beer

The 404 1,185: Where 50 euros go a long way (podcast)

Bathroom break video: iPad magician at the world famous German "Hofbraeuhaus" in Munich, the beer capital.

Show title credit: Beatmaster (join us live at noon Eastern everyday to suggest a show title. The most-used suggestions at the end of every month will win a prize!)

Episode 1,185

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Swords and suds: 'Game of Thrones' gets official beer

Though HBO and Brewery Ommegang missed a golden opportunity to release a brewski called "Winter Ale is Coming," the two entities are still hard at work turning George R. R. Martin's popular series into a drinkable product.

The first beer in the line will be Iron Throne Blonde Ale, because nothing says "deadly throne forged from the swords of fallen foes" quite like a light-bodied, straw-colored, easy-drinking ale. I would at least think the Iron Throne would rate a porter or a stout.

The blonde will be on the market just in time for the premiere of season 3 on March 31. It will be available on draft and in 750ml bottles at $8.50 each. We're still waiting to see what the label will look like. … Read more

Beer can keyboard is perfect for drunken Facebook updates

Don't drink and text. Don't drunk dial your ex. That's all good advice, but it will be extremely hard to follow if you happen to be the owner of the Beer Keyboard.

The Beer Keyboard is exactly what it sounds like. It uses beer cans in place of keys. Just gently press down on a can and you trigger the proper letter or number on a computer.

The keyboard is made from 44 beer cans and an Arduino-powered touch capacitive controller. It was hatched by Prague-based brewer Staropramen and Robofun Create, a company dedicated to building unusual tech items.… Read more

Nuked beers safe to drink following U.S. government tests

When a nuclear apocalypse comes calling, the first thing most of us will yearn for is a drink. And thanks to our government's foresight and willingness to bomb stuff, you can rest assured that the surviving cans of PBR and Bud Light found in your now flattened local 7-Eleven will be safe to chug.

This is actually no joke. Alex Wellerstein, an American Institute of Physics science historian who also runs a blog about nuclear secrets, recently posted some old government documents and photos from "Operation Teapot."

The subtitle to this 1955 report (PDF) on the experiment undertaken at the Nevada Test Site says it all: "The effect of nuclear explosions on commercially packaged beverages."… Read more

Can alcohol make tech companies more creative?

Silicon Valley believes in neither inhibition, nor prohibition.

Openness is encouraged, drunkenness is often cast upon blind eyes.

And yet some still frown on the idea that alcohol is anything other than an evil liquid, sent by the forces of darkness to make man incoherent.

I have scientific evidence that this might not be the case.

The Economist, its writers perhaps a little tipsy on the weekend, today offers an inebriating piece entitled: "The sad demise of the three-martini lunch."

It explains how America's battle with its puritan posture has meant an increased frowning on the presence … Read more

Beer mug gadget foams at the mouth (on purpose)

The head of foam on a beer is important. Too much, and you're stuck with a mouth full of fluff. Too little, and you're wondering if the carbonation is correct. Buy a Professional Beer Foam Making Mug from Brando, and you may take control of your beer head destiny.

Press down on a little lever, and watch the beer go whoosh and foam up at the top. Brando refers to it as "joys for all people." The under-21 crowd could always use it to add some head to root beer, I suppose.… Read more

Stein of Science: Liquid nitrogen-grade booze container

Meet Funranium Labs founder Phil Broughton.

He's a radiation safety specialist at the University of California at Berkeley. He was once a cryogenics technician for the Amundsen-Scott South Pole scientific research station. He's really into coffee and beer and finding the best way to deliver those products into his system, and he has boldly offered himself up as a guinea pig for science by personally testing and developing products for discerning geek customers.

Let's start with the Stein of Science. Each stein is crafted from a bench top liquid nitrogen dewar flask. That means it will keep your beer frosty cold for quite a long time. That also means it's not cheap. A 655-milliliter Stein of Science costs $230. Your fellow lab rats will be insanely jealous when you show up to the next party with one of these bad boys.… Read more

Building a better beer tap with Android and Arduino

Drinking beer requires a certain amount of supervision. Regardless if the experience is self-monitored or kept in check by our peers, keeping a close eye on the proceedings is usually a good idea. While a free-flowing fount of beer may seem like a good idea (because it is), sometimes it's probably best to be kept under lock and key. Or in this case, under an NFC reader.

Google employee and home-brewer Paul Carff designed the KegDroid as a novel way to dispense beer. Users gain access into the system by using their own individual NFC tag or badge. Using … Read more

Electronic beer fridge only opens when all work's in

If you're anything like me, when Friday rolls around you've probably got one eye on the clock and one eye looking forward to a refreshing post-work beverage. Spare a thought then for these office-dwellers toiling hard to finish -- their beer fridge only unlocks when the last bit of work is handed in.

The Drink Time Sheet is a fully stocked fridge of brewskis that's electronically locked to the time sheet system at Brazilian marketing agency Casa. It only unlocks when all of the week's time sheets are turned in, which seems like a heck of an incentive not to put anything off until next week.

Read more of "Cheers! Electronic beer fridge only opens when all work's in" at Crave UK.… Read more