Black Friday shopping list for craft brewers

Before heading off for the Thanksgiving holiday, Craft Brewing Business took stock of some the wildest, coolest and even downright impractical beer products we’ve covered this year to compile the craft brewer’s wish list for the year’s biggest shopping day. Looking to offer a unique tasting room experience or spice up your brewpub’s menu? Then get ready to bookmark this story and head out to the stores (or online retailers).

Craft Beer Video Games Dream Arcade — Adding some interactive fun to your brewery’s tasting room or brewpub could help grow your bottom line. Plus, is there anything better than pouring a fresh draft beer after schooling your buddy in a bout of Street Fighter?

Dream Arcades‘s Kegerator Pro 60 is the world’s first arcade machine with a 60-inch HD screen that features three taps, so players never have to stop the action to refill their drink, and a built in fridge. The unit comes pre-loaded with over 140 classic arcade games including Ms. Pac Man, Centipede, Galaga and Street Fighter — no quarters needed.

Frozen beer foam

The froth is beer frozen at -5 degrees C (that’s -41 degrees F!) and acts as a cooling lid for up to 30 minutes. It made its debut this year at Dodger Stadium.

Long Trail Brewing collaborates on hop-infused chocolate bar

Vermont-based Long Trail Brewing collaborated with Lake Champlain Chocolates (LCC) to come up with a limited edition chocolate bar for the local Burlington Discover Jazz Festival. The result is the Bebop Hop chocolate bar — a hop-infused, deep malty caramel covered in a silky blend of milk and dark chocolate. LCC’s research and development specialist Lauren Deitsch and Long Trail Brewmaster Dave Hartmann explain the process of using Long Trail’s raw ingredients for making beer to create a finished chocolate confection.

ReGrained granola bars reuse spent brewing grains

Innovative, non-brewing entrepreneurs Daniel Kurzrock and Jordan Schwartz are capitalizing on craft’s recycling motto, using leftover grains from the brewing process to make craft-flavored granola bars. Their company, ReGrained, can be found monthly at the Treasure Island Flea Market or online.

Cooking with beer: The Craft Beer Cookbook

For brewers who are more comfortable with mash and malts than spices and salts, The Craft Beer Cookbook could be the menu cheat sheet that gives you the edge. The cookbook takes a beer-infused approach to cooking, offering a diverse selection of varieties — from tender pork chops marinated in a bold and citrusy IPA to a sticky pecan pie drizzled with a bourbon barrel-aged porter.

Big Boss Brewing Co. arcade game pours winner a beer

Another video game/beer mashup: Beercade was created in-house by independent advertising agency McKinney from the Flash-based game The Last Barfighter. Players choose one of five characters representing the five year-round Big Boss brews: Hell’s Belle, Bad Penny, Angry Angel, Blanco Diablo and High Roller. In what looks like a standard biker bar, the players fight in three rounds using basic fighting moves like punches and kicks, as well as signature moves like fire throwing, unicorn horn impaling and butt slaps. The best player of the three rounds wins, and a sample of beer is automatically dispensed via the Beercade taps.