Bottoms Up’s Clever Invention Makes Serving Beer More Efficient

(NationalUSNews.com) — Beer has been around just about as long as any human society has existed. Countries all over the world have claimed to be the original makers of it, but it is entirely possible that it is just such a good idea that early humans from various places figured it out without a lot of outside assistance. The popularity of beer remains high nearly everywhere humans can be found, with beer consumption in the U.S. alone constituting 6.4 billion gallons per year. Compared to America’s annual wine consumption of only 931 million gallons, it’s clear that this ancient beverage is not going anywhere.

However long and storied the history of beer is, the human drive to innovate is entangled in beer just as it is with everything else. Bottoms Up Draft Beer Systems is the maker of one such innovation. They’re not changing the beer itself, but the method of delivery. Bottoms Up CEO Josh Springer invented the beverage system in 2008. It works by using specially designed glass or reusable plastic cups, which are filled from the bottom rather than the top. Springer says this method fills the glasses faster and with less waste.

Some people may not think speed is important when considering beer, but for busy bars and restaurants, speed is almost as crucial as efficiency. The system fills specially designed glasses, which have a metal-rimmed hole at the bottom, to preselected levels, most commonly a pint, which fills in only 6 seconds, then a magnet clicks into place, sealing the beverage in. The magnets are often decorative or branded, which consumers can pop out when they are done and collect, which makes them great marketing tools for businesses.

While the system is expensive to implement at first, the company’s website features a return-on-investment calculator to help business owners decide if this could work for them. One of the benefits of using the Bottoms Up system is that bartenders can set the glass to fill, then mix other drinks while waiting. A Marriott World Center in Orlando, Florida, implemented the system at a pool bar and found that total sales for the bar increased by about a half million dollars that year even though the amount of beer sold remained the same, suggesting that the system allows for more sales of other drinks by streamlining the beers.