Spotlight on Technology

Hello readers! Tonight I would like to call your attention to some of the wonderful technological advances that have been brought to us through the beer industry. Now, I certainly do not consider myself a fan or a supporter of beer (or alcohol in any form), but even someone as dry as myself cannot ignore the fact that beer has brought us some fabulous advances in the field of technology:

The Wide Mouth Can
When consuming any beverage what is the biggest obstacle you face? I believe I speak for the entire human race when I say it has to be the fact that you can never drink fast enough. The Wide Mouth can changed all that when it offered the ability to consume its contents at a 45% greater rate than its regular mouth competitors.

Side Note:The Wide Mouth can was later on adopted by the Pepsi Company for use in its Mountain Dew line. This was done in order that all-night video game marathon participants would be able to consume an entire can of Dew in less than 2 seconds (which was the standard time delay from one level to the next at the time) and have the energy to stay sharp and make good decisions during play.

The Tall Boy
When drinking a can of any beverage typically one finds oneself still parched after the beverage is long gone. This is so because some of the first beer breweries invented the 12 ounce can in order that their customers would be just shy of fulfillment after enjoying a cold one, thereby leaving them no choice but to grab another. Back then Americans could not handle alcohol like they can today, so by the time they finished the second can (because they were not wasteful) they had become so intoxicated that they would go on to drink another 10 beers before passing out (thus the 12-pack was born). The Tall Boy can addressed this in the mid 1990s when it offered a whopping 16 ounces of brew, 4 ounces greater than its predecessors, and just enough to keep any beer-drinker happy while at the same time curbing over-indulgence.

The Vent Can
Another challenge that crippled the world up until the early 2000s was what is known as "backlash" or "the ripple effect". "Backlash" happens when one is "chugging" a beverage and the flow is interupted by air trying to enter the can. This causes a split second stoppage of the escaping liquid which is followed by an abnormally large wave of the substance that often results in choking or spillage. The "ripple effect" is a series of "backlashes" in a row. This came to an end in the mid 2000s when Coors Brewing Company introduced the Vent can, a can featuring a small indention on the side that was thought to let air enter the can without causing "backlash". Some question claims that the can solved the problem of "backlash" but sales soared despite the negative press.

The Cold Indicator Can
I know that when I go for an ice cold can of Coke it is often difficult for me to tell, just by touching the can, whether or not it is cold. I know most, if not all, of us have had this problem so Coors Brewing Company again stepped up to the plate with the "Cold Indicator" can (which would be soon followed by the accompanying "Cold Indicator Window" box). This quantum leap in the industry allowed drinkers to identify which beers were actually cold by simply looking at a display on the can that changed colors depending on temperature. The need to actually touch the can and judge its cold factor had become nothing more than legand.

Side Note: After the "Cold Indicator" can was released to the public the Coors Company briefly surpassed NASA as the leader in the field of technological advancement (according to a poll of the World's 100 Most Influential Scientists) and the "Cold Indicator" can and "Cold Indicator Window" box both won Nobel Prizes. Coors also won 2 Nobel Peace Prizes in back-to-back years as a result of the release of the above-mentioned products, making it the first brewery to acomplish the feat.

As I said above I do not drink beer and do not endorse the use of alcohol, but I can still appreciate all that this industry has brought to the world. Thank you for reading!