Hi. I'm Altan, the founder of Beer of Satoshi – the first beer which contains Bitcoin under the cap.

The idea for Beer of Satoshi was born at Bitcoin Amsterdam 2024. A few of us Bitcoin builders got together and envisioned a way to blend a classic German beer with a novel Bitcoin experience. Fast forward to today: Beer of Satoshi is a real German-brewed lager that comes with sats (small fractions of Bitcoin) hidden under every crown cap. We weren’t interested in just talking about Bitcoin adoption in theory – we wanted to build something tangible that puts Bitcoin directly into people’s hands (or glasses, in this case).

Here’s how it works: every bottle cap has a QR code on its underside. It’s a standard QR code (a regular web URL, not an LNURL or any specialized Lightning code). This means anyone with a smartphone can scan it instantly – no special wallet app required at first. When you sip the beer and scan the code, it immediately brings you to a webpage revealing exactly how many satoshis you’ve “won” from that bottle. The key point is that the sats amount is shown instantly, before you’re asked to set up anything or download any wallet. You could think of it like finding a prize under the cap, except the prize is in Bitcoin and you see it displayed on a website as soon as you scan.

This “reward-first” design is very intentional. Psychologically, it flips the typical onboarding flow. Instead of telling a newcomer, “Hey, download this Lightning wallet and scan this to maybe get some sats,” we do the opposite. We show them value first. When someone sees, for example, that they have 500 sats waiting for them, it creates instant curiosity and motivation. They’re now invested emotionally – they have a small amount of Bitcoin right in front of them on the screen. At that moment, they’re far more interested in redeeming it than they would be if we had led with a technical step. In short, seeing the sats amount upfront gets people excited and willing to take the next step, rather than losing interest at a “please install this app” prompt.

Only after showing you the sats do we guide you to actually claim them. The webpage will prompt the user on how to redeem the sats through the Lightning Network. If you don’t already have a Lightning wallet, no problem – the site provides a simple onboarding flow to help you get set up. This might include recommending a quick-download Lightning wallet or explaining how to copy the withdrawal link into a wallet. The crucial thing is that by this stage, you want to redeem your sats. You’ve seen your reward, so going through a few steps to claim it feels worthwhile. The Lightning redemption itself is straightforward: essentially you scan or paste one more code in your Lightning wallet (or click a link) and the sats will be transferred to you. We’ve made sure this process is as smooth as possible, especially for first-timers, with clear instructions at each step.

It’s worth noting that the amount of sats under each cap is not printed or known beforehand. All caps look identical; there’s no clue on the bottle or cap as to how many sats are inside until you scan it. We set it up this way so that every bottle is a surprise – you might get a common small reward or, if you’re lucky, a much larger stack of sats. The distribution is random, but until you actually scan that code, neither you (nor even us just by looking at the cap) know how much that particular bottle holds. This adds a bit of fun and suspense to the experience, like a Bitcoin twist on the classic golden ticket concept.

All redemptions are tracked on a public live leaderboard. Every time someone claims the sats from their bottle, it shows up on the leaderboard with details like the sats amount and when/where it was claimed. For example, that “Bottle #12345 from Batch X was claimed for 250 sats on [date].” If you’re at an event, you can see on our TV screens in real-time how many beers have had their sats claimed and the tally of sats being distributed. The leaderboard brings a friendly competition and transparency element: you can actually watch the progress as people redeem their beer rewards across the world or at specific events. It demonstrates that these are real Bitcoin transactions happening; Beer of Satoshi isn’t just smoke and mirrors. We even see folks comparing their sats prizes and playfully bragging if they got a higher-than-average cap – it really adds to the social fun of it.

I want to emphasize that Beer of Satoshi is not a gimmicky marketing trick. Yes, it’s a fun concept, but at its core it’s a serious Bitcoin onboarding mechanism. The goal here is to get new people comfortable with Bitcoin in a hands-on way. By tying sats to something as familiar as a beer, we lower the barrier to entry. There’s no abstract sign-up process or theoretical promise – it’s right there in your drink. This is about meeting people where they are (at the bar or a meetup), and giving them a taste of Bitcoin that’s engaging and memorable. In fact, once a bottle’s sats are claimed, that person now has a Lightning wallet set up and a little Bitcoin of their own. They’ve effectively become a new Bitcoiner, all because they opened a beer and followed their curiosity. That’s the real victory for us: making the first step into Bitcoin easy and enjoyable, rather than intimidating.

Importantly, the Beer of Satoshi approach can scale far beyond just beer bottles. We built it as a general model for bridging physical products with Bitcoin rewards. Today it’s a lager, but tomorrow this concept could be applied to other beverages, foods, or consumer goods. Imagine soft drinks or coffee cups that come with sats rewards under the lid, or snack wrappers with hidden Bitcoin QR codes. The principle would be the same: a consumer gets a surprise Bitcoin reward with their purchase and is guided through a simple redemption. Our beer is proving out the concept and ironing out the user experience. Once it’s refined, there’s potential to partner with other producers and bring “sats-under-the-cap” to many other products. In other words, Beer of Satoshi is just the first step – a working example of how to integrate Bitcoin onboarding into everyday items in a scalable way.

We’re proud of how far Beer of Satoshi has come since that spark of an idea in Amsterdam in 2024. It’s combining the best of German brewing tradition with cutting-edge Bitcoin tech in a way that’s approachable to anyone. No fluff, no overblown promises – just a cold beer that gives you some sats and a gentle introduction to the Lightning Network. For us builders, it’s incredibly satisfying to see people’s eyes light up when they scan that cap and realize they’re holding a bit of Bitcoin they didn’t have before. That genuine excitement and engagement is exactly what Bitcoin adoption needs: real experiences, not just rhetoric.

We believe it's the best way to orange-pill your friends: social, playful and drinkable.

If you’re interested in learning more or want to follow the project, you can find all our links and info via our Linktree: linktree.beerofsatoshi.com.