A beer drinker in 1950 needed a toolbox. Twist-off beer bottle caps hadn't yet been invented, and beer cans were sealed up as tight as a tin of Dinty Moore beef stew. Even the old-school daisy-chainable pull tab wasn't invented until 1959. Your only option was poking holes in the lid with a church key, which could get tricky once you'd practiced your way through a six-pack.

By the '80s, though, things had gotten easier. The stay-tab was the norm (as it is today), the cans' material had switched from heavy tin-plated steel to lightweight aluminum (for lower-impact elbow bending), and some bottles came with twist-off caps. Beer was just a flick of the wrist away, no utensils necessary.

And for 30 years, save for one major advance--Guinness's "widget," a little piece of plastic that, when poured, gives your canned beer the same creamy head as the stuff from a tap--that equilibrium held. But today, thanks to the can's wider acceptance among microbreweries, we are in a beer vector renaissance, and companies across America are getting creative in order to enhance the drinking experience. Necessary? Nah (especially according to John Updike). A good old can gets beer into our bellies just fine. Fun(ny)? You bet. Here are some of the most notable advances in what we like to call "beer delivery systems."

The Miller Lite Vortex Bottle

"Specially Designed Grooves" turn a normal pour into a pour with a spiral. Why, exactly, having your beer form a vortex was a good thing was never explained in Miller Lite's 2010 advertising campaign (the company's website just said "science makes it good"), but it sure looks cool.