German Heavy Metal Music Festival Builds Beer Pipeline to Preserve the Environment

cageymaru

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German heavy metal music festival organizers for the upcoming Wacken event have come up with a novel idea on how to preserve the environment and quench the thirst of attendees. They have created an underground beer pipeline buried 2.6 feet that will pump 105,000 gallons of naturally chilled beer from 4.3 miles away to the taps at the festival. It is estimated that 75,000 people and 150 bands will be attending the festival, and each person will consume 5.4 quarts of beer over the three day event. This has meant that many delivery trucks were required in the past to sate the thirst of the ruckus crowd; and the tires on these trucks destroyed the ground with their heavy loads of beer. To repair the damage takes a great deal of time as the festival is held on farmland. Because the pipeline is laid deeply into the ground, normal farming practices can immediately resume after the festival is over.

The new pipeline will carry about 400,000 liters (105,000 gallons) of beer through the grounds of Wacken Open Air Festival in northern Germany. The 75,000 metal fans who attend the event each year consume an average of about 5.1 liters of beer over the three-day festival, according to the statistics portal Statista. This compares to 3.1 liters per person for the Rock am Ring Festival. The pipeline is being built to stop the ground being torn up by beer trucks.
 
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2.6 feet is deep?

They probably did this as much for the free click-bait advertising than they did for any reason having to do with the environment.
 
Would love to go to Wacken to see that show. I have some HD video from the 2015 show and it is amazing.

They can keep that beer pipeline though. That show was meant to be seen LSD!!!
 
Along with the beer supply, the power and fiber optics will also get their own pipelines, as will drinking water and sewage - a fact which means it will be especially important that the lines don’t get crossed, the Hamburger Morgenpost notes.

planning?

who the fuck does that.

looking at you woodstock.
 
This is absolute BS. What about leaks and where can I find out about these leaks? I'd like to help save the environment from any leakage of this beverage.

If there is a leak and a spill, it'd be an ecological disaster unless I can get there within minutes to clean up the mess. Dig it out, put a mug under it and 'get to work' fixing the leak. Might take a few days, though.

The beer must flow!
 
Beer pipeline? Somebody buy me a ticket!

...and each person will consume 5.4 quarts of beer over the three day event.

Amateurs.

In all seriousness, pretty cool. I want to see how this pans out.
 
Nope
Source article states 80cm and you can also see the fairly shallow trench.

If its in an area that doesn't get plowed too deeply that's plenty.

Looking forward to reading about someone trying to install their own tap to it.

German people follow rules ;)
 
Meanwhile in Milwaukee, it costs $8+ for a 10oz "beer" at Miller Park - that taxpayers paid hundreds of millions for - that's a mile or two from Miller Valley where the beer is brewed.
 
Meanwhile in Milwaukee, it costs $8+ for a 10oz "beer" at Miller Park - that taxpayers paid hundreds of millions for - that's a mile or two from Miller Valley where the beer is brewed.
I have no idea what beer they're serving cause I didn't RTFA buuuut even I can say, Miller tastes like shit -- so no big loss.

I did love me some high life in my early 20s though.
 
2.6 feet is deep?

They probably did this as much for the free click-bait advertising than they did for any reason having to do with the environment.

though 2.6ft might seem arbitrary, it might be because Germany uses metric and 80cm is the depth (~2.6ft)
(I still think it's not deep enough to get it really nice and cold as geothermal trenches are typically 4 to 6ft deep)

that said, what about the carbon footprint + equipment/gear/energy required to dig the trench (and bury after) for the pipeline? Might as well have the festival AT the brewery.
 
Watch for a bunch of shovels and self-tapping hose extensions being sold by vendors at this event. (And maps.) ;)
 
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I have no idea what beer they're serving cause I didn't RTFA buuuut even I can say, Miller tastes like shit -- so no big loss.

I did love me some high life in my early 20s though.
We used to call them Low-Lifes (because they are cheap), but we still drank them (because we were poor)
 
We used to call them Low-Lifes (because they are cheap), but we still drank them (because we were poor)
Low life's living the high life.

We also were getting high. Maybe I'll buy a six pack of high lif... fuck it I'm drinking something good.
 
We used to call them Low-Lifes (because they are cheap), but we still drank them (because we were poor)

Miller High Life, Busch Lite, Keystone Ice.... 18 pack for $12. That, and Mickey's 22's.

Damn I'm glad I don't drink that shit anymore. If you think "nah, it wasn't that bad, I just have better options now". Go drink one. Holy fuck they are nasty shit. It's not just better options, it's how in the hell could you put that shit in your mouth?!
 
Over a gallon of beer per person, WTF.
I mean I know beer goes down easy, but an average of a gallon?
 
Thousands of gallons of sanitizer will have to be pumped through 4 miles of piping and it's made of iodine, an environmentally hazardous substance that will have to be disposed of as toxic waste, because if it get's into local waterways it will destroy aquatic wildlife. The damage is far greater than a dozen medium sized truck deliveries.

But hey, it's all about felling good, right? Let's not ruin it by using reason.
 
Miller High Life, Busch Lite, Keystone Ice.... 18 pack for $12. That, and Mickey's 22's.

Damn I'm glad I don't drink that shit anymore. If you think "nah, it wasn't that bad, I just have better options now". Go drink one. Holy fuck they are nasty shit. It's not just better options, it's how in the hell could you put that shit in your mouth?!

I think the same of people who try to convince me they drink beer because it tastes good. NONE of them, no matter how micro or expensive taste so good you'd drink them if they weren't alcoholic beverages. Like cigarettes, the people who drink beer tolerate the negative aspects to get an infusion of their drug of choice. Some are better than others, but they're all unpleasant.
 
I think the same of people who try to convince me they drink beer because it tastes good. NONE of them, no matter how micro or expensive taste so good you'd drink them if they weren't alcoholic beverages. Like cigarettes, the people who drink beer tolerate the negative aspects to get an infusion of their drug of choice. Some are better than others, but they're all unpleasant.

I love some beers. Some, I tolerate. But, Guinness is like chocolate milk to me. Just delicious. Some IPA's are super refreshing and taste great. I only drink 2 tops, so it's not to get drunk. I just love the taste of beer. I can't stand the pumpkin shit. Or hard lemonade or the flavored fru fru drinks.

Maybe beer just isn't for you.

My sister has the same opinion as you but with seafood. How can anyone like it?

am-i-out-of-touch-no-its-the-children-who-are-wrong.jpg
 
I think the same of people who try to convince me they drink beer because it tastes good. NONE of them, no matter how micro or expensive taste so good you'd drink them if they weren't alcoholic beverages. Like cigarettes, the people who drink beer tolerate the negative aspects to get an infusion of their drug of choice. Some are better than others, but they're all unpleasant.

I am not a fan of beer either, but some people do genuinely drink it for the taste, not just to get drunk; after all, non-alcoholic beers exist & and are easy to find in stores. Somebody is drinking them.
 
Have a hard time taking this seriously. What about the local wildlife that will be affected by the noise of the concert?
 
I am not a fan of beer either, but some people do genuinely drink it for the taste, not just to get drunk; after all, non-alcoholic beers exist & and are easy to find in stores. Somebody is drinking them.

Yeah, alcoholics who want to trick their body's into believing they're consuming alcohol by recreating the unpleasant part of the experience. But who knows, maybe I'm wrong. Any connoisseurs of non-alcoholic beer? Hello? Come on now, you know you love the taste, right? Right?

And I do occasionally drink beer.....Murphy's is the stout you want for the chocolate milk like experience (but not really, it's still just a bitter liquid, have some actual chocolate milk, it's much better). If you like the taste of Guinness just piss in some Murphy's and you'll never know the difference. I'm sure that's where Guinness gets it's funky tang from.
 
Yeah, alcoholics who want to trick their body's into believing they're consuming alcohol by recreating the unpleasant part of the experience. But who knows, maybe I'm wrong. Any connoisseurs of non-alcoholic beer? Hello? Come on now, you know you love the taste, right? Right?

And I do occasionally drink beer.....Murphy's is the stout you want for the chocolate milk like experience (but not really, it's still just a bitter liquid, have some actual chocolate milk, it's much better). If you like the taste of Guinness just piss in some Murphy's and you'll never know the difference. I'm sure that's where Guinness gets it's funky tang from.

I love chocolate milk. Murphy's is good but it's not easy to find out here. I do enjoy low alcohol beer, it's not bad. But, the typical choices are really shitty beers - Coors Cutter (do they still make that?), Odouls, etc.. Just the shit beer.

I personally think you're wrong. Some people do enjoy the taste of beer. I do. I don't like Mountain Dew, and only drink it for the caffeine. So, if you like Mountain Dew, you're just doing it for the caffeine. You don't really like the taste. ;) It's just different tastes with different people.
 
Definitely beats waiting standing in line for 45 minutes for beer at a beer festival or having them sell out! Pipe in that cold brewsky! Germans are genius engineers.
 
Mmm very shallow and they promoted this? Wonder if they'll have someone walk the line someone could very easily taint all that beer. Not everyone's attention is a good thing.
 
Attending Wacken Open Air is on my bucket list and I think it just got moved up a few positions!
 
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