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[Flash@TMB]

Discerning lager drinkers gird yer loins there's a new imported beer arriving soon on draught. This is in addition to Tennents and Budvar. Yes - just in time for what is predicted to be the coldest winter in 40 years... Baltika No.3 which is imported all the way from... err... doh... Russia.



Baltika has a 'super chilled' tap.

Not sure exactly when the gear will be installed, but hopefully within the coming week.

We already stock Baltika in bottles but those will cease once the draught product arrives.

[Arricc]

You should get in some Köstritzer

[Spoonie]

or some Voll Damm

schweet!
/x

[Flash@TMB]

The bar counter is not long enough. This is going to be the last tap we can conceivably fit... although we still have room for a cask cider on our handpumps (if I can ever find another cask cider with distribution).

[Spoonie]

cleaning the fonts and pipes must take you guys forever! assuming you do it, that is

/x

[Flash@TMB]

Originally Posted by Spoonie

cleaning the fonts and pipes must take you guys forever! assuming you do it, that is

/x

Oh yes, and for anyone interested in such matters...

Line cleaning is a very misunderstood process. It is necessary because despite the products being sterile and under CO2 gas, bacteria finds it's way into the lines via the taps and will live off any yeast that's adhereing to the line. This is very bad news because the effect is similar to not brushing your teeth... I've heard tales from brewery engineers about bars and clubs where the beer has stopped because the lines have become fully blocked - this supposidly takes about 1 year of neglect. They've cut open the lines which have been chocked solid with this slow moving stinking yellow slime, described as being like the runny cheese in macaroni but with the smell of bad breath.

There are only two reasons for keg beer to taste bad (real ale is different as it can go off for a number of reasons). Either the line cleaner has been left in the line too long, scouring the lines with bleach. This imparts a slightly musty, rough, off-bleach taste, and the only cure is to replace the lines. The other reason is dirty lines and this causes anything from flat beer, stinking beer, cloudy beer, solid matter in the beer, right through to poisoning. Even missing 1 week of line cleaning is noticably detremental to the taste of the beer.

***

We currently have 18 fonts, each with their own dedicated line, and 6 real ale pumps each with it's own line. The real ale lines are only 3m long but are 12mm bore whereas the beerlines are much longer but only have a 6mm bore. We clean the beerlines and a Wednesday morning, and the real ales whenever the casks finish, these usually last a week.

In order to clean a line you must first flush out all the beer. We waste approx 57 pints a week through this process. It costs us over £4000 per year to keep out lines clean once you factor in bleach and wages.

The line cleaning we use is the indicator (purple) type. This looks like blackcurrent Ribena, but depending on how dirty the line is will either go green, yellow, gray, white, clear, cloudy purple, or purple with bits floating in it. Once the lines are clean the bleach remains a sparkling clean purple. Unfortunately there is a common misconception among publicans that green is dirty and purple is clean, but things aren't that simple, hence some places only partially succeed in cleaning their lines.

We have fitted line ionisation devices commonly known as beerline conditioners. These pass a small electric charge round the line, which prevents any particles from clinging to the inside of the line. Without any bleach to feed on the bacteria grow much more slowly. We've had these devices fitted since the lines were new - we replaced them just after taking over the bar. It typically takes less 60-90mins to clean the lines. Due to the flood our lines had to be replaced again, and the beerline conditioners had to be refitted. In the interim week without the conditioners it took almost twice as long to properly clean the lines (and these were new lines remember). So the conditioners really do make a difference.

Interestingly cider lines technically do not require such frequent cleaning, but we still do ours once a week cos it doesn't add much to the task as they usually show up clean straight off. The Addlestones is a different kettle of fish, and does require weekly cleaning, although it's very easy to clean compared with say Belhaven or Guiness!

One thing we plan to do is to relocate our keg cellar directly under the bar counter thus reducing the volume of the lines, and hopefully shaving £3000 off our annual line cleaning costs.

***

We usually get nominated for pint of the year.

i know how much of a task it is, i've watched/helped my mum do this weekly since i was about 8. and there were no where near as many lines as you have!

[KarmaTsunami]

ooooh! sounds nice. will have to come in and try it.

might pop in tomorrow night anyway since i haven't been to the moorings in what feels like ages.

[Flash@TMB]

Originally Posted by KarmaTsunami

ooooh! sounds nice. will have to come in and try it.

might pop in tomorrow night anyway since i haven't been to the moorings in what feels like ages.

We don't have it in yet, is likely to be the end of next week at the earliest.

[KarmaTsunami]

i know that you silly sausage. i might pop in tomorrow (today now) anyway since i haven't been in for what seems like ages.

i fancy a pint of weihenstephan (did i spell it right?)