Glassware Cleanliness in Establishments

That is not true.

Lipstick on glassware indicates the glass cleaner is lazy, not that the system is incapable of properly cleaning glassware.
The water is typically changed at the start of the shift.

Cheers

 

Lazy glass cleaner or not if a glass has lipstick on it when it goes through a 3 bay system or a dishwasher for that matter, something is missing in the sanitation process.How long is a shift and how many glasses are run through during that shift would be my question


I have to respectfully disagree, I was in food service for over 40 years, if a mechanical dishwasher can't melt it of a glass at 180 degrees for 10 seconds as required for a final rinse by the Board of Health, I don't think dipping a glass in 110 degrees water is going to cut it either.
I don't know of a bartender or bar back that can hold a glass in water that temp for that long. I'm not a fan of dipping in sanitizer either. At least if a glass went through a mechanical machine and still had residue on it, it would at the very least be sanitized residue, still not appealing either.

Cheers to good beer in clean vessels

 

You can have your opinion, but the fact is that the sanitizing system has been used forever, is still used and it works. The three bay system does not use hot water to sanitize, so there is no point bringing it up.

Cleaning and sanitizing are not the same. You are allowed to not be a fan of the sanitizer. To be blunt, you're wrong. Sanitizer works. Where are all these people falling over sick? Scrub the damn lipstick off of the glass, don't be lazy, look at the glass bartender!

I'm not trying to be difficult, you can avoid any bar you like. The tried and true three bay, sometimes 4 bay, really and truly works well if done correctly. Not doing it correctly is just lazy. Probably not changing your opinion, so I'll let you have any last word you like.


Cheers

 

Oh well thank you I guess.

To be blunt also I don't like being call wrong ( twice) just because my opinion and facts are different then yours. I am not wrong, neither are you and respectfully if you were I wouldn't call you on it. I don't think that's a way to have a civil discussion on a topic, to just tell a person they are wrong just because they aren't saying what you want to hear. There is more then one way to skin a cat as they say. Consider this closed on my end.

My last word would be Cheers.

 

Yeah, in a busy bar shortcuts are gonna be taken by folks using the three tank system. It's very difficult for a lone bartender, and maybe a barback, to serve customers, keep servers orders filled, and handwash glasses. The three tank system is outdated for all but the smallest, lowest volume bars. The cost of a machine should be included in start-up costs. Plus, if they've got a kitchen, they've got a dishwasher.

 

Is laughable

 

It’s happened to me a number of times. The stale dishwater smell is the most common but the worst is getting lipstick/other residue around the rim.

 

If established cleaning methods discussed above are done correctly there is no problem. That's a big if in some establishments (though a slightly dirty glass is less gross to me than a dirty tap line).

My preference is to be given a clean glass with my first pour that I can retain for the rest of the session. Not always convenient or even legal in some places.

 

As someone who managed a utility crew, and part of that job was maintaining the dishwasher, I am amazed how many people use commercial dishwashers as their standard for glass cleanliness. The smell from the screens when they are left too long is what I imagine is the smell OP experienced. Give me a well-maintained and properly used three dip system for glasses all day every day.

 

The general sentiment here funnily enough seems to differ based on everyone's individual experience, and after having worked in a (quite busy at the time) restaurant myself I can see the advantage of a dishwasher when corners are cut from a traditional 3 tank system due to resource and time constraints.

The operative words here of course being "well maintained and properly used" which seem to apply to both a 3 tank system and a dishwasher. Poorly attended to, either option results in subpar glassware. That of course doesn't mean we can't pick our poison, but with humans involved in both processes neither will be perfect.

 

after reading all the input about dishwashers and 3 tank dip I am starting to believe I should bring my own glass :-)

 

I went out for a beer after work last week. Sat outside and No one but the three of us were there. Ordered a round of Headhunter and the glasses were pretty gross. Did not send them back but did not get another and won’t be going back. Just sort of greasy and little bits stuck outside( probably inside too but I did not see any). The place was being run by one waitress/hostess and a bartender. That’s it. Not crazy busy but I just wondered what the food situation was as we left.

Enjoy

 

They're called triple-sinks. Never heard 3-bay or 3-tank before. And yeh, your glass was washed with dirty water.

 

Well, ya heard 'em now cowboy!

 

So, in summary, I think we have discovered that some bars suck. Some bartenders are lazy. Sometimes we want so much more than we get, but mostly we don't ask for all that much.
Clean glassware is not particularly difficult and also not optional.

So next time you get served some snotty beer glass call them on it! I see workers and owners all the time that are just lazy and apathetic, because they make a profit from you and me. Screw that. Demand better. Thankfully this is not typical but it does exist.
/rant.

Cheers

edit- and Texas is the Lone Star State, unable or unwilling to acknowledge differences to our universal language.

 

Went to a bar, while on vacation in a nearby city, that specialized in Belgian beers. I ordered my all time favorite, N'Ice Chouffe. On tap, which I've never seen anywhere else. As soon as I brought the glass to my mouth, I caught a huge whiff of dishwasher detergent, which I also tasted. Given the bartender's "I don't want to be here" attitude, I didn't bother saying anything. I figured mentioning it to him wouldn't get me anywhere. I just choked down the one beer and left. Never been back.