What’s the worst? Wasted beer.
That can mean a lot of things, of course. In homebrewing, it’s when you put so much time, love, and ingenuity into a batch of beer, and then something goes wrong. Sometimes it’s in the hopping. Sometimes it’s in the fermentation. Sometimes it’s a carbonation issue. Makes for some sad times, don’t it?
When your batch turns out great, though (hopefully more often than not), you want to make sure your beer is enjoyed. If you were a full-scale brewery, you’d have all sorts of records and metrics helping you keep track of things. But you’re just you, and as capable as you are, sometimes you don’t keep as strict data as you should.
So, now you’re looking at your kegerator, packed with a cold keg of a Stone Ruination IPA clone, and you’re thinking, “Was it two or three weeks ago I tapped that thing? It was definitely before the party for Megan’s birthday, but how long before? How much beer did we even drink that night? Have we hit peak freshness, or can it last until Sam’s party that’s, let’s see . . . 10 days from now?”
You know what would be the worst? Running out of beer at Sam’s party. No, actually, serving stale beer would be worse. Much worse.
Now imagine you’ve got a Brewskey hooked up to your kegerator’s tap. You don’t even have to go to the basement to ponder that keg. You can be at work and just check your phone. There you see the tap date, what kind of beer is in there, how much was poured—and how much your friends drank at Megan’s birthday party.
Turns out it was a decent amount. The beer is probably fresh enough to last until Sam’s party, but it’s probably not enough to go all night. You know what? There’s a simple solution to this problem. You do some quick math, so many pints per person divided by the remaining pours, etc., then you message three friends:
Guys, you gotta help me drink this keg. Friday night. Let’s do it.
Okay, maybe you were a little dramatic about it, but you know your friends are selfless folks who would respond to a call for help. And now you’ve got plans for Friday night.