Heineken taps into David'

Heineken UK has become the latest brewer to launch an innovative draught beer dispense system to improve service standards. Called "David", the dispense system has been developed to allow licensees with lower throughputs to improve their service of Heineken on draught. It incorporates its own keg-chilling facility, meaning venues that don't have cellar cooling on site ­ typically those with lower throughput of around 40 to 100 litres per week ­ will be able to pour a good-quality chilled pint. David dispenses draught Heineken from 20-litre cylinder-shaped kegs, chilled to the correct temperature. It keeps the beer fresh for 21 days, compared to an average of three to six days for other draught systems. No line cleaning is needed as the beer line is replaced with each new keg. "This reduces wastage, locking in benefits for licensees in terms of practicality and margin," a spokesman for Heineken said. David is a mobile system as it has its own CO2 connection, billed as the first genuinely portable draught beer dispense device. Heineken's on-trade sales director Richard Bradbury said: "This is a really exciting new development, which will benefit outlets that in the past were not able to sell high-quality draught lagers due to space restriction or low and irregular throughputs. "Heineken UK anticipates that [David] will be popular and we aim to install the system in 400 outlets by the end of the year. Target outlets will include small bars and restaurants." l Scottish Courage's HIT Tap marks its first birthday ­ p22-23