Heineken launches a draft beer dispenser you can take home, the "Sub," named so after its sleek cylindrical shape for a relatively hefty price tag of $314.
The Sub will arrive in four European countries and will land in Britain in 2015. The Sub will also be made available in the United States on a later date, though Heineken did not say when it will reach the U.S. markets., Bloomberg Businessweek reports
Heineken teamed up with home appliance maker Krups and researched on the product for almost three years before mass producing it.
The Sub's design takes from Marc Newson, designer included in Apple's secretive design team, and can dispense 2-liter minikegs of Heineken brews at 2°C.
Newson designed the Sub to mimic a barrel of wine or a submarine, even calling the kegs "Torps" or torpedoes, and the tap at the top similar to a periscope.
Heineken previously ventured into the beer dispenser business with the BeerTender in 2004.
However, it was reportedly unsuccessful due to its clunky design and limited selection of bulky 5-liter kegs, and having to wait for 12 hours before getting the beer properly chilled.
Marketing chief Alexis Nasard says Heineken learned from those mistakes. The Sub is 25 percent smaller, offers nine beers-everything from France's bitter Pelforth Blonde to Singapore's Tiger lager-and doesn't look like a garbage can with a tap. Says Nasard: "We tried to make this elegant, so it doesn't end up in the garage."
The Sub's upscale design plays into the growing trend of more refined at-home drinking-fancy cocktails, fine wine, craft beer-which "communicates a certain status" among consumers, says Ben Voyer, a social psychologist at the ESCP Europe Business School.
While mainstream beer volumes are decreasing, sales of premium-priced draft beers such as Heineken's Affligem and the tequila-flavored Desperados are on the rise. In Italy, half of all Torps sold are Affligem, an ale started at a Belgian abbey founded in 1074.
