QR keg caps

Hey All,

So i was thinking about manufacturing some QR coded keg caps, wasn't really sure if there was a market for this but i figure it'd be a nice change to the keg collars. I figured the QR code would have the beer name, style, ABV, IBU, Made date, best before date and a web link to the company that made the beer. just looking for feedback on if this would be something of interest to small breweries even home brewers. Price would be quite similar to collars (30-40 cents per cap) but the benefit is there reusable and don't wear away when wet or torn. just looking for a little feedback from the brewing community, or even if its been done.

Cheers

Cam

no input at all??

This is not sniping, just a few things that first popped into my head. For full disclosure I deal with QR in my day job (logistics) every day.

Once you put any batch related (made, best by, etc) date into the QR, you lose the ability to reuse that QR cover on a future batch. Will changing the QR for each batch run afoul of the TTB's labeling approval requirements? Most brewers put generic info into their QRs. I expect the label change rule is why the big guys cut ticks on the label's "calendar" for the best by/born on dates because it doesn't change the actual label.

If you leave the dates off, how would I get it back from either a bar or a purchaser via the distributor to reuse? I doubt they want to fool with something that is considered a consumable for every other brewer.

thanks for the input, after running numbers the reusable factor has been thrown out the window as they are no more expensive than the current paper ones that breweries use. I've worked in a few bars and the idea just came about when kegs got moved around the the labels came off and then we had a keg or two sitting and had no idea what the beer was.

To get more replies, you might want to give a few more details into what a QR coded cap would be and how it would work. I don't think most of us know much about it.

So a QR code are these you can input any information that you would like and it forms a specific shape for this information much like a bar-code on your cereal box. The idea would be to have them printed on the keg cap so that you can use your cell phone to scan the code to get the information pertaining to the keg you have, so if you own a bar and want to display the style and ibu on your menu all you do is scan this code. Very similar to a keg collar but less chances of curling up getting torn off or wet so that the information is unavailable. this is a keg cap.

I think this is a great idea if it would be adopted. My company provides the website for a local gastropub and we built a great system for them to display all their beers as well as what's currently on tap (with ratings/reviews of beers and everything).

The frustrating thing is they can't be bothered to keep the tap list up-to-date. Even on TapHunter they don't do it. We've even told them "just text us when you replace a keg and we'll update it for you" and still they can't be bothered.

If these were a thing we could build them an android app that they could just snap the QR code of the old keg and the new keg, and presto - it would automatically update their site as well as TapHunter.

The problem is that it would be an uphill battle to get these adopted by enough breweries for it to be useful.

@chocotaco man you just took this up to a whole other level i love it haha. i agree it would be an uphill battle but i was thinking small scale maybe see what my local micro and macro breweries around here think of the idea.

I volunteer at a local brewery and we have had the same problems with our distributor losing the collars. Our solution was a small 2"X2" sticker (with the beer name on it) applied to the dome of the keg. Now, if the collar comes off, the name of the beer is right under it. It is a pain to remove during keg washing, and doesn't have kegging date etc... But it has solved a number of issues.