Randall the Enamel Animal

The strange, but true story of Randall The Enamel Animal

"Just try the Beer!... The result is a beer with a refreshingly herbaceous flavor." -- The New York Times

Randall, a true Dogfish Head invention, is an organoleptic hop transducer module. What's that you say? A double-chamber filter that you connect to a tap of your favorite beer and fill with flavor-enhancing ingredients.

Randall 3.0 was unveiled in September 2010.

From Sam Calagione, Dogfish Head founder: "I'm really excited to announce Randall 3.0. This is the new double barrel, foam-reducing model. Randall the Enamel Animal is the original gangster organoleptic hop transducing module. Basically, it's a sophisticated filter system that allows the user to run draft beer through a chamber of whole leaf hops, spices, herbs, fruit, etc. so that the alcohol in the beer strips the flavor from whatever you add and puts it in the beer."

We first developed Randall back around 2002 to beat our West Coast brethren in a hop-centric beer showdown called The Lupulin Slam. We thought we'd just build that one and that would be the end of it, but right out of the gates fellow beer geeks and brewers asked us to build Randalls for them -- so we did.

In fact, we built over 260 Randalls in the last eight years, and besides many domestic craft breweries, we know of Randalls bring used in Japan, New Zealand, Italy and Sweden. I was in NZ recently and met this really cool Aussie brewer who has designed a Randall-type device based on seeing ours run in San Diego one year. He changed up the design because our 1st-generation Randall would sometimes foam (which is why we spent many, many hours of time and effort to come up with newer and improved versions of Randall).

Our main engineering guru Greg spearheaded the Randall re-design. Greg's main mission was to reduce foaming during filter use. He rose to the challenge! Greg's Randall 3.0 design features several elements to address excessive foaming and to be more user friendly.

• Beer enters the infusing chamber from the bottom, maximizing beer-hop contact and forcing foamy beer to exit at the top.
• Automatic chamber vents eliminate vapor-locking and maximize beer-hops contact.
• "De-foaming" chamber provides both space and time for foamy beer to settle.
• Adjustable faucet balances between different beer types or short-draw/long-draw draft systems.
• Ice chamber keeps beer cold between pours.
• Draft dispensing components eliminate those unexpected beer showers.

We're putting all of our energy into brewing beer right now, so we won't be making Randalls anytime soon. But since the beginning, we've shared the info on how we make Randall and have encouraged brewers and beer lovers to make their own. Open-source hopping, y'all!

Below is a user guide that includes a bill of materials, a list of suppliers, general guidelines and operating instructions. Check it out, give it a go, and let us know how your Randall turns out!

Want to see Randall in action? We serve beer through our very own Randall filter every Monday and Friday during Happy Hour at Dogfish Head Brewings & Eats in downtown Rehoboth Beach, DE. Join us!