Getting the most out of every cask is all about squeezing out the last drop of profit.
Attention to detail when it comes to handling the casks, staff training, recording the drip tray waste, and challenging yourself at every step are four ways to help minimise loss.
But more importantly, we've identified two specific areas that cannot be ignored and that are of equal significance to all operators who wish to maximise the yield from every single container of cask ale: These are: l reducing losses l challenging your own gross profit Reducing losses l Follow the recommended preparation methods be professional, do not deviate from the brewer's guidelines.
l Cask ales will require careful attention to maximise the yield.
Never neglect to stillage, vent, tap, taste, connect and tilt when you should and always allow the correct amount of time for each part of the process.
l Understand the particular cask ale you are dealing with some will have longer secondary fermentation periods and may have more sediment than others.
l Take advantage of the brewer's or supplier's training programmes.
Many of them have British Institute of Innkeeping accreditation and some even carry an advanced qualification.
Keep an open mind to improving or re-enforcing your knowledge.
Never consider that you "know it all" or that you have been in the trade so long that you have "seen it all before".
In our experience, some of the longest serving licensees have benefited most from some training and have rescued large chunks of profit that they would have otherwise thrown away.
l Stock levels should be closely controlled, ensuring there is sufficient stock prepared for sale and eliminating the risk of old stock, which carries a high risk of loss.
Challenge your own gross profit Many licensees have told us that it is impossible to achieve a gross profit above 42% to 43%.
After an hour with them, we have often dramatically improved their chances of achieving close to 50%.
l Measure how much waste is left in the cask to determine how much you are sending back to the supplier or emptying down the drain.
Cask ales that have high sedimentation should still only leave one-and-a-half to two pints maximum in each container any more and you are throwing away your profit.
l
Recently, we emptied the "waste" from a kilderkin (18 gallons) that was about to be put back on a dray and it contained nine pints in excess of the two pints that we allow as a maximum waste figure.
Given that this particular pub sent back eight cask-ale containers each week, we assessed that the loss to the licensee was in excess of a complete firkin (nine gallons) every week.
In other words, enough gross profit to buy him and his wife a two-week Mediterranean cruise.
l Stillaging correctly level to start and then only tapping once the beer has cleared, possibly 24 hours later, but leave it 36 hours to be safe.
Taste the beer as the secondary fermentation is proceeding.
After two to three days, it should be finished.
Push in the spile hand tight and the beer should last many more days and will even improve further.
l Taste before you connect for service.
Only by doing so will you know if it is suitable for sale and also that it is at its best.
l Connect for sale, but try and pull through water first to flush out the old beer from the line.
Keep pulling until all of the water is out and the engine is drawing "air".
Only then will you be sure the beer that you have tasted will be totally fresh ale in the engine and also that every pint from the very first pull can be served with confidence.
None of this pulling of three to four pints until it clears.
l Tilt at the correct time and check that you are following the supplier's recommendations.
Usually, tilting is done when the cask is less than 50% full.
Take care when tilting and try to do so at the end of an evening session.
If you have inadvertently disturbed the sediment in the beer, it should settle down overnight.
l Drip tray waste should be measured at the end of every session or when the trays are full.
Keep a record and you will be shocked at how much beer gets poured away per week.
Do not accept a large amount of waste from these trays.
Train your staff to pour correctly.
If a beer is too lively, challenge yourself as to why this is so.
Do not simply allow staff to pour the top off a frothy pint into the tray and waste money.
Solve the problem and consider holding training sessions with staff to ensure that they maximise your profit from every pint.
l Measuring drip tray waste prompted one licensee to adopt a weekly 15-minute session for all of his staff, sometimes on a one-to-one basis.
His wastage dropped to 10% of the first recorded week's figure.
He saved money enough to employ another person front of house, to further improve the service to his customers.
Remember: challenge yourself to capture every pint out of every cask.
Be brave enough to measure the waste and put right the errors.