of course, is how to get nitrogen-infused bottled/canned beer. I know it is proprietary, meaning no one but Guinness gets to use it, drastically limiting its impact, and that it is not a catch-all innovation for some styles don’t suit nitrogen. Still, you gotta admit it is pretty darned cool. I consider it one of the most interesting innovations in the past 20 years. I have only the thinnest of grasps on the science behind it, but what I do know leads me to think it is rather ingenious. Whoever invented it is likely a rather rich person (and self-satisfied, too – “hey do you know who I am? I am the Guinness Widget Guy!!”).

The second item is not a gadget per se, but an innovation that quietly makes craft beer more stable and enjoyable. Oxygen-absorbing caps are hardly the stuff of science show profiles, belonging more in the quiet, ever-moving forward kind of science. But anything that helps preserve good craft beer for another 2 to 4 months is a good thing in my book. The only bad thing here is that it is impossible to tell from the cap who is using the oxygen absorbing version and who is using standard caps. Again, my grasp of the science is tenuous (you are reading a social science guy – if you need to know about labour process theory or the iron law of oligarchy, I am your man!), but I know a good idea when I see it.

The final item is likely the one closest to beer geek’s hearts. The Hop Torpedo is the famous invention of Ken Grossman that has been replicated by a number of U.S. hop-forward craft breweries. The Torpedo is a stunningly effective way to impart a strong hop flavour and aroma to a beer without adding harsh characters. In short, conditioning beer is forced through a pressurized canister packed with whole hops and sent back into the conditioning tank. The brewer has complete c0ntrol over how much hop character they put in the beer simply by testing the outgoing liquid. And they can put in as much as they want without fear of harshing the beer. Cool!

No on in Canada (that I am aware) regularly uses a hop torpedo. However,  I have it on good knowledge that soon a Canadian-based brewery will be releasing some beer made with a hop torpedo effect. Stay tuned.

Most of the time, gadgets are fun add-ons to a brewing system. Sometimes they can improve the quality of beer by adding measurement precision or reducing negative influences. But then once in a while a gadget adds both, just like the hop torpedo and, in my mind, the Guinness Widget (not so much the caps, but you get my point). Here is to fun and effective gadgets.