Beer Gadget Review: A Bottle Opener That Reseals Your Bomber
By Lorna Juett in Food on Mar 22, 2013 8:20PM
As the craft beer scene explodes in Chicago, beers are coming into the market in larger format bottles only. Pipeworks is a shining example of a brewery who, for the most part, distributes bombers exclusively. But, what’s a drinker to do if they wish to try one of these large format beers, but only want one glass of beer that night? This might not be a problem for some beer drinkers, but for many, the choice between drinking a whole bomber of high ABV beer and feeling horrible the next day, or having one glass and dumping the rest down the drain puts them in a lose-lose position.
Fortunately, Kaufmann Mercantile sells a quite ingenious little gadget, the Hermetus Bottle Opener and Resealer, which, in theory, allows you to enjoy your large-format beer the next day, and if you’re a really huge lightweight, possibly even three days from the first opening. Since we’re skeptics, and we’re dedicated to providing you with the best beer information possible, we had to test the claims of this gadget.
We used it to open a 22 oz. bomber of Pipeworks Brotherhood, a collaboration with 18th St. Brewery. The opener worked easily, and the beer was well-carbonated, refreshing and delicious, a perfect departure from the stouts that have dominated this winter and crazy-cold spring. The resealer was easy to attach to the mouth of the bottle, just slide the wider side of the gadget, pressing the metal bit along the groove of the lip of the bottle, and push it until its narrow edge won’t allow you to go any further. Once you’ve done this, the beer is sealed. We let the beer hang out in the fridge for 24 hours before opening it again.
When the urge hit us the next night for another glass of beer, we slid the gadget off of the mouth of the bottle. The bottle let out a satisfying pop, assuring us that there was still effervescent beer inside. While the pour didn’t yield a massively fluffy head, we did note that it still had a pleasant carbonation, and was certainly still a pretty delightful glass of beer.
In the name of science, and good beer, we decided to push the experiment into a third day. This morning (don’t judge), we re-opened the bottle. There was a somewhat less-satisfying “pop” upon sliding the re-sealer off the lid, and the head of the beer was much more difficult to coax. We took a sip. There was some carbonation left, but if this beer were served to us in a bar, we’d probably send it back.
We tested this item last week as well, waiting 48 hours between the initial opening, and the second consumption. The results were similar to waiting just 24 hours from the initial resealing. Seems to us that if you wish to save a bottle for just one other time, this gadget is your best bet. However, If you can’t seem to polish off a bomber in two sittings or less, consider inviting us over to help before you turn to the Hermetus Bottle Opener and Resealer.
The Hermetus Bottle Opener and Resealer is available only online. Get yours here.