by Hugh Price

The following are a few snippets of advice from a publican who has learned by his mistakes and experience over the past twenty one years!

DO check beer temperature regularly with a probe thermometer and adjust cellar cooling thermostat as appropriate. I find that 11.5 degrees Centigrade is about right. Ignore the ambient air temperature in the cellar as this is misleading and fluctuates over several degrees.

DON’T stock too many real ales. A barrel should be shifted in 3 days maximum. If ales are on sale too long, flavour of the slow selling beers will deteriorate. Too many ales on sale is definitely the most common cause of bad beer. Have no hesitation in reducing the number of ales sold if there is a throughput problem.

DO clean your draught beer lines when the pub is closed. It is dangerous process involving caustic and there is always the possibility that a customer will be presented with a glass of cleaning fluid and also the beers in question will be off sale during opening hours which is totally unprofessional. Line cleaning should be done weekly and before opening time.

DON’T stock real ales that have zero ‘condition’ as it is secondary fermentation in the barrel that keeps the beer fresh in the cellar. Only buy beers that are nice and lively!

DO hard spile barrels overnight when on sale. The exception to this is when a beer is over-lively, in which case the barrel should be left on soft spile.

DON’T filter residual beer from an old to a new barrel. This is false economy as the old beer will taint the new. Don’t even be tempted to filter beer back into barrels at time of line cleaning. My advice is not to allow a filter pan in the premises !

DO keep a dipping sheet on a clipboard in the cellar and dip barrels at end of the day. This information is essential for monitoring sales.

DON’T forget to tilt barrels at about half full. It is common to see real ale in barrels which have the tap hole too high up the cask, which results in excessive beer going to waste at end of the barrel.

DO keep the cellar hygienically clean and well ventilated.

DON’T forget to keep the brass on the handpumps gleaming. Dirty brass on the bar is often a sign that the cellar is similarly unkempt ! (The best brass cleaner that I have used is Wenol.)

DO a complete stocktake monthly so you know exactly the state of your profitability, wastage, possible theft and short deliveries. Draymen can not be blamed for short deliveries as it is the responsibility of the cellarperson to count and check off items carefully against the Delivery Note.

DON’T over-order at Christmas time, as this could lead to beers going out of date and spirits lingering in the cupboard for many months ! The festive period has its ups and downs and the overall weekly increase in trade may not be that huge !

Hugh Price is a Landlord and Fellow of the British Institute of Innkeeping

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