Let’s bring re-usable beer cases to North America
Last weekend I drove my friend to the liquor store to pick up some beer. As he was removing the case from the cooler, an all too familiar situation occured: the bottom of the case broke apart and beer went cascading everywhere, an unpleasant situation, and an easily avoidable one.
In Europe, beer is sold almost exclusively in plastic crates. Crates usually contain 16 x 500mL bottles for a perfect 8L, but there are other sizes too. They’re stackable, re-usable, very difficult to break, and all around better for the end user. The only two downsides are that they are slightly heavier than cardboard and breweries can’t brand them differently for each promotion they put on. There are, however, some dead simple ways to solve the latter, such as using a plastic wrapped seal during promotions.
According to Wikipedia, Canadians drink 2,183,000,000 litres of beer every year. Assuming 70% of that is in bottles, that works out to nearly 180 million cases. I couldn’t find stats on the inputs required to produce one case, but overall we’re probably looking at a significant energy saving.
For each case of beer purchased a deposit is paid on the case as well as on the bottles. In Germany it is around €3 ($4.20). I couldn’t find any life-cycle data on cases, but from personal experience I know that many cases from long ago are still in circulation in Germany.
While doing some research for this, I found a neat building made from beer cases. Try doing that with cardboard.
I think that this idea is past-due in North America. Beer spillage, ripped cardboard cases, and the general wastefulness of single-use containers should be things of the past. How do we convince beer companies that this is the right way to do things?
The best chicken wings ever
Occasionally I test my chops by not writing about engineering, student life, or politics, though one could argue that this post is about student life. Tonight I managed to make the most delicious chicken wings to have ever entered my mouth. Now, I’m sure there’s at least one person out there upset with my assertion that these are the best wings ever, but let’s move past that and talk about why.
I received some inspiration for these wings from another blog, but largely took it my own way.
First, let’s start with the wings. I picked up a little over a pound of fresh chicken wings from the Saint John City Market. 1.5 pounds for $6. Not a bad deal, but there are probably better deals out there for farm fresh chicken wings. After preheating the oven to 375 degrees, I washed them to ensure there’s no dirt on the surface, and inspected them for any unplucked feathers. At this point, some people cut the thin side of the wing off, but I prefer to leave it on.
Make sure there is no dirt or feathers left on the wings.
Second is the dry-rub. You can use anything you want to rub the wings, it’s really whatever you prefer. I used fresh garlic, chili powder, paprika, salt, and pepper. I’m curious to experiment with a variety of other flavours too. Mix the dry rub in a bowl, then toss the wings in, mix it around, and look to ensure an even coating. Once this is done, pour a bit of olive oil on top and rub that around too, to ensure an even coating.
Use any spices you want, and ensure an even coating.
Now it’s time to lay the wings out on a baking sheet, ensuring they aren’t layered. They can touch, but layering them is a bad idea. Once they’ve been arranged, send them straight in to the oven and wait for 50 minutes, or until skin is crispy. Once you’ve achieved crispy skin, remove them, pick your favourite sauces, and dig in!
With the spices rubbed, place them on the sheet and make sure they aren
Dig in.
Stop eating when the pile looks like this.
There you have it. Delicious wings, with moderate spice and great flavour, for a low price and very little effort. This is something that you can try at home. Safely.
