Happy Hour Clean Technology Special: Pubinno Smart Tap at CES

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As another week comes to a close, many of us are looking forward to pouring ourselves a cold one. However, like many aspects of our lives, there are environmentally smarter ways to consume our beverage of choice. At the end of one of the long days at CES, many people were also looking to take a break, and Pubinno’s demo offered a welcome and resource-conserving way to serve up a well-poured draft beer.

Overall, from a lifecycle perspective, the estimated amount of CO2e emissions in beer can vary greatly. There is the cultivation of barley and hops, with carbon intensity varying by region. Then that barley needs to be sprouted into malt and roasted. That then gets “boiled” to create the brew, which is fermented at a controlled temperature. According to Pubinno, up to 25 liters of water are needed to produce each liter of beer, which also has associated emissions with its purification and processing. Once ready, the beer is packaged, shipped, and refrigerated. However, the highest emissions related to beer (or other beverages) are associated with non-returnable glass bottles, which means draft beer already puts us ahead.

However, draft beer tends to involve waste. A significant amount of beer is lost from cleaning, poor pressure control, too much foam, etc. Pubinno offers a smart beer tap that precisely controls the pouring of beer to reduce waste and claims to increase average keg yield by roughly 21%. They also claim that over 1.4 billion liters of water have been saved so far from over 200 million draft beers sold. A measured net carbon and water reduction is based on ISO 14064 and ISO 14046 standards. This has led to several industry sustainability awards.

Unlike some competitive products that pour from the bottom and use a magnetic puck to seal the cup, Pubinno does not need special glassware. While those special cups can save beer, they also add cost and carbon footprint associated with making the cups.

In addition, the smart tap pours beer without needing supervision. Set the size, set down the glass, and it does the work. This lets it work well in self-service situations or with inexperienced bartenders. It can even adjust the amount of foam based on local preference and beer type. In addition to carbonated beer, the system also works with nitrogenated beer (e.g., Guinness) and sodas.

While “AI-Powered” claims were made by virtually every vendor at CES, the demonstration was impressive for anyone who paid their way through college bartending or poured a lot of keg beers at parties in college. It truly seemed smart. The Stella Artois came out with the right level of carbonation without needing the signature scraping of the foam off the top.

Likely the biggest impact for this product will be on expensive imported beers, where the heavy liquid needs to be transported long distances, sometimes while being refrigerated. Beyond the emissions and water reduction, the reduced waste can also save venues money. Being eco-friendly can also make business sense.

As with many things, this product alone is not going to reverse global warming. But it can make a difference in one specific area. If we all take steps to make incremental changes, the net impact can be significant. Cheers!