The Minnesota Twins have installed the first self-serve beer machines

Photo from: flickr Quinn Dombrowski

Sports teams are always trying to figure out new ways to serve their customers in a quick and easy manner. Serving yourself maybe the way of the future.

Target Field, home of the Minnesota Twins Major League Baseball team, is the first sports team to install self-serve beer machines. Those looking for an adult beverage will first have to purchase a vending card before using the machines to receive your brew. Pete Spike, general manager for concessions provider Delaware North, noted that the first day saw about 200 cards being sold.

If you decide to go this route there is a little work involved. Consumers will first have to go to a concession cashier, show identification to verify your age, then purchase the vending card with options for either $10 or $20. Since Target Field will be hosting the All-Star Game, $50 cards will be made available. These cards don't expire, so don't worry if you've got a little cash left on the card.

Once you have the vending card, now what do you do. 

The beer machines will have screens to show instructions on how to proceed. An employee will be stationed at the machines to check I.D. and to make sure the customer is not intoxicated. You'll be able to fill up to 48 ounces every 15 minutes. Once people start to get a couple of glasses in themselves, it'll be interesting to see how well the 20 seconds to accomplish all of this is maintained. And as all baseball games go, the beer machines will shut down by the seventh inning. 

There will be four choices of beer to choose from, Bud and Bud Light (38 cents per ounce), and Shock Top Lemon Shandy and Goose Island 312 Urban Pale Ale (40 cents per ounce), with per-ounce pricing based on the cost charged in face-to-face transactions. Prices won't go up for the All-Star game, said Spike, but concerts and other events may raise the price a couple of cents do to municipal taxes.