Prolonging the pleasure from each ice-cold jug

PERTH businessman Peter Clements has embarked on a project that could, if adopted by the hospitality industry, revolutionise the way beer is sold and marketed to consumers across the world.

Mr Clements has designed a jug that he promises will keep beer cold until the last drop, and has been designed to move jug-drinking out of the beer barns and into hip and stylish bars.

Mr Clements, who recently developed Highlight 33 into the chic and trendy C Restaurant, said his patent-pending jugs could keep beer cold because the brew’s natural effervescence and a special, separate compartment to store ice.

“The base is filled with crushed ice, but it works just the same with ordinary ice. With the compartment filled, the internal part chills to ice-cold temperatures,” Mr Clements said.

“What happens with carbonated liquid is that the bubbles grow around the ice.

“With the ice at the base of the jug the bubbles effervesce up-wards. The bubbles are actually colder than the beer and [this] keeps the beer chilled to the final drop. The last glass will be as cold as the first glass.”

The idea came to Mr Clements while on a fact-finding tour of the United States for the design of Northbridge’s Varga Lounge.

“I was sitting in a bar in Las Vegas and noticed this guy drinking a beer with ice in it. I thought that was the most un-Australian thing to do and wondered why he did not worry about the beer being watered down,” he said.

Mr Clements has his eyes firmly set on big overseas beer corporations, however he was keen to keep the production of the jugs in Australia.

“A lot of Australians take their product and have it manufactured offshore. I wanted to keep this in Australia and was prepared to pay more for that,” he said.

“I was lucky to find a WA company, DC Plastics, that was able to match the cost to produce the jugs in Asia. I was looking at a company in Melbourne but these guys [DC Plastics] were great to deal with.”

He does, however, want the jug to have worldwide adoption and is planning to head to Melbourne for the Heineken Classic in a bid to lure the attention of one of the world’s largest beer producer.

“It has been designed so it can be branded. We can produce it in different colours, which means it could go into sports stadiums and have team colours on it, and the beer will stay cold,” Mr Clements said.

“Heineken is also doing the World Cup Rugby next year so hopefully they will pick up on it.”

Mr Clements will begin full production shortly and produce between 500 and 1,000 jugs a day.

“I will launch it Australia wide and hope to have full Australian distribution by this summer,” he said.

In true entrepreneurial style, Mr Clements was keen to point out other industries to benefit from his product.

“It’s pitched everywhere, including five-star hotels. You can put milk or juice in it and keep the liquid cold during the breakie buffets. You often find at those things that the milk is warm when you pour it on your coco pops,” he said.