Beer Dispense FAQ’s
hi, bought a pub/restaurant that has a make shift cellar, out in the yard – when we bought it, it had a roof, when we took over the roof had been removed ! Apparently illegally placed in the first place..anyway…point is we’ve had beer sitting out in an extremely narrow (about 1 1/2 metres wide) with house sized surrounding walls – until it can be rebuilt we’ve had kegs outside – temperatures have reached -15 at the worst the last couple of nights and current temperatures are between -9 and -15, we have a purpose built shelving & protective shed like covering of 8 of our lines, and the top row of 4 have been unaffected yet the bottom row have just produced pure foam – now I presume what’s happened is that although not insulated (now is) as heat rises and the top row do not touch the floor, the temperatures have not dropped low enough to affect the beer – wheras bottom row of 4 touching freezing concrete floor – all foaming too much – so stored kegs and these bottom 4 have just been brought in – finally to my questions: 1. Will these frozen (not literally but must be near as damn it) simply thaw at room temperature ? and: 2. What happens with the tremendous built up pressure that WAS within the kegs at the point of attempting to dispense whilst outside in thenfreexing weather ?? be tremendously gratefull for a quick response ! Kind Regards Martin
Gas is released from freezing beer greatly increasing the pressure within, this makes the keg container very dangerous. There will be a chance that extractor or the spear as it sometimes called, may shoot out of the top. I have seen holes in cellar ceilings, where these have come out before now. So if you were to be leaning over them connecting a keg coupler for example, it could prove fatal. Anyway if the beer has frozen in the container it will be undrinkable afterwards.
The brewers recommend:
Cover the top with a heavy blanket or tarpaulin.
Call Technical services to report it.
Allow the keg to thaw slowly.
Make sure the container is clearly marked to make your staff and the draymen aware of the problem.
It isn't worth messing around with, stay well away.
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how long should you leave a keg before putting it on sale?
A keg is pasteurized beer, you can put it straight on sale.
Up until about 2.30 pm today the carling lager was perfect after this the pints were pulling flat any ideas
This really is a forum question, and creates more questions however. Did you change a keg during that time? If so it could be that the new keg is flat. If not then you may need to check the gas supply to the keg. Are you experiencing other problems with other products? ect. ect.
How long would carlsberg and guinness keep once served?
Wouldn't it be better just to drink them.
Can I sell out of date lager?
You have a duty of care to your customers. Whilst we are not aware of any person being injured in any way by drinking out of date beer there is always the risk that over age beer might contain pathogenic microbes and their by-products, that could be harmful to health.
How do I tell if the keg is out of condition?
Keg beer like all beers can go off. It can develop vinegar taste, sulphur smells, lack of brightness in appearance and fobbing[frothiness]. Keg beer should be sold within 4 days to a week for best results.
How long does a keg of lager last once opened?
Once opened, try to sell keg ales within a week, quite simply they don’t taste as nice after that. Once you start to introduce bottle gas into the keg, that starts to absorb into the liquid. Co2 isn’t as pure out of the bottle as it is in the brewing process.
Is out of date beer ok to drink?
No. Keg or bottled it will have off tastes. Also not a good idea to sell out of date products to customers,you have a duty of care.
How much beer is lost when changing a barrel
Provided you have a fob detector fitted, which you should have, waste will be very little, if any.
Where can i buy new smoothflow nozzles from?
Good question will let you know on this one have seen them advertised can't remember where at the moment. I have since found some, a bit expensive though. http://www.a1barstuff.co.uk/detail.asp?ProdID=534
