​Budweiser Brewing Group has unveiled new technology for the hard seltzer market that delivers multiple dispense options from one base keg liquid, offering a consumer customised drink option, simply and quickly.

The global brewer has piloted a revolutionary new dispense system that enables hospitality owners to significantly expand their draught portfolio.

The unique solution allows consumers to customise their drink without the cost and complexity of adding new lines and cellar tech. It is a closed and non-permeable system, ensuring that there is no unintentional mixing of ingredients between drinks. This new technology allows consumers to customise their drinks like never before. 

Developed by the company’s Global Innovation and Technology Center (GITEC), and built around a patented precision blending system, one keg can now be customised at the point of dispense. Consumers can choose ingredients to add to their beverage which are then added whilst pouring, they said in a statement

Consumers can add almost any conceivable liquid ingredient, including natural flavours and botanicals and personalise their drink by simply choosing from the range of options displayed on the tower, the bartender then inputs the selection into the bar side dashboard before the tower dispenses the final pour.  

Introducing the dispense tower, Richard Corker, global director dispense development, AB InBev/GITEC said “We believe this system has the potential to transform the role of draught in the global on-premise.

“During a three-month trial in London last year with Mike’s Hard Seltzer, we found that our precision blending technology delivered margins comparable to spirit serves, even offering significant profit uplift for those venues.

“This was further strengthened by the tower’s prominent placement on the bar, versus packaged hard seltzers normally being ‘hidden’ in back bar fridges. Our customers also confirmed that, unlike the majority of other draught seltzer offerings, the system requires no additional maintenance or line cleaning to stay operational.” 

During the trial, the Mike’s Hard Seltzer tower was integrated with an LCD screen that displayed the various serves to consumers through a dynamic content loop. Additional headlines from the trial included:  

• Offering customised draught seltzer saw volumes for Mike’s Hard Seltzer increase by up to 944% from pre-trial packaged volumes 
• Venues experienced a 282% uplift in revenue when the ability to customise the base seltzer with different flavours was offered to consumers, versus when only one draught flavour was on sale 
• All participating bars confirmed they would keep the tower on their bar beyond the trial 

“The consumer experience was incredible during the trial,” continued Richard Corker. “Guests loved creating their own drink by tailoring the ingredients according to their mood, time of day or just the atmosphere of the bar.
“We believe precision blending will generate a new category of personalised draught serves, offering customised diversification for both operators and consumers alike. Hospitality venues can choose their base liquid and their suite of ingredients in response to their promotional plans or to customer demand.” 

The company added that alongside the product benefits, the dispense tower also provides live sales and location data over the cloud. So, for example, if a particular flavour is performing well in a certain city, sales teams could advise bars in other locations to add that flavour to their menu. In this example, content displaying on the tower’s LCD screen can be changed remotely to reflect any new flavour on sale or promotion that a bar wishes to run.