An enjoyable barbecue dinner with friends, a 5-liter-keg for thirsty throats, laughing, chatting – and in the end the beer is warm. The dream of indulging in some ice-cold beer is over. This is exactly what happened to Tobias Zobel last summer. „There has to be a solution for that“, the experienced engineer thought to himself. He didn’t find the tools to keep kegs cool that already existed on the market very convincing: „Too bulky, not very easy to transport, simply not sexy”, was his sobering conclusion. His inventive spirit was triggered and it didn‘t take long before he held the prototype of his MiniKEG-cooler in his hands. In the meantime, it became a huge success at breweries, clubs and beverage shops within his home region of Franconia. After successfully completing product tests and applying at the patent office, he started series production of the bajuwares beer barrel bag.
From a jolly mood to a solid product idea: MiniKEG-cooler to go
The beer barrel bag that Zobel invented is just as simple as thought through: an insulating neoprene bag keeps the MiniKEG cold twice as long and protects it against hits at the same time. Thanks to the robust carrying straps the party keg is very easy to transport. You can easily take it on a hiking trip, for example. There are holes in the neoprene cover for the spigot, pressure compensation valve and pressure regulator. That way you can tap beer from the MiniKEG without having to take it out of the bag.
Both functionality and design of his product were of equal important to the founder of bajuwares. Being an expert for medical technology Tobias Zobel has very high standards of quality by nature. Therefore, he had the insulating mechanism of his beer barrel bag tested extensively in a heat chamber of a lab. The result is very convincing: at 20° C outside temperature the neoprene bag keeps the beer below 10° C for more than two hours. Without the cover, the beer would hit this temperature after only one hour. And even with higher temperatures: in the beer barrel bag the beer stays cold twice as long compared to without!
Individual design offers various marketing opportunities
Tobias Zobel
“The creative design of our beer barrel bag can be customized individually for each and every customer.” There are no limits in terms of branding and personalization. “We are a young and agile company, and we are willing to find an individual solution for every single customer request.” Starting from a minimum order quantity of 500 to 1000 bags, we can realize individual color combinations. If our customer wants to test market acceptance beforehand, we go for a standard model with distinct colors. Even the standard model can be customized with the brewery’s logo, slogan or any other imprint. Many customers already realized the great creative potential of the MiniKEG as an advertising vehicle. “This concept can be continued seamlessly – with a direct link to the product itself“, underlines Tobias Zobel.
Selling it in a bundle with a party keg, making it a raffle prize or giving it away as a loyalty reward – there are numerous ideas how the bajuwares beer barrel bag can help Envases to market their MiniKEG even better. Tobias Zobel is convinced: “Once a customer has a beer barrel bag at home, he or she will go back to the MiniKEG over and over again.“
Envases identifies MiniKEG-cooler as ideal equipment for draftbeer@home
This opinion is supported by marketing expert Michael Tischler: “The beer barrel bag by bajuwares was able to excite all of us here at Envases right away because it responds to two very important attributes we stand for with our mini kegs: making at home consumption of draft beer easy and convenient as well as maximum branding effect at the store and on the customer. That is exactly what the beer barrel bag offers aswell! Furthermore, here at Envases we are certain that draftbeer@home will remain a huge trend for the upcoming year. Is there anything better than keeping a 5-liter-keg at the perfect temperature in a branded cooler while tapping some ice-cold draft beer?! For me as a marketer this is a true must-have for 2021 and a perfect match for our party keg!”
