The Popcorn Stand: Beer and heavy metal: Blech

Those of you who choose to read this Popcorn Stand know how I feel about beer. I don’t like it. Hold a beer can up to my face and I’ll start to gag. Never understood the whole acquired taste thing.

But I have to give credit where credit is due when it comes to this case of German ingenuity. A 4-mile long beer pipeline has been constructed for a heavy metal music festival in Germany. Full disclosure, I really don’t care for heavy metal either.

Construction on the beer pipeline for the Wacken Open Air music festival in the German state of Schelswig-Holstein began last fall and it was announced on Tuesday construction had been completed. Apparently in the past there was a traffic jam created by all the barrels of beer that had to be rolled into the festival, so the pipeline solves that problem. I’m sure those who had to roll the barrels in are also thankful.

There’s a caveat though that makes me worry for the beer drinkers at the festival. Fresh and waste water will also run through the pipe, but it’s promised staff will maintain the pipeline stays clean at all times.

The pipeline will be able to carry about 105,000 gallons of beer and provide enough pressure to pour six beers in six seconds, so that’s likely also to reduce the beer lines.

Now if there was a 4-mile pipeline that was used to carry 105,000 gallons of Coke, that would be my kind of pipeline.

By the way the heavy metal festival will take place Aug. 3 to 5 those featured will include Megadeth, Alice Cooper and Marilyn Manson.

It promises to be a real beer blast.

— Charles Whisnand