Ok guys, looking for some common ground here. I am opening a bottle shop/beer bar in PA. I am looking to start off with about 15-20 taps. Ranging from RIS's, IPA's to a few Macros (coors, miller, corona). Questions is, whats a good common temp to keep these at so all parties are happy. I am well aware serving a coors light at RIS temps will not work. I was thinking somewhere around 45 degrees. Any thoughts?
How about simplifying the problem and devote all taps to craft and then keep the Coors, etc. in a cooler where it can be stored at lower temps? I haven't ever noticed that folks who prefer the Coors, etc. are all that fussy about tap vs. bottle.
The problem is the region i'm in. I need to provide to a few different groups of people. The coal region is tough. I see your in PA.
The other problem I have is the entire cooler box will host the tap system, 6 pack, 12 pack and bottle coolers. They are not separate coolers. I am think it would be better to serve on the cooler side.
Keep all your kegs at 36-38 degrees. Warmer than that and they will pour awful and you will get a ridiculous amount of foam and waste. No exceptions. I know that many craft styles are better slightly warmer but that doesn't matter for your draft system.
Understood, and have enough travel in PA accumulated to have a sense of the region and the drinkers. I'm not optimistic you'll find a single temp that will keep all those different groups happy at the same time. Similarly you'll have some who are happy with frosted, chilled mugs and others who hate such things. But maybe using something like your original idea of 45 with frosted glassware for the Coors, etc. all folks and non-frosted for the RIS, etc. folks. Also given that region I'm surprised to find Yuengling not on your list? I'd think you also want to be prepared for the crowd who are going to walk in and just ask for a "Lager."
Oh, I believe... :-) I've lived in PA too long to doubt your fate if you didn't have it. :-) I'm far from an expert on running a bar and cooler temps for kegs, but it sounds to me like @Phocion has a solid point about pouring, etc.
Generally, you'll want to keep it as cold as reasonably possible, say in the 34-36 range. The warmer a beer is, the foamier the beer pours, which is just money straight out of your pocket, right down the drain. Contact a company like MicroMatic, and they can point you towards a local company who specializes in these things. Also, take a look at probrewer.com, there's likely some good info for you there. Cheers, and good luck!
Speaking of Micromatic, here's a great article from them on the subject: http://www.micromatic.com/beer-questions/temperature-store-beer-aid-46.html Notably: "Temperatures even half a degree above 38°F will cause CO2 to break out of the beer and result in foam and promote sour/cloudy beer. When temperature rises above 50-55°F, bacteria growth rapidly begins to spoil flavor and cloud the beer."
Beer Mail me or text me at (610) 761-1842 with any and all questions. What you're about to do is what I do for a living.
I agree the OP should go with the lower temp. It's always easier to let a beer warm up in a glass and that way the light lagers can be served cold. Saying that if you served warmer you would cause excessive waste is not entirely true if the system is balanced properly. There ware a decent amount of quality beer bars that serve at a slightly warmer temp and even Churchkey in DC has 3 different serving temps for their system. http://birchandbarley.com/documents/BBCKDRAFTSUNDAY06-14-15.pdf
Sorry, but you're dead wrong sir. I can't cite multiple specific examples (probably because it's so silly my mind immediately blocks out the details) but I've many times seen BMC drinkers say "Tap? No sir, I drink my X from the bottle, thank you" and vice versa. People grow accustomed to whatever format they grew to enjoy that brand on and stubbornly stick with it.
Speaking only as a customer here, I have no problem accepting what you say and freely admit my observation is based on a biased sample where there were no taps devoted to Coors, etc. and so people either took the beer in a bottle, went without or left. (Honestly I don't think I've been in a bar with Coors, etc. on tap in some years now and certainly in the Philly its easy to find bars w/o Coors, etc. on tap.) So never having seen anyone get up and walk out... But a question for you. Is your experience based on a situation where both options were available and they were offered a choice between tap or bottle? Thanks.
It is tough for a customer to make a warm beer colder, but quite easy for them to make a cold beer warmer. 36-38.
No, it was where there was only one or the other. The only one example I can vaguely remember was I was at a bar that mainly catered to craft drinkers but they happened to have Bud Lite on tap. A group of guys who obviously had never been there before wandered in and asked if they had Bud Lite. Bartender said "Yes, we have it on draft." They were like, "Nope, it's gotta be outta the bottle" and left. Oh and, funny you should mention Coors on draft. 8 or so years ago when I had first turned 21 I worked at a restaurant that had Coors Banquet on-tap. That's when I realized it's actually not all that bad for a macro.
you should serve your beer at 38 F. you don't get too much choice in the matter either. as noted previously, 38 is the proper temp because that is the temp that will hold the correct amount of CO2 vols (look it up). this is a matter of physics, and therefore it is also the law. 37 and 39 will also work. 36 or 40, kind of a pain. much beyond that and you lose money. a lot of money. further, you should pay to have a professional design your system and not simply accept whatever the distro in your area suggests. a 38F cooler is not the same as 38F beer in the glass, and this is absolutely crucial. feel free to ask as many questions as you like. now that you are in the proper forum you will get very good information and advice i am confident. Cheers. edit- know too that while MicroMatic is a very good resource, prepare to pay way too much for the product. you will get a fine system if you have some idea of what you want before you speak to your installer. if you leave it up to the local installer or heaven forbid the distributor you will not get what you paid for. trust me on this, i can relate many war stories.
