Wellington-born brewery Panhead Custom Ales has created a world-first innovation that is right up our alley - and probably yours too.
They've created a vending machine that doesn’t accept money. Instead, you can ‘pay’ for a brew by killing it on an electric guitar. You just grab a guitar connected to the Panhead vending machine, shred it, and, if you’re good enough, out pops a beer.
It’s called ‘Slay to Pay’ and uses AI audio fingerprinting to rate people’s guitar skills in real time. So, you gotta impress a robot to drink a cold one - we are 100% in the future.
“It's essentially a souped-up guitar hero for adults,” said Panhead Custom Ale's Rebecca Sinclair. (Editor’s note: I am farking obsessed with Guitar Hero so this excites me.)
“As far as we know, this is a first-of-its-kind machine with some pretty cool new tech and the best kind of reward for those willing to give it a go. The machine was the perfect combination of a couple of our favourite things, cold beer and really loud music.”
Panhead's 'Slay To Pay' vending machine. Credit: Panhead.
Rebecca insists that you will need a bit of six-string skill to get the goods - they’re not just giving away free beers.
“We gave it its first run at the Panhead Rolling Stone Music Awards and it turns out it's pretty ruthless. It rejected some of the best guitarists in the country.”
I suppose this adds to the age-old question: Is a free beer better than a hard-earned beer? As much as I’d love a brewksi without denting the wallet, getting one by living out a rockstar guitar solo dream would be pretty fucking epic.
While the vendo’s touring schedule isn’t known yet, you can check out Panhead’s Instagram page for updates on what bars and pubs it’ll be at.
