Okay, this is definitely a new one. The “BeerPaQ CarboPouch for Draft Beers” is pretty much exactly like it sounds, although you could drop “BeerPaQ” and “Carbo” to achieve the same effect: it’s beer, but in a pouch. But why?
Here’s why. It’s expensive and time-consuming for smaller “craft draft beer brewers” — people who brew their own beer that’s delicious enough to sell to other people — to bottle all those beers for sale. These beer pouches make it easier and less expensive to do so, especially at on-site events like beer festivals and whatnot where they may sell beers one at a time.
The pouches are made from a special “organoleptic film structure” that apparently don’t change the taste of the beer, so it’s just like drinking out of a bottle assuming you can get past the mental aspect of drinking a tube of beer.
Here’s more:
“The patented film structure is designed to handle the pouch “stretch” after filling and carbonation expansion. The automatic filling process is such that there is no headspace after filling. The three-side seal pouch has a smooth side comfort grip feature. The combination of these factors makes the CarboPouch™ a true economical innovation for distribution of craft draft beers to the consumer’s home. Sports functions now have a package!”
The pouches come in three sizes: 8 ounces (boo!), 16 ounces (yay!), and a whopping 1.8 liter-sized pouch (hooray!). I’ve never personally heard of or seen anything like this but maybe they’ll slowly creep their way into local beer-stravaganzas everywhere.
CARBOPOUCH [Beverage Pouch Group via DVICE]