Spülboy Glass Washers
From $99, spuelboy.de
We all want our glasses to be “beer clean,” but getting it done—properly—at home is not as simple as it sounds. The kitchen sink and decent water pressure are a good start, but any use of soap requires thorough, obsessive rinsing … and are you sure you know where that scrubby sponge has been? Meanwhile, the dishwasher is a wonderfully fast and convenient way to coat your glasses with beer-foam-killing residues.
Wanting a solution for our home bar, we remembered the in-sink solutions we had seen in Europe, especially in German pubs. So we did some research and found the Spülboy. We ordered the simplest model, the Neptun T2000, directly from the company based near Düsseldorf. Including shipping, the total was about $150—lower than the price for similar systems we have seen available in the United States.
It’s pretty straightforward: one enclosed side is for the brushes and cleaning solution, while the other—rather easily connected to the water supply—does a quick and thorough spray-rinse on the inside and outside of the glass. It works perfectly, and since we’re not professional bartenders under stress to please a crowd, it’s actually pretty fun. It takes only about 5 seconds, then the glass is clean and ready to dry or—better yet—ready for a fresh beer. —JS
uKeg Go 64
$99.99, growlerwerks.com
If you liked the functionality of the Growlerwerks uKeg but didn’t love the retro aesthetic, the new uKeg Go is for you. It works much like the uKeg that we’ve enjoyed—CO2 cartridge and dial regulator in the screw-off lid, functioning tap for civlized beer pouring, double wall insulation for keeping beer cold outside of the fridge—but the streamlined exterior, internal dip tube, and minimalist design are tuned for active lifestyles. If you hate exposing great beer to oxygen while serving, as much as we do, it’s worth considering. —JB
Photos from top: Courtesy Spülboy; Matt Graves