A new use for all those bottle caps

What do you do with the bottle cap after you’ve opened a beer?

If it’s cool looking I’ll keep them, my wife and I have used them in different projects, a few have become magnets on the fridge, but usually they end up in the trash.

A couple months back Beer Cap Maps got in touch with me and offered up a sample of their Maine map, which is new to their lineup that now includes all 50 States. I had seen this product advertised a bit and accepted their offer.IMG_8024

The map is pretty sharp looking with lots of details in the coastline, laser cut from thin plywood and measuring 28” tall by 18” wide. The map has 84 holes for displaying bottle caps and 5 smaller holes for mounting the map to the wall, a couple finish nails would work great.

The holes on the map meant for displaying caps have nubs that grip the crown of the bottle caps and hold them securely in place. You will want to be gentle popping your caps though, they don’t fit very well if creased, not that you’d want to display damaged caps anyway. The caps are also easy to pop back out if you want to rearrange or add new ones.

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My only issues with the map is where to hang it? I don’t have a garage, home bar or game room, I wonder if I can talk my wife into letting me hang it in the living room. I also am realizing that a lot of Maine breweries don’t distribute in bottles and some of those that do don’t use a custom cap so there is plenty of room for expansion if more breweries start putting cool caps out there or just fill it with whatever ones you like, even if they are from out of state.

The other option is go with a country instead of a state which costs a little more. States run $39 on the company website and $75 for a country, the country maps are larger with more spaces for caps, the challenge would be to collect a cap from all 50 states to complete the country and then expand out to Belgium or Ireland or one of the other countries they offer.

So to sum it up, I love the Beer Cap Map, it’s a fun product that would make a great gift for fans of beer and gives them a chance to upcycle a bunch of bottle caps.

Cheers!

ChaddahIMG_8034

Chad Lothian

About Chad Lothian

Chad Lothian lives in Old Town, Maine. He is a craft beer enthusiast and homebrewer. Chad has travelled to brewpubs, breweries and brewfests all over New England.