Self-serve Denver bar trades hipster bartenders for cutting edge tech

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Denver’s beer scene is exploding almost as fast as its tech scene. Now, a new venue in the uber hip neighborhood of RiNo has brought the two together. First Draft, Denver’s first self-serve beer bar, replaces mustachioed, beer-tap pulling hipsters with Nexus tablets and pinwheel flow meters, giving patrons a completely new beer drinking experience.

“People really like to taste new beers and be in charge of their own experience,” Mark Slattery, owner and general manager of First Draft said.

The bar room is filled with wooden tables that spill out into an outdoor area. The lack of a traditional bar means the focus is on trying, and talking about new beers. Because the seating is communal, the space encourages meeting fellow beer connoisseurs and conversations incomprehensible to the non-beer nerd.

With 40 craft beers on tap, all available at the swipe of an NFC chip, it can be a bit difficult to choose.

“We try to keep a nice variety of styles from around the country,” Slattery said. “For our customers it’s a great opportunity to get five or six ounces of a beer they may want to try, but not have to drink an entire bottle.”

From a drinker’s perspective, the process couldn’t be easier. IDs and a credit card’s are scanned at the door, and customers are given a bracelet with an NFC chip in it and an empty glass. They are then set free in the bar, with full access to the beer taps. Staff is stationed nearby to help customers with decision making or, should you need it, help actually pouring the beer.

Powering each tap is a Google Nexus Android Tablet. The screen displays what beer is being served and its cost per ounce. To activate the tap a drinker simply waves their NFC enabled bracelet near the tablet and pours. The system measures how many ounces of beer is being poured and then relays that information to a point of sale system. Once the drinker has had their fill, they simply pay their bill, which has been calculated based on the number of ounces they drank, and return the bracelet.

The technology making all this possible was developed by Southern California-based iPourIt, and is already being used in bars around the country — though First Draft is the second largest application thus far.

From the bar’s perspective, the technology gives some incredible analytical feedback. When a drinker’s ID is scanned, that drinker is assigned a unique and trackable number. This allows the bar owner to see how much that person is drinking, when they’re drinking, what type of beer they’re choosing, etc. That sort of information can then be used to inform the types of beer the bar buys for the future, but also for things like customized beer recommendations for customers based on previous purchases.

Ok, so First Draft’s arrival to the Denver beer scene probably doesn’t herald the end of days for hipster beer-tenders — at least anytime soon. It does, however, shake up a time honored tradition, and gives Denver residents a new take on the beer bar.

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