i should have gone to the university of wisconsin...

CHICAGO -- Matthew Younkle was a senior at the University of Wisconsin in Madison when inspiration struck. What the world really needs, he decided, is a three-second beer.

He was not the first college student to dream of ways to get to his alcohol more quickly. What set Mr. Younkle apart is that he chose, soberly, to follow through.

"I think this will change the way beer is poured," says Tom Geordt, director of training and business development for Micro Matic, a California maker and distributor of kegs, faucets and other beer-related equipment. If Mr. Geordt is right, pouring a draft could become as simple as flicking a light switch. Tilted cups and overflowing beer suds would be things of the past.

As an engineering student in college, Mr. Younkle concluded that gravity, not bartender incompetence, was to blame for long beer lines. Beer, like any liquid, accelerates as it leaves the tap. The force generated upon impact with the bottom of a cup causes the beer to foam. Too much force means too much foam. Too much foam means wasted beer and wasted time.

Mr. Younkle decided to create a nozzle that slowed the descent of the beer and reduced the force of its impact. He produced a prototype in college and won an inventor's prize in a campus competition. And after several more years of R&D ("research and drinking," he says), Mr. Younkle felt he had perfected his invention. The 4½-inch stainless-steel nozzle attaches to a standard beer tap and reaches to the bottom of a glass, like an extra-wide straw. Each pour produces a half-inch head -- or "collar of foam" -- Mr. Younkle says. TurboTap can pour 16 ounces in 2.5 seconds. Normal is about eight seconds.