Dutch airline KLM is set to launch the first ever service with draught beer on tap.
The company said that it’s able to do so after years of experimenting with keg designs. It confirmed that it has now succeeded in pouring the perfect pint at high altitude using an innovative dispenser.
Edwin Griffioen, Heineken’s Supply Development Manager for Global Innovation, explained how it will work.- Because the air pressure is so much lower in an aeroplane than at sea level, a traditional beer tap will not work as it will only dispense a huge amount of foam. His team went to work, and thankfully for beer lovers everywhere, but especially in the sky, they figured out a way to serve more than just foam.
We do have dispensers that work on air pressure, but these were too big to fit in a plane. It was one big jigsaw puzzle, as the keg of beer, the cooling system and the air pressure compressor all had to fit in an airline catering trolley. In the end we had to leave out one of those pieces to make it all fit, so with pain in our hearts we had to leave the cooling behind.
The kegs, delivered cold to the airport, will be loaded into specially designed drink carts, designed to keep the beer at a frosty 41F.
We redesigned the trolley to resemble a giant thermos flask. The beer has to remain under five degrees Celsius. In our latest test, we easily managed a temperature of 3.5C after seven hours. We managed to set the diameter of the tap and the air pressure to exactly the right combination, which delivers at 36,000 feet exactly the same beer as you would get on the ground.
KLM was set to introduce draught beers on a flight to Curacao on July 2, but had to postpone it as it is still waiting for the right safety certificates from civil aviation authorities.
KLM expects to deploy the draft beer program in a month or so on some selected flights.
The company said that it’s able to do so after years of experimenting with keg designs. It confirmed that it has now succeeded in pouring the perfect pint at high altitude using an innovative dispenser.
Edwin Griffioen, Heineken’s Supply Development Manager for Global Innovation, explained how it will work.- Because the air pressure is so much lower in an aeroplane than at sea level, a traditional beer tap will not work as it will only dispense a huge amount of foam. His team went to work, and thankfully for beer lovers everywhere, but especially in the sky, they figured out a way to serve more than just foam.
We do have dispensers that work on air pressure, but these were too big to fit in a plane. It was one big jigsaw puzzle, as the keg of beer, the cooling system and the air pressure compressor all had to fit in an airline catering trolley. In the end we had to leave out one of those pieces to make it all fit, so with pain in our hearts we had to leave the cooling behind.
The kegs, delivered cold to the airport, will be loaded into specially designed drink carts, designed to keep the beer at a frosty 41F.
We redesigned the trolley to resemble a giant thermos flask. The beer has to remain under five degrees Celsius. In our latest test, we easily managed a temperature of 3.5C after seven hours. We managed to set the diameter of the tap and the air pressure to exactly the right combination, which delivers at 36,000 feet exactly the same beer as you would get on the ground.
KLM was set to introduce draught beers on a flight to Curacao on July 2, but had to postpone it as it is still waiting for the right safety certificates from civil aviation authorities.
KLM expects to deploy the draft beer program in a month or so on some selected flights.
http://www.airlinestaffrates.com/klm...-beer-service/
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