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For all those craft beer lovers out there, you know what it’s like to bring home a growler of beer only for it to go flat within a matter of days. Now you can bring your beer home and have it on draft while it stays fresh …in a plastic bag. Thanks to St. Louis-based Synek, there is now a standalone home appliance that refrigerates, pressurizes and dispenses beer for the home consumer. The countertop beer dispenser has a custom-engineered flexible pouch that holds and preserves a full gallon of beer.

Kari Embree

August 26, 2015

3 Min Read
Countertop beer dispenser utilizes plastic pouch for freshness

For all those craft beer lovers out there, you know what it’s like to bring home a growler of beer only for it to go flat within a matter of days. Now you can bring your beer home and have it on draft while it stays fresh …in a plastic bag. Thanks to St. Louis-based Synek, there is now a standalone home appliance that refrigerates, pressurizes and dispenses beer for the home consumer. The countertop beer dispenser has a custom-engineered flexible pouch that holds and preserves a full gallon of beer. The pouch is the result of a year-long collaboration involving Synek and Mondi’s Consumer Goods Packaging (Jackson, MO) business in North America.

clemsonuniversity.jpg“Because of the delicate nature of beer, the dispenser’s pouch is a critical draft system component,” says Markus Hoedebeck, Vice President of Product Development, Mondi Jackson. “The pouch is designed to handle the intense pressures produced by beer, which is well in excess of pressures in boxed wine bags, and also to preserve the beer’s freshness for over a month.”

According to Synek’s website, the cartridges are the first ever flexible packaging that can withstand the pressures of beer and other carbonated beverages. Three patent-pending primary layers keep your beer tasting fresh for 30+ days. Fills like (and therefore provides the access and variety of) any to-go vessel; preserves and serves like a mini-keg. The inside layer is an FDA-approved, food-grade lining that doesn’t react with the contents (which means your beer won’t taste like a metal spoon or plastic toy). Then a multi-layer of stretched aluminum provides oxygen barrier qualities similar to cans and protects your beer from UV rays (sunlight + beer = bad beer). Finally, the cartridge's outside layer is coated with a strong plastic-like polymer that adds additional strength and durability.

"Synek and Mondi 's packaging engineers and materials specialists worked closely to produce a pouch that meets requirements for maintaining freshness and keeping the beer properly contained during transport, handling and dispensing," says Steve Young, Founder of Synek. "The resulting one gallon flexible pouch is an essential and highly engineered component of the Synek system, and a unique solution to a particularly demanding flexible packaging challenge. Our collaboration with Mondi has proven successful. We have received interest in Synek from many of the world's largest breweries and retailers."

Beer drinkers take the pouch to their favorite brewery for filling or can have it filled from a tap at a restaurant or bar. After filling, the pouch is securely capped. Once home, the user removes the cap and connects the pouch to the draft system. The pouch holds 128 oz.—the equivalent of 11 12-oz. beers. The beer stays fresh and delicious for 30+ days.

The Synek draft system has been rolled out across the U.S. and Canada this summer during a tour that stopped at brew pubs and breweries in over 30 cities. The standard system is priced at $299.

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