2021 RETA Breeze March-April

be no higher than 36 Deg. F. Most coolers are slightly colder on the bottom than on the top. Therefore, beer must be rotated. Storage time within the cooler should also be considered. Many establishment will store 2-3 days beer in the bar side cooler. Newest beer placed in the cooler should be on the bottom. If the bar side cooler contains a day or less of product. Then additional storage temperatures should be reviewed with higher emphasis on exacting temperatures. Beer coolers must be kept free of odor. Most bartenders will not be as sensitive to odors as patrons will be. Many times, odors can penetrate product labels. Cardboard should never be stored within the bar side cooler. Cardboard can absorb odors. As discussed earlier light is the enemy of good beer. Coolers should not contain continuous lights. If the bar owner wishes to utilizes lighted cases to advertise their beers, consider utilizing artificially filled display bottles in the lighted coolers and keep the saleable product in the dark. Dry coolers predominate the industry. These are coolers where heat is removed from air, the air is circulated through the cooler compartment, where the air absorbs heat from the product (bottles or cans) and the warm air returns to the evaporator coil where the heat is absorbed by the refrigerant, cooling the air to begin the cycle anew. Wet coolers are also used in some areas, these coolers require special attention. A wet cooler utilizes a refrigeration unit to cooler water. The water is circulated over the salable product. Temperature become harder to maintain as water flow across different cooler loading conditions. When dispensing draft beer, storage of the keg or barrel is of great importance. Kegs should be stored at approximately 38 Deg. F. The keg must be kept cold and temperatures must be consistent. But proper temperatures at the keg is not enough. All of the dispensing apparatus must maintain proper temperatures. Many types of dispensers are available. But it is essential that the beer be dispensed through refrigerated lines. Maintaining proper temperature at the keg does no good if the dispensing lines travel unrefrigerated and uninsulated through 9’ of piping before arriving at the tap. This provides for heating of the beer. In an extremely active establishment this may be no more than a 1-2 Deg. F. rise. But in an environment where beer is served less frequently, the first draft of the day may seem as if it is at room temperature. Most bartenders realize this. Have you ever noticed a bartender pouring beer down the drain for a few seconds before putting the glass under the tap? This is often so the warm beer in the piping is not put in your glass. This is wasteful and will bleed profits from the establishment. Pressure in the keg and delivery piping is just as important as temperature. Let’s face it a cold flat beer isn’t much better than a warm flat beer. CO2 gas gives beer it’s carbonation. If the pressure within the keg is too low (14 PSIG), CO2 gas entrained in the beer will escape and the beer will go flat. If the pressure in the beer is too high, the beer will appear foamy and less appealing to the pallet. Additional pressure is required to overcome the lift necessary to get the beer from the keg to the faucet. Distance of run, horizontal distance, may also require additional pressure to overcome friction. Tubing and piping materials are also important. Poor piping materials or poor sanitary conditions can lead to unwanted and potentially dangerous conditions. It is often thought that beer will kill all germs,

but that is not true. Poor sanitation can also lead to taste contamination. Most faucets are of the free flow type, a type with very minimal resistance. These are adjustable. This allows the astute bartender to adjust the head or foam of the beer. Beer must enter at the proper speed to allow the carbonation in the beer to expand. Mr. Gould provides a rather extensive trouble shooting guide pertaining to distribution of beer via keg or barrel.

Problem

Solution

Sour beer.

Proper keg refrigeration in the cooler.

Warm beer at the initial pour or after an extended period of non-pouring.

Refrigerate the beer lines.

Faucet spit.

Refrigerate the faucet shanks.

Wild beer in the keg.

Use the proper amount of pressure on the keg.

Wild beer in the lines.

Refrigerate the beer lines.

Flat beer in the kegs.

Use proper pressure.

Frozen beer.

Never allow beer lines to contact refrigeration lines. Proper control over speed of flow from the faucet. Refrigerate the beer lines after cleaning, before drawing.

Too much of a collar or too small a collar.

Cleaning loss.

No peak load capacity.

Provide reserve hold-over capacity.

Beer too warm or too cold.

Provide bartender with a temperature selector and an indicating thermometer. Provide rapid heat transfer between the barrel and the faucet.

Can't tap warm kegs.

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