Silipints just may be canned craft beer's new best friend!
An enterprising company in Oregon has come up with a product that could be the solution to a dilemma many of us have been encountering for some time. What to do when you're out in the woods or at a music festival that doesn't allow glass and you want to pour that can of beer into something before enjoying it? If you've brought along a Silipint, a pint sized cup made from silicone, you should be all set!
I contacted the folks at Silipint to try and learn more about their product and Rick Fredland, the company's President and CEO, was gracious enough to answer all of my questions. Cheers Rick! All the best to you and your company in the future!
(CC) How was the idea of the Silipint born?
(RF) To begin answering your questions we have to go back several years to the birth of our other business for which we make innovative and safe dog products. I know....wait for the connection... Tazlab, was the first company to make a silicone dog bowl. Dishwasher safe microwave safe, oven safe, non-porous, and not off gassing (no BPA). In an attempt to make a promotional item for one of our trade shows we stumbled across the idea of a silicone pint glass. After realizing that no one was doing such a thing, likely because of the high cost of doing it, we decided to go for it.
(CC) What varieties of Silipint are there?
(RF) Silipints come in any color that one can imagine and sent us a Pantone for. At this time they are 16oz but stay tuned for new options......
(CC) I saw you do custom printing on your Silipints. Are there any breweries selling logoed Silipints?
(RF) Silipint is only officially a couple months old. We are making promotional pints for events, brew trails, company promotional items etc. We are not at this time working with any large breweries (but are open to the introduction). -
(CC) Since you guys are in Bend, Oregon people must be loving Silipints since they can take them into the outdoors! How has the community embraced your product?
(RF) Yes, we love getting out and in Bend they have been well received. They have been given out to runners, campers, and pending for the local Ale Trail. Basically they are great anytime you don’t want to take glass.....and you want to drink....not only beer I might add.
(CC) What are your thoughts on craft beer in cans? Do you think Silipints and canned craft beer could be the perfect match for beer lovers who are outdoors or somewhere they can't bring a glass?
(RF) Any Craft beer is great! The fact that adding to the life/shelf life of beer in a can makes it more desirable in certain situations over a growler and less fragile than a bottle. That to me is a winning combination. I love drinking out of a can....and I think that a matching Silipint could supplement any craft beer drinking experience on the go.
(CC) What is something that people may not know about Silipints?
(RF) Many people ask what makes Silipints “better” than traditional pints glasses. My first comment to people is that it is still a glass, it just happens to be something that adds to the functionality of being very difficult to break, dishwasher safe, microwave safe, food grade, non-porous and BPA free. Not to mention the lack of clean up from broken glasses, the injuries from broken glass (see England, pint glass injuries) and their travel-ability.
The Silipints new website should be up and running sometime in the next week so be sure to check it out!
