As if there needs to be another excuse to head to a microbrewery for a few brews, or a casual meal. Surely there’s dozens of reasons to do that already. The tasty, often hard to find beers should be enough to get you through the door alone.
But the emergence of a certain cylinder shaped device planted on the bar next to the beer taps has got my attention. What is this mysterious shiny thing? Is it for looks? Can I drink out of it? There doesn’t seem to be a way of getting into it yet it’s filled with…well I don’t know. Hops? Fruit? Cloudy brown liquid?
I initially didn’t know what these space aged devices were called. It seems that a specific brewery calls them one thing, another might call them something else.
What I do know is they are rare in these parts and no doubt expensive. I’ve only come across three of them. And considering the amount of breweries / bars around, that’s not many.
A bit of further research suggests they are called a ‘Randall’. Invented by the brilliant Dogfish Head Brewery in the US, they were looking for a way to make their 120 Minute IPA even more hoppy at a beer festival, way back in 2002.
So how does it work?
Despite looking rather mysterious, this little bad boy is simply an encased filtering device containing whatever the owners want to put in it. Let’s just say it’s filled with hops just like Dogfish Head invented it for. The device is attached to a particular beer on tap, so that when the beer is poured, it passes through the device to take on the additional flavours trapped within. Want more hops on the palette when you drink a Pale Ale? Pass the keg of Pale through the device. It’s like the beer has received a last minute tea bagging of flavour.
Fancy the Witbier with a bit more flavour? Maybe add some cut up fruit and spices to the device.
Brilliant.
Why am I so impressed?
As I said, there’s always a reason to go to a brewery. But, thanks to our US friends, there is officially one more reason. Yes, you can still drink that Pale Ale on tap at a particular brewery, but if they also run it through the ‘Randall’ then a whole new, additional beer has been created. A beer you will never drink again, and certainly never be able to find bottled. Re-visit said brewery and gone are the hops from the device. Suddenly a dark coffee and vanilla like substance has been added and their Stout is being passed through it. Just like that, a brand new, unique beer has been created on the spot. A brand new beer that I just must try…!
As mentioned, I’ve come across three of these devices recently. All seem to be slightly different. All three have their own unique name. Whilst none have been introduced to me as Randall, they all operate pretty similarly to the Dogfish original.
Temple Brewery in Melbourne’s northern suburbs has recently attached two devices and dubbed them ‘Fat Boys’ (one for each bar). The Fat Boys are the biggest and certainly the widest of the ones I’ve seen, so the name is pretty apt. It was filled with East Kent Goldings hops with their ESB passed through it when I visited last. The ESB is a great beer as it is, but the hops made it extra, extra special!
The second of the devices is at Mornington Peninsula Brewery down in Mornington, Victoria and is called the ‘Tardis’. This one has been there for a bit and was recently encased with lemons and attached to their Witbier, however they do change it often enough depending on what beer they attach it to.
Thirdly, I came across one in Hobart at the New Sydney Hotel. Nicknamed the ‘Hopinator’, this one was full of hops, plums and spices. The owner of the pub seemed pretty impressed with what he’d stuffed in there, and it made a local stout more like a Christmas Ale. According to the pub, the ‘Hopinator’ is the only one in Tassie.
So beer folks, as you can see I’m rather taken with the ‘ol Randall…or Fat Boy…Tardis…Hopinator. Whatever people want to call it, it is a brilliant invention. Whilst it gives me ideas of creating a little tea bag of hops and flavours and adding it to my glass of homebrew IPA at home…I probably should just accept that it won’t be as good, and keep heading to breweries with one installed.
They might be expensive to install, but as a beer enthusiast, they are well worth it I reckon!
Till then,
Cheers!…Prost!...Salute!...Kampai!
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