About Brew Innovations, LLC:Formed by two beer-drinking, homebrewing buddies in 2003, Ryan Welch and Cody Payne, Vail Valley natives Brew Innovations LLC, is a new producer of innovative products for beer dispensing. The Octopus Tap is the first of several products currently in various levels of development. Brew Innovations is headquartered in Lafayette. Product development takes place in North Carolina and Colorado. For more information about Brew Innovations and its products, visit http://www.octopustap.com or call 303-317-4381.Brew Innovations is a classic American business success story – find a need and fill it, or in this case find a glass and fill it.Ryan Welch and Cody Payne were both born and raised in the Vail Valley. They grew up, went off to college and decided things weren’t moving quickly enough, especially while standing around the keg at parties waiting to refresh their beverages.”We had been to so many parties where we spent time waiting in line to get a beer,” said Payne. “We told each other there has to be a better way.”The two have known each other since they were two weeks old; their families were friends long before that.Like Real Americans, they set about creating a better way instead of standing around whining that someone should create it for them. The Octopus Tap was born. The product allows up to 4 beers to be poured simultaneously from one standard keg of beer. It does exactly what it’s supposed to do – flow 300 percent more beer than you can get from a standard keg.Another Vail childhood buddy, Stefan Freeman, is helping them crank up the marketing. The marketing theme is based loosely on Founding Father Benjamin Franklin’s axiom, “Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.”Payne and Welch developed it in college – no surprise there – in 1993 and filed the idea away, getting on with college and the rest of their lives. Payne was studying at CU-Boulder where he graduated in 1996 with a degree in information systems. He has a regular job in the real world and does this on the side.Welch earned his bachelors and masters degrees in electrical engineering from the Air Force Academy. Once in a while Welch had to get away from the military to seek sanctuary in the Peoples Republic of Boulder.He did his military service in Ohio, thinking up new and wonderful ways to create bigger and better stuff that goes faster and higher. All in all, not a bad way to spend a few years in exchange for a college education and a masters degree.”He’s way too smart for this,” laughed Payne.They hauled the idea out a few years ago, formed a company – Brew Innovations LLC – and created an Octopus Tap prototype. Besides college kids and anyone else who finds themselves waiting in line to pour a beverage, Payne said the target market is caterers and others who deal with large groups of people who are eating and drinking, as well as rental programs through liquor stores.And it’s all about the people.The new tap stopped the bottle neck at the keg, which allowed the party to spread out more evenly, making parties more enjoyable.”The Octopus Tap completely changed the dynamics of a recent large party,” said Tyra Forbes, a professional in the restaurant industry. “This new tap stopped the bottle neck at the keg, which allowed the party to spread out more evenly. It really made the party much more enjoyable.”The tap works like any standard picnic pump. Pressure is applied to the keg by the hand pump and beer is poured from 1, 2, 3, or 4 faucets at one time. Parts are also available to connect the tap to CO2 to eliminate pumping.Vail Daily, Vail, Colorado