Inn Doctor

Next to keeping your beer lines in good clean condition, glass-washer cleanliness is the next most important.

One of the most neglected pieces of kit in any pub or bar is usually the most important one , your glass-washer. To serve beers in top condition it is essential to have an efficient clean machine that is both regularly maintained and sanitised.

What is the point of all the effort of brewers producing and delivering beer and you also having to pay your hard earned profit to buy it, only for it to be served in a grotty glass. It just doesn’t look poor ,with no head or lacing but it is affecting your profit margins.

People are said to drink with their eyes, so bearing this in mind would you be likely to have another pint if the first was like a cup of of cold tea….I think not.

So here is a plea on behalf of your neglected old friend the glasswasher.

Firstly it will not last for ever, if it is old knackered and past it,then get rid of it, a new one will soon pay for itself.

Secondly treat your glass-washer with the respect it deserves, have it regularly serviced, and the dosing rates of detergent and rinse aid checked. Too much of either can affect your glasses dramatically.

Thirdly, clean it out regularly.

Cleaning a glass-washer is simple and does not take very long. Check your owners manual for the correct instructions. If you do not have an operators manual then just use your common sense. Use an old toothbrush and clean out all the acrued dirt. Give it a good hot rinse and then put it through a couple of cycles using a suitable sanitiser.

Lastly do not forget a glass-washer is for glasses only and not for coffee cups, dishes,

or glasses that have been used to serve creamy liqueurs such as Baileys, wash these in a separate sink.

Treat your glass-washer like a friend it will save you money.

Something you will be able to tell your Grand Children…….

“I remember the Pods”.

No I don’t mean the escape pods from Star Trek or the ipod. I refer to the object that sends shudders down the backs of Landlords and sends bar staff scurrying for mops and buckets.

Away from the prying eyes of customers but in full view of everyone else we have the pods which seem to get bigger and take up more space every time you look at them, they would be more at home on the set of the Scorpion King.

I don’t mean those untidy things that used to fit so neatly into the bottom shelf, screaming at you to fill with water or change a fan motor or recirc pump.

How it is now

No I refer to this cutting edge stuff, these wonderful objects are so neat and compact they can be fitted in any position and tucked well out of the way, if only.

The problem with this type of pod as the picture shows an engineer can install one of these albeit very neatly, but then along comes another to install one or two around the initial installation; time is not allocated to move or reinstall the first one to a better position to make room, so the space under the bar then begins to look like a pigs breakfast.

The second generation or later pods are now hopefully well lagged, gone are the days when you expected to see Kevin Costner climb out with gills, webbed hands and feet, then it was condensation fonts above the bar, and “Water World” below.

The principal behind the pod was sound however the design has shown it to be flawed in practice, it has turned simple bar installs into a mess, the blame doesn’t really lie with anyone in particular, the sooner different sizes of the extra cold remote are introduced in some measure the better. Bars can then return to just fonts and pythons behind the bar. So the basic principal of no coolers at all behind the bar can be maintained. but this would mean more pythons to run from the cellar, but then that’s a story for another day.

Carlsberg Vortex Tap

Our intrepid reporter has noticed the replacement of the much vaunted “Vortex” tap on Carlsberg dispensers throughout the UK. Introduced sometime ago as part of the “who can serve the fastest pint arms race” the Vortex tap was a high tech response by Carlsberg to the Fosters hit tap.

Apparently capable of serving a pint in under 14 seconds, the Vortex was a good piece of kit, but not without one or two problems. The replacement seems to be a standard Alumasc type tap,with Export and Carlsberg handles fitted.

Here is a tip for those who have had replacement taps fitted and are perhaps experiencing either too fast or too lively dispense problems.Next time your friendly Technician calls make him a cup of tea and get him to check the flow controls on the Carlsberg taps have been readjusted to suit the new taps.

While we are on the subject of designers and drip trays. What about the Carling Font yet another dispenser designed by people who don’t have to work with it. The taps aren’t really designed for hooking bucket handles while cleaning and the tray has one of those slopes that you have to balance the bucket on. So how many of you have had a bucket full, fall to the floor, it has happened to me twice now and I don’t think that will be the final count.

Guinness are such a big company, they must spend millions on Research and Development yet they design a Font with such a flimsy drip tray all it needs is for you to use a large bucket when cleaning the lines and that’s it broken! If the whole world and his dog can see the error of such a flimsy design how come the Guinness Designers can’t! However, one redeeming feature is if you phone Tech Services they will post one out to you straight away.

Great care should be taken when tilting to avoid disturbing the beer. A cask should never be tilted until approximately one third of its contents have been used. The cask should be tilted by lifting the rear of the cask gently and sliding the scotches closer together, or by use of a tilting appliance. A difference of 2.1/2″ to 3″ between the vertical height of front and rear chimps is quite sufficient to allow the maximum contents of the cask to be dispensed. Although this may vary slightly according to the size of cask, a greater degree of tilt will usually cause the inner end of the tap to rise out of the beer, thus risking hazy beer.

Auto Tilting

Although traditional stillaging is still used Inn Doctor recommends the use of Auto Stillaging for both ease and profit. These will save you money by reducing ullage to a minimum. Floor standing Auto Tilt stillages are designed to sit directly on the floor and replace your existing wooden stillages .The stillages are usually zinc plated which offers resistance to corrosion in any damp cellar.

• When beer stops coming through the tap, this means the keg is empty.
• In the cellar disconnect empty keg and connect a full keg.
• Bleed the fob detector through the small valve that is at the top.
• Make sure the fob glass is full to the top. Close valve after use.
• Then and only then press the release button upwards.
• And check that the ball rises to the top of the fob glass.
• When fob detector glass is full and the ball is at the top, pull the release button back down into the down position.
• Do not leave ball release button in the up position.

Note:

• Some fob detectors have a button on the side. Use as above only push in and pull out, instead of press up and pull down.
• Others types may have a rotary switch. Follow the same procedure, but using the switch in the correct operating sequence as above.

If all your keg beers and lagers are serving warm you have a major problem.

If you have a large pub or hotel then you will probably have one or two remote coolers. These will often be located somewhere near your cellar. They are, a large box like machine with lots of pipes coming from the top.

Once you have located the machine make sure it is switched on. This is the only thing you can check. Even if the machine is running it may still be faulty.

Ring your local Tech Services right away

• Is the Electric pump switched on and primed. To prime press the prime button on the electric box above the pump, the motor should run and shut off, there should be a small light that will indicate this.
• Is the gas turned on to the keg coupler? (Perhaps it hasn’t been switched back on after cleaning the lines).Gas is needed to push the beer from the container to the pump, if this isn’t happening the pump will not prime and continue running. This will also cause fobbing problems.
• Make sure the keg in use is full and the keg coupler is fully depressed.
• If the motor still runs on contact your local Technical Services.

Beer dispensers look at their best when lit up.If you find your bar lights are not working you should check the following.

• Locate the lighting transformers which power the bar lights.These are usually mounted below the bar shelves near to a power outlet
• Make sure the transformer is switched on at the socket.Quite often people use these sockets for other things and will leave the lighting transformer disconnected.
• If the power is on, make sure the on off switch, which is mounted on the lighting transformer (this is often missed), is switched to the on position.
• If your lights are still not working you need to send for your local technician.