Beer gets technical

With nifty gadgets and quirky accessories, Beerosphere allows you to take the party home

For a lot of people, religious or otherwise, the festival season also means parties, especially in the run-up to Diwali. Hosting friends and family at home can be both exciting and nerve-wracking, especially if you don't have the drinks in order. Imagine, for instance, that you forgot to chill those cans and pints of beer in time for your guests to arrive. Enter Spin Chill, a nifty little gadget from Beerosphere, which promises to cool a bottle of beer in less than one minute. It works on a simple convection formula and transfers the cooling in an ice-bucket almost immediately to the bottled beer.

What started as a quirky gifting option for men is really an extension of The Beer Cafe's philosophy for lovers of the bubbling beverage. Too many unused colognes and unworn shirts led the team to something more versatile. "The Beer Cafe is about a culture of great beer, great conversation and fun with friends. We want our guests to be able to take this culture home with them," says Rahul Singh, founder and CEO of The Beer Cafe. This is certainly helped by the fact that beer has only gained popularity on the bar menu, especially when it has become an imperative companion for football games and post-work rendezvous with colleagues.

the Sonic Foamer can create the perfect froth in a glass of beer

While the glassware on the online portal isn't as novel - there's plenty in the market available from brands such as Happily Unmarried and Chumbak - the beer cap collector, which can collect up to 45 beer bottle caps, makes for an interesting addition to the living room wall. Throwing away those gorgeous green and brown bottles may seem like a pity, but few of us have the time or creative bandwidth to remodel and reuse these. This is where the SeaLED comes in. A tiny LED light that comes with a cork, it can be mounted on and fitted into a beer bottle. The result is a soft, ambient glow, perfect for a dimly lit setting or even as a companion to enjoy a beer outdoors in the evening. The light is rechargeable via any USB charging slot and can survive on a full charge for up to three hours.

Spin Chill can cool a bottle in under one minute

But the primary focus of the beer drinking experience seems to remain on cooling and the perfect froth that evenly distributes flavour. For the cooling aspect, besides the Spin Chill, there is also the Chill Puck, a patented ice pack in the shape of a coaster. This can be fitted at the bottom of all standard beer cans and can actually cool the beer while you consume it. Another innovative gadget is the USB can cooler (Rs 1,950), a mini-refrigerator that is powered through a USB port and can cool one can of beer at a time. It seems like a great way to incentivise yourself - just plug in the cooler to your laptop, put in a can of beer and reward yourself once that overdue assignment is over.

The Sonic Foamer, by far, seems like the coolest gadget from the line-up, and is also the most expensive at Rs 3,750. One of the joys of having draught beer is in the perfect, airy foam on top, which ensures the beer remains flavourful to the last drop. That's what one misses the most while drinking from a pint or a beer can. The beer foamer works remarkably fast and is easy to operate. Just add a spoonful of water to the plate on the foamer, place a three-quarters full glass of beer and hit the power button. The rest, as they say, is magic.