Some of the Things to Consider Before Beginning Beer Line Cleaning

Beer line cleaning is one of those tasks that everyone who is serving draught beer has to undertake, and in most cases beer line cleaning procedures should be carried out on a weekly basis. It is probably the most hated part of being a pub landlord because it takes up time, and most of us don't have enough of that.

You should probably set aside at least two and a half to three hours a week to undertake your beer line cleaning procedures, and while there is nothing terribly technical about it, nonetheless it may be a bit confusing to someone who has never done it before. If you haven't got that much time to do it or you just don't want to, there are companies who will come in on a regular basis and undertake all the beer line cleaning procedures for you. However, it is vitally important that it is done regularly and done properly, because if not, your beers will not taste as good as they should: your customers probably won't say anything, but just move on to the next pub. 


Before you begin any beer line cleaning you should make certain that you have read the line cleaner manufacturer's instructions regarding the dilution of the cleaner and the amount of time it should be left for. It needs to be left to do its work for the appropriate amount of time, but not longer. You should also wear rubber gloves, a rubberised or PVC apron, and goggles, because you most certainly don't want to get line cleaner in your eye.

There are lots of different types of cleaning fluid on the market, but it is best to go for one that is recommended by one of the big brewers because then you will know that it has been tested. There may be cheaper types of fluid, but you could finish up using more of them, so buying cheap may be a false economy.

It is also a good idea to remove the sparklers and diffusers before cleaning, as the line cleaner doesn't dissolve yeasts as many people think, but merely loosens it from the walls of the pipe, so the sparklers and diffusers could become blocked.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Use Of Hydrogen Peroxide For Cleaning Beer Lines

Image
Most people these days think about the environment and protecting it in as many ways as we can, such as the campaign by a national newspaper which has resulted in a huge reduction in the number of plastic bags used by supermarkets. If you run a pub and have to clean your beer lines, you may wonder about environmentally friendly line cleaning , because many of the cleaners that are available are caustic.  However, there is one type of cleaner which is not, and that is stabilised hydrogen peroxide (the same material used to bleach hair). It makes for extremely environmentally friendly line cleaning, and in addition is fully bio-degradable and non-toxic.  Chemically known as H2O2, hydrogen peroxide uses an oxidation reaction to kill bacteria through destroying the walls on contact, and can take as little as a minute, depending on the concentration used. When it has encountered bacteria it immediately breaks down into water and oxygen, so it leaves no ha...
Read more

The Importance of Beer Line cleaning

Image
Cleaning beer lines is a chore, no doubt about it, but is something that every pub landlord must undertake on a regular basis. The brewery may take up to several months to brew and finish a keg of beer and yet it can be ruined in few seconds it takes to travel from the keg to the tap if the beer lines are not cleaned and have become infected with yeasts or mould. A number of things can affect the quality of beer, and one of those is yeasts. This may be small amount of yeast that is left over from the brewing process, or it could be wild yeasts that float in the air around us. Yeasts are usually found on parts of the system which are exposed to the air such as taps, keg couplers, and drains. Moulds are also found on the parts of the system exposed to air, and they may also grow on cellar walls. These are usually brown or black in colour and produce an off-taste in the beer. Bacteria can be another problem and may grow on the inside of the beer lines. They...
Read more

A Couple of Ways to Make Beer Usage Savings

Image
One of the biggest questions that many pub landlords and bar owners have is how to make beer usage savings . All of us know that we lose beer when we clean the beer lines, and that it can’t be helped. Pouring two or three pints of perfectly good beer down the drain is against all logic, but it can’t be helped. Or can it? There is a system available that actually reduces the cycle of beer line cleaning and that will result in huge beer usage savings. Imagine if you only had to clean your beer lines once a month? Or even as infrequently as every seven weeks? Just think how much time that would save, and even more importantly how much beer you would save. There is actually a product that you can rent that will do exactly that. Another way of making beer usage savings is to install FOB detectors. These are designed to keep your beer lines filled with beer, and nothing but beer – not foam. When you get to the bottom of a keg or cask your tap starts to spit foam...
Read more