Ever since I first saw the Bottoms Up Draft Beer Dispensing System, I've wanted to write a post on it. But there was never a real Boston connection. Besides the obvious, of course, which is: beer.
But finally! A reason to post about the beer taps that will change ballparks as we know them! Aramark, the company that handles the Red Sox' concessions, has signed a deal that will bring a permanent pair of the Bottoms Up dispensers to Fenway Park in time for Opening Day.
Oh, right, so what is the Bottoms Up Draft Beer Dispensing System? It's exactly what it sounds like: a tap that fills your cup with beer -- from the bottom. Prepare to have your mind blown:
The secret is a small magnetic disk in the bottom of the cup that gets pushed up when the cup is placed on the tap; as the beer flows in, it pushes the magnet back down as the "pour" is finished.
The website lists nearly a dozen benefits it offers over traditional taps, including improved beer taste, reduced waste from spilling, increased efficiency and, perhaps most important to a baseball game, faster service -- the Bottoms Up dispenser can fill 56 beers in one minute.
Fenway originally tested the new beers taps in 2009, but only briefly.
"It worked great as far as sales and stuff but it wasn't a long enough trial for them to really see how the equipment could benefit," said Josh Springer, inventor of Bottoms Up.
Freireich said improvements over the last year convinced Aramark to add Bottoms Up to the concessions starting lineup.
One Bottoms Up system will be placed on Fenway's Big Concourse, between Gate B and Gate C near the outfield, and the other outside the ballpark on Yawkey Way.