Taps serving brews connected to the DraughtMaster system at the Promenaden bar in Copenhagen.
Photographer: Carsten Snejbjerg/BloombergReinventing the Humble Beer Keg
The biggest change in storing lagers since the 1950s means tap beers taste fresher than ever.
In the cellar underneath the Frederik VI bar in Copenhagen, owner Jimmy Streit showed off the innovation that’s enabled him to boost his earnings by 5 percent in a declining business—a line of plastic kegs racked side-by-side like bowling balls against a concrete wall.
Streit switched from traditional steel storage more than a year ago at the behest of his supplier, Carlsberg A/S. Because the new vats keep beer fresher longer, the change enabled him to increase the number of taps running at the bar to 22, adding more expensive brews like Jacobsen Yakima India pale ale and Somersby apple cider.