Cellar to Glass

Beer line cleaning is tiresome and time-consuming. But a system that keeps lines clean once you've done them could reduce the need for it on a weekly basis, writes Phil Mellows.

Beer line cleaning is not only a tedious, messy, time-consuming chore, it can also be one of the biggest hidden costs involved in running a pub. To put it simply, most licensees will find they are rinsing their lines with good beer they might otherwise have sold over the bar. It is estimated that line cleaning costs the industry about £80m a year - and every brewery price rise adds to the cost!

There are ways of minimising this. You can, for instance, whenever possible clean a line when the barrel is empty. This requires a feat of organisation and a bit of luck.

The easiest way is to leave the line empty as you near the end of a session. If it's the only line dispensing that particular product you risk disappointing a customer by telling them it's off - though it's probably worth the saving.

What you should never do, of course, is to break the weekly line cleaning ritual that helps make sure your beer is served at the best possible quality.

At least, that is the story you will hear from the major brewers. But while weekly cleaning is the safest guarantee of quality, there are devices on the market which promise less frequent cleaning - and the cost savings that go with it.

Most of these are based on a piece of science the water industry has made use of for many years to prevent residue building up inside pipes.

The trick is to create an electromagnetic field around the pipe that keeps particles moving in suspension and stops them clinging to the inside walls. The original devices used magnets and electronic pulses on the beer line. But while there were some success stories, the results were by no means consistent.

Tony Allen, a former club steward and freetrade area manager with the old Mitchells & Butlers brewery in Birmingham who had set up his own licensed trade consultancy, was intrigued by the possibilities, however. "I was sure they had something," he says. "Then I realised what was going wrong. Beer lines are plastic, not metal, like water pipes, so the electromagnetic field is not conducted all the way through the line."

Then, 10 years ago, Tony met Russell Newman, a scientist who also happened to be an amateur radio ham. He knew that you could also generate a magnetic field with certain radio wave frequencies. The Stayclean system was born. "Radio waves not only extend the magnetic field all the way to the glass, they work in the fob detectors and chillers too," says Tony.

You can test this yourself, if you have a Stayclean system, by holding an ordinary transistor radio to the line. Fascinatingly, you can actually hear the 172 different radio frequencies playing through the line in strict sequence.

Although he found some happy customers in the Midlands freetrade, he failed to convince brewers, however. The arrival of nitrokeg beers also caused a setback.

But now Tony believes he on the verge of a breakthrough. "This will be our best year yet," he says. A couple of technical advances have made the system both cheaper and more effective - and Bedford brewer Charles Wells has installed it throughout its managed estate. Trials are under way with a larger regional brewer and Tony feels more optimistic than he has done in a decade.

Stayclean is in 835 outlets, including 27 universities and the Dome nightclub in Birmingham - which wastes a staggering 400 pints of beer every time the lines are cleaned!

Tony guarantees that the system will reduce the need for line cleaning from once a week to once a month, cutting the cost by 75 per cent.

Interestingly, Charles Wells is playing safe by recommending its managers clean the lines no less than once a fortnight. Retail director Anthony Wallis explained that the brewer's main concern was maintaining quality - exactly the goal that inspired Tony Allen before he realised that cost savings could be a more effective sales pitch.

The core of the UK brewing establishment remains sceptical, perhaps understandably since it puts so much effort into getting across the message to licensees that they must clean lines once a week.

Tony himself emphasises that Stayclean "is not a cleaning system. It keeps clean pipes clean, but it won't clean dirty pipes. There is no substitute for a conventional line clean."

He is a patient, determined man. His frustration brims over, however, when he talks about the attitude of the big brewers. "It hurts when Stayclean is dismissed as 'one of those things'," he says. "This is different. And it works."

• Tony Allen's Stayclean system could be in for a bit of competition. Beertech UK is unveiling an improved version of its electromagnetic system.

The company promises that it can "reduce the need for pipe cleaning by at least two thirds and save an average of 105 pints per font over the course of a year".

It also says the new system is easier to install and can be fitted by ordinary cellar service staff.

Beertech has already experienced a good level of success in Scotland where it is in more than 900 cellars, including all 75 Belhaven Brewery managed houses.

Calculate the cost of beer line cleaning​

• Measure the volume in your average beer line - you can do this next time you clean the lines
• Count the number of taps on your bar
• Multiply the volume in pints by the number of taps
• Multiply by 52 to get an annual figure
• Multiply by the average price of a pint.

A pub with 10 taps and a three pint drop to the cellar, charging an average £2.50 per pint, loses £3,900 a year on line cleaning wastage.

Reassuringly rewarding​

If pride in serving your customers a great pint of beer isn't enough to motivate you to take quality seriously, here's another reason - cash!

There's plenty of evidence that better beer pays off for the publican in terms of higher sales, a point proven at the Three Tuns in Sheffield, where licensee Nigel Williams has seen volumes double since winning the Stella Artois Quality Award 2003 at the end of October.

He is now selling nearly 500 pints a week, making Stella the number one beer at the pub.

Nigel says the Stella Artois Quality Award trophy and plaque displayed behind the bar had an immediate impact on business. "We have made a feature of the award behind the bar and we tell people about it. That has undoubtedly encouraged more of our regulars to try Stella.

"Also an awful lot of people have seen the coverage of the award in the local papers and come in to have a look at the pub. There is no doubt we are attracting new customers, generally we have been a lot busier than normal and I am absolutely delighted.

"Ultimately, this proves that quality does pay off commercially for licensees. The fact is we have been recognised for our high standards and that has benefited our business."

He is using £1,000 of his £3,000 prize to reward his staff for their contribution to quality and is investing the rest in air cleaning equipment and chiller cabinets.

The second year of the annual Stella Artois Quality Award, which is run by brewer Interbrew UK in association with the British Institute of Innkeeping, attracted hundreds of entries from across Britain.

Entrants had to pass a series of rigorous quality-related assessments including mystery drinker visits from judges who rated them on the quality of beer dispense and service. The award runs in conjunction with the Stella Artois Quality Programme, which has trained bar staff in more than 25,000 outlets.

Pubs that have taken part have seen an average increase in sales of 10 per cent through driving traffic,