Beer Hygiene FAQ’s
Can you please tell me if there is such a thing as a 24 hour beer line clean. Thank you.
Not that I know about why would you want to leave lines in cleaner for 24 hours? This would create all sorts of problems mainly tainting the lines. Chemicals in lines for long periods is certainly not recommended.
is it against the law to dry glasses with a clean tea towel?
It's not good practice you will be transferring bacteria from the tea towel to the clean glass. Just how clean is the tea towel and for how long?
what is the legislation for safe hygienic working practices when cleaning drink line dispense?
With reference from the BRITISH BEER & PUB ASSOCIATION:- The Beer Quality and Safety Panel promote the regular cleaning and maintenance of beer dispense lines. Beer is classified as a food under The Food Safety (General Food Hygiene) Regulations 1995 and the same standards of hygiene should therefore be applied to cellars as to kitchens.
Cleanliness of dispense equipment is essential to maintain high standards of quality and presentation. Hazy beers with a poor palate can often be attributed to a build-up of yeast and other micro-organisms in beer lines. Good hygiene is also essential to prevent the development of micro-organisms which could present a food safety hazard. The objective of line cleaning is to maintain a constant state of hygiene and not to wait for yeast to accumulate. The guidance therefore recommends the cleaning of beer and cider dispense systems at least every seven days.
Is it legal to wash glasses in the same dishwasher as crockery?
Might not be illegal, but you should not put crockery in a glass-washer to avoid contaminating the glasses with grease etc.
I only use half the pumps on the bar to save the waste; so half of them are left in water… Every week when I clean the used pumps I run new water through the un-used ones… I recently tried to use all the pumps again and it started off ok, but now they stink… What shall I do?
They will need a really thorough clean emphasizing the word "thorough", you will probably have to do it a couple of times filling the lines with beer in between over a few days. It will come right in the end but it takes time, used to have the same problem with caravan parks. In the future as well drawing plenty of fresh water through at each clean. Every few cleans or so, clean with cleaning fluid. Something to bear in mind if those lines are connected to the ones that are in use, your beer won't be tasting that good anyway.
Is it against the law to polish glasses in a pub with a tea towel?
It is not good practice , how clean is your tea towel?
Is it ok to use out of date line cleaner what would happen if I was to use out of date line cleaner?
The question should be do chemicals degrade over time and is not a question we can really answer because none of us are chemists.
To do a line clean do I need to turn off the cooler that the lines go through first?
Coolers should be turned off before a line clean, water has a higher freezing point than beer and could freeze the coil in the cooler. Doesn't happen every-time but will do it when you least expect it to (Murphy's Law). Then you will have to wait hours for it to thaw, so to be safe, best practice dictates switch the coolers off before a line clean. This also improves the performance of the line cleaner solution.
Do I need to clean my cider line every time?
Yes
At the moment I clean my lines weekly. Someone has mentioned to me a system that uses “ultra soundwaves” to keep your lines clean and reduce the need to manually clean to just once a month. Does it work?
Perhaps the companies who sell these systems would like to come on to the forum and answer these questions.
