>> State quarters. I just like to collect them. >> Like most kids, Jasper Darley likes to collect things. One summer, he started picking up all the bottle caps he found at picnics and cookouts. >> I just really asked them for their beer caps and they gave them to me.
beer caps clinking together
>> His storage device wasn't very sophisticated. >> I just kept them in a plastic bag. >> Do you have a favorite cap? >> That one. >> So, Jasper asked his dad, Jesse, for help. >> Dad, can I have something to put my beer caps on? >> Got it? >> Fortunately for Jasper, >> He's like, "Sure." >> Jesse is a mechanical engineer. >> We have a laser cutter at work and I just made him a Wisconsin map.
caps clinking together
>> The map got filled up with caps, and went up on the wall in Jasper's bedroom. Then, Jesse's co-worker and friend, Steve, came over. >> And he was like, "I need one of these." >> I came back the next day to work and told Jesse, "We should... We should sell them," "Or, at least, you should cut me a 'Missouri' so I can take it back home to my wife's family." >> And then, he just started a business.
clicks while etching wood
>> Beer Cap Maps was born. >> So like any good business, it started in our basement. >> The premise is really simple. Each map comes with holes for bottle caps. Simply press them in and fill up the map. What makes it work is the endless number of bottle cap designs. >> And bottle caps themselves are just great looking. So, thinking about putting them geographically somewhere. You know, "This is a New Glarus beer." "This is a Capital beer." "This is a Lake Front beer from Milwaukee." >> Then, once you have it in your hands, it's just a matter of deciding "Do I want to do it by region?" "Do I want to do it by color?" >> The maps wouldn't have been so popular just a decade ago, when the number of beer choices was limited, but the craft beer movement has exploded.
laser cutter beam bores wood
>> We cut our Wisconsin map, and it had about 100 holes in it. And we looked online, and tried to figure out how many breweries there were in Wisconsin. There were about 95. And then, we just looked again-- this is a few months later-- and now there's 113.
bottle clinks against ice
>> Cheers! >> Cheers! >> Cheers! >> Jesse and Steve say part of the fun is trying new beers or bottled soda with friends and having a way to display that experience. >> There's so much passion for the people that are drinking it, the people that are making it. You know, it's fun to be around and fun to learn about those different breweries. >> It is letting people express their passion. >> Jesse and Steve have found a way to mix the maps into their parties. >> As close as you can get to Door County. >> With guests filling the map, as the evening goes on. >> While Jasper and his bottle cap collection may take credit for the maps...
Jesse and Steve both laugh
>> He talks about being the founder of the company, sometimes. The guys know it's the grown up kids who will like collecting the most. >> That whole collecting theme that goes through, you know, kids to adults to everybody just wanting to collect things that they think are cool and show 'em off. >> The participatory art is really when people get it. It becomes their own thing. It's not like they're consuming. You know this is-- Our maps are really not much without caps in 'em. >> And, it's out there making somebody happy, and then they're recommending it to a friend that they think will be happy. And that's a ton of fun. >> Cool!
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