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Every beer
enthusiast dreams of having a tap of their favorite beer in their home.
Maybe it comes from an underground pipe that goes right from the brewery to
your refrigerator? That would be excellent.
While we're not at this level of convenience yet (probably
for the best), a brewery
in Belgium is constructing a 2 mile underground pipe system for its beer.
The De Halve Mann Brewery in the small city of Bruges, Belgium, prides itself
on crafting beer since 1856.
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The company has had its ups and down, with new owners and
new methods of bottling. The styles of beers brewed at The De Halve Mann Brewery have also changed
over the years from a "hazy" and slightly sour beer to more English-style
stouts and pale ales. In the 1930s the brewery became more popular outside the
city of Bruges and in 2013 the company's Straffe Hendrik Quadruple won a gold
medal at the Australian Beer Awards.
This increase in popularity led to an increase in
traffic, not only of visitors to the brewery but of trucks that carry the beer
from the brewery to the bottle facility 2 miles through the city. According to
the Telegraph, 85 percent of the city's truck traffic comes from the route
between the brewery and the bottler. Bruges, a medieval city, is not designed
for driving and thus the idea of a beer pipeline was born.
The pipeline
will be similar to modern pipelines for oil and gas, ensuring the beer
reaches the other end just as good as what went in. The pipe will be made of a
high-end plastic and the whole system was rigorously tested to be sure that it
would not affect the quality, taste, foam, or color of the beer. They plan to
clean the pipe after ever bath to prevent contamination. The pipeline will move
6,000 liters of beer per hour and reduce the time from brewery to bottler to 10
to 15 minutes.
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his solution allows for more sustainable growth, as well
as keeping the authenticity of brewing on its original premises. Company
director Xavier Vanneste said the, "idea is born of environmental and quality
of life concerns, and not economic ones."
De Halve Mann Brewery has won principle approval form
city authorities but technical challenges of installation (to keep the classic
cobblestone streets) still need to be worked out. Once everything is settled,
they estimate the project to take three to four months.
P.S. Beer
burglars beware - the brewery's CEO noted that if there are any leaks or
tapping they'll be able to detect it right away.
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