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First world problem solved: Airline figures out how to serve draft beer in-flight

Airline figures out how to serve draft beer in-flight

Beer drinkers rejoice. It has taken more than 50 years, but an airline has finally figured out how to serve draft beer.

KLM and Dutch brewing company Heineken think they’ve tapped into a technology that will allow them to safely offer keg beer in the high-altitude and pressurized environment of a modern aircraft.

They plan on rolling out the draft beer on flights to Rio, Brazil during the Olympics next month.

The problem with serving it on airplanes comes from the fact that the kegs in bars require a tank of carbon dioxide that use the gas to drive the beer up a tube towards a valve where it can be dispensed.

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However, the environment on a plane 40,000 feet in the air is different than on the ground.

A faulty valve or crack in a tank of compressed CO2 could turn it into a speeding projectile, and for that reason they’re prohibited onboard.

In order to get around the issue, Heineken has opted to use air pressure to drive its pale lager out of a keg.

However, that brings up its own problem: pressure in the cabin is lower than it is on the ground.

So it has opted to set its keg air compressors at higher level than it would at sea level.

Without this elevated pressure, it would end up with a frothy, not frosty, brew.

“Because the air pressure is so much lower in an airplane than at sea level, a traditional beer tap will not work as it will only dispense a huge amount of foam,” Edwin Griffioen, Heineken’s supply development manager for global innovation and the “air keg’s” designer, told News.com.au.

However, the dispensers that work on air pressure were too big to fit on a plane, and they had to make the tough decision to leave their kegs’ cooling systems on the ground.

Four frosty kegs will be loaded onto KLM planes, but it may be a race against time for passengers hoping to avoid a lukewarm brew.

In order to offset the loss of the cooling system, Griffioen said that the drink trolleys have been altered to mimic a “giant thermos flask,” which are designed to keep the beer under 5C.

Paul Gatza, director of the Brewers Association, told Quartz that despite the difficulties having draft on board could lead to many more passengers ordering the liquid gold.

“If I saw a beer craft rolling down the aisle, I’d probably get awfully thirsty,” said Gatza.