It has become as clear as a perfect pint that the traditional publican's craft of cellar management now requires a much broader set of skills and disciplines if it to have a real impact on the the liquid in the glass as it reaches the customer's hand.
That customer has higher standards than ever before. They are probably paying more, so they expect and deserve the best possible quality.
Quality assurance in the pub must follow the beer at every stage from the delivery of the keg or cask through the beer lines into the tap and beyond, right through to the presentation of the beer in the glass.
Rooney Anand, managing director of Greene King Brewing Company, shows how glassware can play a positive role in your business.
Do not underestimate the positive effect that clean, bright, well-handled, branded glassware can have on your business. Clean glasses maintain a quality image. They are hygienic and deliver the product to your customer in the best possible condition. They are safe, they tell the customer that you care. After all, they soon notice if a glass is dirty or chipped.
How do you recognise a clean glass? Beer correctly "lacing" its head down the glass as it is drunk is a good sign. Sparkling clean glassware will hold the head of the beer and deliver the bubbles to the correct place in the glass at the correct speed.
Clean glasses will only come from correct glass washing methods. Challenge yourself by taking a look at the glasses on your shelves - not just the ones at the front but those at the back of the shelf that only get used on a busy session.
How do they look? Have you got some with limescale stains, dirt build-up near the lip, streaks of dried dirty water?
No? Then great, but in truth too many businesses have glasses with some, if not all, of these faults and wonder why the product performs poorly!
Your glasswasher
Ask these questions about your glasswasher. How old is it and does it still bring the water to the correct temperature? Does it deliver the correct amount of detergent and rinse aid? Is the water softener working? Does it have the correct amount of salt and is the resin still performing correctly?
All these questions need honest answers and resolutions. Talk to your glasswasher and detergent suppliers to get the equipment and the chemicals working at their best.
Consider replacing an old or poorly performing machine with one that will do the job properly. There is a machine on the market that will deliver clean water every time it rinses, requiring only the smallest amount of rinse aid. It then adds the detergent and washes with virtually clean water. Then it dumps the dirty water and fills with clean ready to rinse.
It does not require an expensive water softener as the detergent does this job.
You and your staff
How often do you change the dirty wash water? Once a day or maybe once a session? Try changing it every five or six washes at most. Otherwise all you are doing is circulating water that is getting progressively dirtier.
How often do you strip and clean the machine, the circulating arms, the filters, the door seal area etc?
I would recommend that at the end of every session the glasswasher should be thoroughly cleaned - it should be part of the shut-down procedure. Don't simply pull the plug to let the water out - that's just too lazy.
Clean the filters and inside the cabinet. It will only take five minutes and it will be ready for the next session.
Renovation
New glasses as well as older glasses should be put through the machine with Renovate, a product that will remove the oils used in making the glass and all the lime scale and dirt that has built up. If they do not come clean after a Renovate cycle throw them out.
Storage and handling
Keep all glassware in a clean area and get into the habit of cleaning these areas frequently. Strip the plastic glass matting and thoroughly clean it and the shelving on a regular basis.
How do you and your staff handle the glasses? When clean, whether full or empty, only the customer should get to handle the top half of the glass.
You and your staff should always only handle the bottom half.
How many customers drink from the lips of glasses that have just been handled by barstaff? It does not bear thinking about.
Branded glasses
Glasses are also part of the "theatre" of dispense. Branded glasses can add to this but only if the product and glass match. I was recently poured a pint of cask ale in a tall continental style premium lager glass.
Glasswashing procedure
- Empty drink residues into the sink
- Clean off lipstick stains with a cloth or Quash kit
- Always use a specially formulated glass washing detergent and rinse aid
- Make sure machine is up to temperature. Detergent cycle - 55 degrees C, rinse cycle 60 degrees C
- Fill basket with glasses NOT coffee cups and ashtrays
- Run cycle
- Check glasses at end of cycle. If there are water droplets sticking to the glass it needs renovating
Information from Interbrew UK
First-class service hits the net
In the increasingly demanding world of cellar management, a new website aims to provide a virtual meeting place where technical experts, brewers, suppliers and licensees can exchange information and ideas.
Set up by Steve Bemrose, technical services manager at Nottingham brewer Hardys & Hansons with 25 years experience in cellars, www.cellarservice.com covers news, quality issues, troubleshooting tips, equipment and training as well as hosting a discussion forum for anyone involved in the industry.
"It struck me that technical services associations are organised only regionally and there is no national - or, for that matter, international - forum and information base," explains Steve.
"This business is always getting more complicated, especially with the legislation we have to cope with, and people need all the advice they can get. The website is really an experiment. It will be interesting to see how many visitors we get. But I hope people will make use of the forum."
Steve is looking for feedback from the trade and for people to supply more news stories and information - "anything that might be of interest to this community".
Steve can be contacted by email from the website.
- See www.cellarservice.com
Charter helps to clean up your act
Surveys show that dirty glassware is one of the key reasons why pubs serve a poor quality pint.
Now quality accreditation body Cask Marque has produced a Glassware Charter and Troubleshooting Guide, which gives advice on how glassware should be cleaned and cared for.
The charter has been sent to all Cask Marque licensees and can also be viewed on the Cellarservice website www.cellarservice.com/glassware.
Safety in the cellar
Best practice cellar management is not just about making sure products are stored and delivered to the customer in top quality. It also demands that you operate the cellar in a safe and efficient manner that minimises danger and the risk of personal injury to your staff and the public.
Dispense gas is often a neglected partner in the cellar management story but, handled negligently or with ignorance, it presents one of the greatest hazards in the pub.
Things can go wrong at any stage of the supply chain. From disreputable gas suppliers through to inexperienced or untraine