MdV: Merchant du Vin
beer e-newsletter – Wednesday May 9, 2007: Bottle Openers
Those of you planning your
spring/summer beer menu or tap handle rotation may wish to recall: Ayinger Brau-Weisse Bavarian Hefe-Weizen,
in 4-packs, half-liter bottles, and 50-liter kegs . . . and, starting this year, Ayinger Celebrator
Doppelbock will be available on-draft year-round, in 30-liter kegs. Stunning branded glassware is available to
enhance the experience of these fine beers.
Check our website for news about a
fine addition to our portfolio, available after June 1, '07: Zatec Bright Lager from the
Interest in and media coverage of
fine beer continues to grow: Lindemans Cuvée René is
in the May ’07 Esquire; Ayinger Celebrator was in the April 18 New York Times;
The Dallas News covered both Samuel Smith’s Organic Ale and Lindemans Framboise
in the past month; Pilot Challenge magazine evaluated Smith’s, Ayinger and
Lindemans; Patterson’s Beverage Journal reviewed Sam Smith’s India Ale . . . and beer festivals, dinners, and events are
offering beer lovers all across America more chances to discover and enjoy
great beer.
Full national news & MdV event
listing at:
http://www.merchantduvin.com/pages/1_about/news.html
Beer Chat from the
This month, we offer a quick
highlight to an item that can be large, small, humble, flashy, collectible,
amazing, or even a combination of all those things. Regardless, it’s always vital: a beer bottle
opener.
A bottle cap – or to use the
industry term, a crown – is a top for glass bottles that has been in use for
over 100 years. It was invented by
William Painter, and his company Crown Holdings (formerly Crown Cork & Seal,
and often called that today) is still operating. The crown cap makes a very positive seal,
easily holding the pressure of carbonated beverages like beer, and it’s fairly
easy for a machine to apply it to a bottle.
However, when a beer aficionado wants
access to the bottle’s contents, a tool is needed.
Openers cover a wide range: very
simple openers, such as the classic “church key” or the flat openers found on
pocketknives; corkscrews with an opener feature; wall-mount openers; “speed
openers” – flat openers with a finger ring at one end, sometimes popular with
bartenders. There are mechanical openers
with tricky action, and figural openers that resemble fine sculpture. We’ve seen a bottle opener that is molded
into the bottom of a shoe, and even a finger ring (jewelry) that is designed to
open bottles.
Because there are so many varieties
of openers, we’d like to offer a few suggestions:
-Go robust! The business end that touches the teeth of
the crown should be steel or other hard metal – aluminum and plastic look cool
and feel light, but after some use the crowns will eventually make the edge
jagged and less functional.
-Support! The opener might as well
be interesting or attractive. They make
a great venue for graphics, and if a brewery you like produces an opener you
like, support them by buying the beer. After
all, that’s what the brewery hoped you would do when they produced the opener .
. .
-Install! We like a permanently-mounted opener at a bar
or restaurant. (Although there should be some pocket-sized openers around a
bar, they will accidentally walk away at an alarming rate. A permanent wall- or bar-mount prevents
this.)
-Collect! Openers have been made for many years, and
can be found at all price ranges.
Sometimes small openers are free at beer festivals or promo nights. (A crown collection might be a gratifying
tie-in as well. If you start to collect
crowns, you can remove them from bottles with minimum damage by placing a
quarter on top of the crown before opening – this keeps the opener from
touching the decorated part of the crown and helps prevent bending.)
We do sell a beautiful solid brass
Samuel Smith opener on our e-store, as well as two versions of a bar-mount
Samuel Smith opener – check them out under “collectibles” in our e-store right
here:
http://store.merchantduvin.com/e/mdv
Frequently we hear that the
experience of a great beer is more than just flavor: it’s the brewery history, the ingredients,
the skill of the brewer, the glassware, the perfect food pairing, the great
bartender or good friends . . . why not make your bottle opener part of that
experience?
For your excellent craft beer,
served in the right glass, at the right temperature, with good friends &
fine food, reach for your finest bottle opener.
If you are reading this newsletter
for the first time, check our archive at:
http://www.merchantduvin.com/pages/1_about/enews_archive.html/
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http://www.merchantduvin.com/pages/1_about/guestbook.html
Merchant