In today’s digital age, what was “hip” a week ago is likely old news by now. Trends and tastes are changing faster than ever, and nowhere is that more prevalent than with bar and beverage selections. The group with both the influence and the buying power spearheading these changes are Millennials.

Over the past several weeks, we've looked back at the last century to see how far we've come in the world of bar and beverage. From the 1917 wine vintages in Europe to cocktail trends through the decades, it's been fun reminiscing about what bars were serving 100 years ago. But now we'd like to take a look at why Perlick is here and the reasons we're still in business after all these years. Let's take a look back at 100 years of bar and beverage equipment innovations.

As the entire country gathers around the television on Super Bowl Sunday, we’ll all have our rooting interests. Some will be pulling for their favorite team and others will be rooting for the host to announce, “The wings are ready!” However, a good number of us will have far more interest in the commercials than the football game itself. Ask someone about their favorite play in the Big Game or their favorite commercial and we bet they’ll recite the advertisement first!

The year 1917 began with our nation on the brink of World War I, which would eventually happen a few months later when President Woodrow Wilson declared war on Germany. On a different gridiron, the New Year began with Oregon beating Pennsylvania in the third annual Rose Bowl. And throughout the year and across the country, bars, saloons, and taverns were as popular as ever. But what were bars serving 100 years ago?

One of the biggest revenue makers for sports venues and stadiums is food and beverage, but unless you take a deeper dig into the statistics, you might not realize how important those sales really are. 

Oktoberfest is one of the most celebrated beer-drinking events in the entire world. Though the original began in Munich in 1810 as part of a wedding celebration between Crown Prince Ludwig and Princess Therese, the event has spread across the world as an annual celebration of German culture, music, food, and beer.

It started last year, and the trend is continuing to grow. Hard root beer and other hard sodas are taking the country by storm. But what is hard soda, and how does its popularity translate to profitability for bar and restaurant operators?

Maybe a bar operator wants to include storage in the underbar area where it will be in line with 30-inch high equipment or work surfaces. Maybe an owner is retrofitting an existing underbar because adding bottled ciders to the beverage list requires more refrigeration capabilities in a limited space. Maybe a designer wants to use low height cabinets during the planning and designing phase of a new bar. Now this is all possible with low-height back bar refrigeration and storage from Perlick.

Low-height refrigeration and dry storage cabinets are available in both self-contained and remote refrigeration options. And like Perlick's standard-height back bar units, this new low-height back bar series offers many of the same amenities in a compact, 29-inch high option.

The Perlick factory just outside of Milwaukee can be a large and overwhelming place. But if you know what to look for, it can also be an eye opening place that sheds light on the whole Perlick philosophy. One of the easiest ways to learn about Perlick is to go behind-the-scenes.

Quality and innovation are the names of the game. From back bar refrigeration to spool after spool of beer lines, as you walk the floor of the Perlick factory, you can see a lot of factors that contribute to quality and innovation. Here are the top three:

THE HUMAN ELEMENT

The people make Perlick. Every day, our highly trained engineers, machinists, testers, trainers, and entire staff create the quality that we ship to our customers. From soldering to polishing, our equipment might operate like a science, but it's created like an art.

ATTENTION TO DETAIL

We're in the beer business, and we believe people should drink quality beer. Part of that