A Bar Bet

One way to lift the bottle is to bend the straw about two inches from one end. Insert the "V" shaped point formed into the mouth of the bottle until the straw can unfold. When you lift, the now unfolded portion will wedge in the body of the bottle below the neck (see illustration.) You can try this one for yourself easily- but practice with an empty bottle first. Some light weight or paper straws may not have the rigidity necessary to keep from collapsing under the weight of the bottle plus six ounces of liquid.

An alternate solution proposed by visitors is to bend the straw into a U-shape, going around the tip of your index finder. Wedge your finger into the top of the bottle, making sure the straw comes between your finger and the bottle on both sides. We haven't tested this experimentally, so it may be difficult depending on the width of the straw to make sure no part of your finger touches the inside of the neck.

Updated 3/30/1999:

Another proposed solution, albeit a contrived one, is to insert the straw into the beer and then lower the ambient temperature of the bar to below the freezing point of the beer (which depends on the alcohol content). Probably not easy unless the bar is in McMurdo Base, Antarctica.

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