With growler refill stations at almost every pub, restaurant and corner store, the selection of beers you can take home has never been better. There's just one problem: The beer quickly goes flat and stale. Not a problem for the heavy drinkers among us (yes, you can raise your hands, no one's looking!), but it was certainly a problem for four beer-loving engineers from Portland. Inspired to invent a better growler, they formed a company called GrowlerWerks and invented the CO2-charged uKeg.
The uKeg is a vacuum-insulated, stainless-steel vessel similar to a growler, but with a cap charged by CO2 cartridges (the kind used for pressurized soda dispensers), which are available from kitchen or restaurant stores, or Amazon.com. There's even a bona fide tiny tap, and a sight glass to track your consumption. The gents who created the uKeg claim it will keep beer fresh for weeks, and the insulation will keep it cool for hours.
We recently got a first-hand glimpse of the prototype in action when the GrowlerWerks team held a demo at Lompoc's Side Bar. The beer came out with a great head (plus the tap was fun to use). The uKeg will cost $99 through the GrowlerWerks website. But a Kickstarter campaign to fund the first round of production goes live today, allowing you to preorder uKegs for the discounted price of $79. If you want to check it out for yourself, there's a launch party tonight at Hopworks on S.E. Powell from 5:30-9:30 p.m. Get the details on their Facebook page.