enter awards
Category Winner
2021
Guinness Micro Draught
CATEGORY
Industrial Products
Product Design
CONTRIBUTORS
Guinness Team: Siobhan Hamilton, Luca Lupini (Project Leads), Steve Gilsenan (Project Manager), Steve Kilcullen, Steve Hendron, Peter Cole (Global Quality Advisors), John Leahy (Test Engineer), Kathryn Wilson & Jeremy Lindley (Guinness Global Design Team) Dolmen Team: Christopher Murphy (Design Strategy), James Ryan (Design Director), Gerald Gillen (Creative Lead), Haris Velagic (Technical Lead), Mark Murray (CAD Development), Alan Johnston (Electronics & Software)
Design Challenge and Design Ideas
“Guinness is an iconic global brand enjoyed by consumers around the world, but the celebrated craftsmanship and ritual of pour that makes it so iconic can present a significant challenge for expansion to smaller outlets and global markets.
Traditional draught Guinness requires a significant investment in dispense equipment such as kegs, cold rooms and chillers. In addition, the maintenance and support infrastructure required to deliver the perfect quality expected by Guinness consumers every time can be difficult to justify in smaller bars, cafes and retaurants, particularly in distant global markets.
Our challenge was to design a system that would overcome these problems by fundamentally reassessing the way Guinness could be delivered to the consumer. Our breakthrough solution is MicroDraught – Guinness’ biggest dispense innovation since the launch of the “widget” 30 years ago.”
How the brief was fulfilled
“During an intensive two year period of design, development, testing and continuous refinement, Dolmen collaborated with the Guinness Global Brand Team to design, develop and deliver MicroDraught – a breakthrough design based on a simple concept – how can we create ‘the smallest keg in the world’?
By pursuing this simple but radical idea, we miniaturised the entire dispense process to its essence, leaving just two elements: a pint-sized beer keg and a compact, counter-top dispense device. Despite its ‘Micro’ scale, the system delivers a true draught experience using patented dual-piercing technology. Instead of using gas, MicroDraught introduces compressed air to the can to simultaneously push the beer through a standard nozzle creating a beautiful pint of Guinness every time.
With MicroDraught, no additional equipment is required and unlike traditional systems, it’s ‘plug and play’ – ready to mount to the bar and serve within minutes. The operator simply inserts a chilled can and is guided through each step of the famous Guinness 2-part pour using an intuitive digital interface. The digitally controlled system delivers on the famous quality and craftsmanship expected from Guinnness – it uses a specially designed cradle to slowly tilt the glass to the perfect angle, while on-board sensors ensure the beer temperature, pressure and pour speed are carefully but discreetly managed to create a consistent, beautiful serve every time.
Visually, MicroDraught has been designed to sit seamlessly alongside other dispense equipment in the Guinness brand world. It features carefully crafted premium materials including hand finished, foundry cast brass punctuated by subtle illuminated accents reflecting the provenance of the brand. The famous Guinness harp is proudly positioned at the top and centre, supported by an elegant framework to celebrate the product and the pour in an open, honest and visually engaging display for the consumer.
The final design solution delivers on the brief by providing a breakthrough, cost effective solution for small outlets and global markets, providing further reach for the Guinness brand by allowing even more consumers around the world the opportunity to enjoy the magic of Guinness anytime, anywhere!”
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Deliver an experience with a strong presence and minimal infrastructure? Nailed it.
"JUDGES' THOUGHTS