Latest News

Mon, 14 May 2012

Following up on my last post, you are now primed to start thinking about the Great American Beer Festival.  Go to this page (Win Tickets) on the official site of Craft Beer Week (www.craftbeer.com).

Mon, 14 May 2012

This reminds me somewhat of those German holidays that are celebrated in the name of some long forgotten saint, but really are just a convenient reason to have a few great beers.

In America, we don’t have a tradition of naming holidays after saints (other than St. Patty’s, of course), we just tell you what is happening.  IT’S CRAFT BEER WEEK! HAVE A FEW BEERS!

Not like you needed it, but here are 5 great reasons to have a (few) craft beer(s) today:

1) Support the American workforce.  Damn straight, with local, fresh beer! The highest and best way to support this cause is to visit your local bar, supporting your bartender, bar back, bar owner, beer distributor, brewer, etc., etc. - look at you! An American hero.  Just trying to give a little back.

2) Try something new.  These days, you have so many wonderful choices in quality craft brew, you owe it to yourself to try something you haven’t had before.  Celebrate Choice!

3) Have a real party. By, you know, inviting people over to socialize and enjoy a craft brew with you. Nothing feels better than sharing good times.

4) Confirm you have good taste. The craft beer movement is thriving - because you can taste the difference.

5) Because you deserve it.  Treat you better, won’t you?

Mon, 07 May 2012

The 2012 Craft Brewer’s Conference in San Diego just wrapped up, and the winners have been announced.

The Champion Brewery and Brewer Awards winners are:

Small Brewing Company Category
Brauerei Michael Plank, Michael Plank

Mid-Size Brewing Company Category
Firestone Walker Brewing Company, Matthew Brynildson

Large Brewing Company Category
AB InBev, Claudio Ferro

Small Brewpub Category
Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant-Media, Iron Hill Brewery Team

Large Brewpub Category
Pelican Pub & Brewery, Darron R S Welch

The full list of winners can be found here.  Of note: Our friends at Squatters earned a Gold and a Bronze. The Intermountain West was well represented, with winners from Montana, Utah, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, Arizona and New Mexico. Good job, everyone - see you next year!!

Fri, 04 May 2012

Whoops, it’s May already! Kinda missed most of March and April.

We’ve had a lot happen since our last post:

• We exhibited at the IBDEA product fair - what a great time, we met lots of nice people and made good connections. We look forward to being a part of this group for a long time.  If your business is in the Beverage Dispensing Equipment industry, you need to join - see IBDEA.org.
• We went to the Bar and Nightclub show, and met more great people.  The folks from Heineken were showing their new Heineken on Draft setup.  Amazing, they use a glycol cooler from Banner which cools 70 degree beer down to ice-cold temps!
• We met Amy, the principal of our new rep firm, s3 Hospitality. s3 will represent DraftMore in the intermountain region. We’re currently running a promo with them - a brand new Wii gaming system for the first agent to sell 30 DraftMores!
• We have two new stocking distributors, 44 Deg N in Toronto and ABSOne in Chicagoland.  Welcome!
• We introduced some new sales materials, and continue to add to our marketing support material.
• We sent out our first email newsletter - we won’t do it to often, we don’t want to bug you, just inform you as things progress.  If you want to be on the mailing list, please subscribe.

Thanks, James

Fri, 09 Mar 2012

So, we’re headed to Vegas today to meet up with our fellow IBDEA members.  We’ll send regular updates, we’re hoping to pick up a few more distributors and/or reps at the meeting.  Then it’s on to the Bar and Nightclub show, which sounds like a really good time, but I’ll let you know for sure!  To all who will be there - get in touch, let’s meet up!

We will be a little less available for the next few days due to meetings, etc.  But leave a message and we’ll get back to you.

Fri, 09 Mar 2012

A new app is rolling out at the South by Southwest festival.  Called #Tweet-A-Beer, it lets you send beer money to your friends by tying your Paypal and Twitter accounts together using Chirpify - to be used for a beer, of course.  I promise, if you tweet-a-beer to me, I’ll buy one!!

Full article is here.

Wed, 07 Mar 2012

So I received a pleasant surprise telephone call from Charley Kleinrichert last week, letting me know he would be in Park City (our hometown) this week for skiing. He said I had talked it up pretty good last time we visited.

Charley got in Monday night and managed to get some night skiing in at Park City Resort for his warm up. Yesterday, I met him for a half day at Deer Valley, the #1 ranked resort in the U.S.  Charley is a good skier who likes to go fast, so we spent all afternoon ripping down the slopes (with the occasional break to enjoy a Utah craft beer). We had a great time and really enjoyed catching up.

We’re both headed to the IBDEA meeting in Las Vegas later this week, then the Bar and Nightclub show.  If you’re going I’ll see you there!

Mon, 05 Mar 2012

Utah’s only distillery, High West, is in the running for ‘Outstanding Bar Program’.  This new category for 2012 recognizes a restaurant or bar for excellence in cocktail, spirits and/or beer service.  The complete list of semi-finalists can be found at www.jamesbeard.org/awards.

If you don’t know about High West, you should go to your nearest liquor store and find one of their rye whiskey blends.  Both the 16 and 21 year olds are sublime, but even the 10 year has an excellent, full flavor with a mellow bite.  Clearly something to enjoy.  They also offer a uniquely thicker vodka made from oats.  To find a retailer near you, check www.highwest.com.

If you’re ever in Park City, just ski down and have yourself a glass or two of one of the finest whiskeys made in the U.S.  I’m pretty sure High West is the only ski in/ski out distillery in the U.S.

Tue, 28 Feb 2012

Last week we officially joined the IBDEA - International Beverage Dispensing Equipment Association.  The purpose of the IBDEA is to provide a group structure to network and share information and ideas.

We’re excited to go to our first IBDEA Annual Conference and Product Fair in Las Vegas March 9th - 14th.  We’ll be meeting lots of people we’ve been talking to on the phone, and look forward to seeing many of the industry people we’ve gotten to know over the past year.  If you will be there, look us up in booth 203!!

Tue, 21 Feb 2012

Quick Review of Desanamax - visibly clean beer lines! I received a sample of Desanamax several months ago, but never got around to trying it out (or cleaning my draft system, which I haven’t used in a while). But I had some time today and finally got around to doing it. I haven’t had beer in my system for about 6 months, and had no idea how yucky it might be - it didn’t look too bad, but the faucet was stuck closed. Not good.

Desanamax uses a color changing chemical technology to tell you how much cleaning you need to do. In the picture above, my sample from the cleaning bottle after mixing (before using) is on the right (it’s a little darker than ideal, probably due the tap water itself). After running the Desanamax through my system and letting it soak for about 5 minutes, I pulled the sample on the left. You can see that the color of the flushed liquid closely matches the ‘A’ strip on the color chart, meaning my system was now clean. Thankfully, it was not that dirty - but I would not have known without Desanamax!

The best part is, after 5 minutes, I am done and I know my system is clean. Because it had been a long time since my system had been cleaned, I might have thought that I needed to do two or more cleaning cycles, or a longer soak time if I had been using another cleaner. Bottom line, Desanamax tells you when you’re done, ensuring you have a clean system without wasting time or cleaning chemicals. I also like that Desanamax does not contain cholrine or surfactants, which would affect the taste of the beer. The only residues after cleaning are natural mineral water components. I really like this product, and will use it for keeping my lines clean.

If you’re a pro, you should see the cool apps that Desanamax offers for mobile phones. They let you analyze the color change using an IPhone, and confirm the color is correct. Anything that can save time in the field equals money. If you want to find out more about Desanamax, click on the picture above to visit the website, or contact Karl at 1 513 771 6263.

Mon, 20 Feb 2012

Thu, 02 Feb 2012

Holy Happy Christmas! Check out my Christmas gift from my brother and sister-in-law. All Belgian Triples, some rare, direct from Belgium.  They even have a bit of Belgian dust on them.  We are torn between savouring them and saving them for special occasions.  The compromise is that we are drinking them as needed. If you need your own very cool selection of Belgian beer, try Beer Planet in Brussels - http://www.beerplanet.eu/

Sat, 07 Jan 2012

The next time your roommate does this, you can truthfully say ‘c’mon man, that’s for 5 year olds!’

Wed, 04 Jan 2012

I just discovered TAPLiSTER (www.taplister.com). Helps you find your favorite beers on tap in over 50 cities.  Check it out!  The power of community information, put to great use!

From their website: “Taplister is a free service for you, the craft beer drinker. We will help find where your favorite beers are being served.”

We joined their group and will update as we can using the Android App.  Of course, Salt Lake City is NOT on their list (yet), so maybe we can become the first ambassador of beer for SLC.  In case you didn’t know, we have some great craft brewers in UT!

Great idea, good job on the website TAPLiSTER!!

Tue, 03 Jan 2012

Happy New Year! DraftMore N America is looking for companies and individuals to represent DraftMore,THE Automatic Beer Regulator. Offer a unique product that pays for itself quickly.  We offer good commissions, great product support and a no-hassle opportunity to add to your business. Please visit www.beerprofit.com for more on our product; if interested, either contact us or complete the form on our sales rep page.

Please feel free to share with your friends!!  We offer referral commissions!

Cheers, James

Owner, DraftMore N America

Thu, 29 Dec 2011

Jeana evaluates the ‘Brewski’ at Lone Peak Brewery in Big Sky, Montana. We particularly liked the Nordic Blonde and the Rolling Hills amber ale. Cheers!

Mon, 26 Dec 2011

Glad to be in Montana today. Beautiful state and home to some great craft brewers. So far this week I’ve enjoyed a really nice pilsener and a Dancing Trout ale, both from Bayern brewery of Missoula. As a U of MT alum, I ‘ve loved Bayern’s brews since about ‘89. Glad to see they’re doing well; they have several different styles, both lagers and ales that are really nice. I’ll follow with details later; right now I have to get back to building legos with our boys.

Sun, 25 Dec 2011

DraftMore North America is officially closed for the year.  Happy holidays and best wishes to all for the new year.  A special thank you to all our friends and family who have supported us in getting our business going this year.  Cheers!!

Thu, 15 Dec 2011

Check this out - shared by our friend Ken Tucker, a staunch proponent of NY state craft brewers and craft beer in general.  This story was originally posted on Beernews.org, a great site for craft beer news.

U.S. Senator Charles E Schumer announced the creation of the ‘I Love NY Brew’ campaign.  The goal is to encourage NY area restaurants and bars to serve more local beer.  The full story is here http://bit.ly/sG9Ejo.

Great idea - as the story states, this initiative supports local jobs and localized industries.  It’s also great for draft beer, still the preferred way to distribute and drink fresh, local beer.  Speak to your congressman about a similar initiative!  In the meantime, where can I get a bumper sticker?

Fri, 09 Dec 2011

So, the last part of my visit was to AC Beverage in Annapolis, Maryland. I met with Charley, an extremely knowledgeable but humble guy.  Charley and I discussed at length the strategy we should employ to get DraftMore beer regulators out to market. Towards the end of our meeting, we had a couple of glasses of Sly Fox ale, an excellent beer.  We’re hoping to work closely with Charley and AC Beverage in the new year, on DraftMore and on a few other projects.  I hope to go back soon to see the new training center when they get it finished.

Upon returning to Utah, I found that the new DraftMore distributor in Ireland is a company which produces an automatic keg changeover system (Core Components).   They sell their Core Components products through AC Beverage in the U.S. I am starting to learn is that this is actually a pretty small industry, with great people who have one big job - serve better draft beer!