Who's responsible for dirty beer lines?

Let me see--

Ballast Point needs to monitor the beer lines here in North Carolina???

Local problem. Don't go there if they don't do it right.

 

Responsibility lies with the establishment. They're ultimately responsible for clean lines, clean glasses, and in general a place that is just neat and clean and comfortable. The places I go to here contract out to have their lines cleaned weekly. If you called a brewery to complain about dirty lines in the bar you go to I'm sure they would tell you to bitch at the owner.

 

That's like saying get rid of laws against drunk driving because there's still a lot of drunk drivers out there.

 

I'm inclined to put the ultimate responsibility with the establishment as well. I think breweries have an incentive to take note and use their influence to promote clean tap lines where they can as not everyone will be able to understand what they are tasting are bad lines and not bad beer but making it the responsibility of the brewery comes across to me as saying it's Sysco's responsibility to make sure a restaurant has clean oil in their fryer.

 

Any retailer is ultimately responsible for the goods he sells. If they are faulty when he receives them the customer should be recompensed and the matter taken up with the supplier or brewery.
Personally I've rarely found the lines to be a problem though one local pub owner couldn't seem to get the beer quite perfect on one pump. It turned out to be a slight kink in the line allowing yeast particles to settle.Cleaning the line just didn't work.

We have a thing called "Cask Marque" in this country , the pubs pay a fee and at some time an inspector will arrive unnanounced , draw off a pint of each beer and check/sample them. He will provide the pub with a copy of his findings.
http://cask-marque.co.uk/
Pubs meeting the criteria get a plaque to display to the customers.
I was once lucky enough to follow an inspector into a pub , there were eight free pints when he had finished

What were those master brewers in Europe wasting their time doing before craft beer was created in America ?

 

What they were doing was brewing some very nice, and very diverse, beers. America's craft beer revolution is different and better. Go ahead, make my day, and dispute this.

Public and private organizations in any country can organize quality control systems, voluntary or involuntary, any time, and spirits manufacturers and retailers can abide by or cheat the systems. Nothing new there. It's just my opinion America craft beer is good enough to warrant its own certification system at this time. If you consider food and beverage certifications worldwide, by no means is it too much to ask.

 

Dude, breathe. You are all over the place.

I agree that quality is everyone's responsibility. But, everyone needs to be held accountable for their actions. Giving breweries the big fuck you because Joe's Bar and Dump thinks you are an idiot is a bit far IMHO. I think the brewery and distributor need to be notified as a courtesy so they can seek action. However, the real problem is with the retailer because their lines are not clean.

Should it be the farmers fault if you are served food on a dirty plate? I'm not sure why you seem to think the retailer deserves a free pass?

 

I mean wouldn't it be the owner of the beer lines? who else would be responsible haha

 

Honest question, how big of a problem is this for you? Do you come across beers served from dirty tap lines several times a month? I haven't had any issues with a draught beer that I ordered in quite some time. Ten years ago, I used to notice the problem more often. But I actually think places have gotten much better in recent years about cleaning their lines and are paying more attention to the way they serve beer.

 

I don't want to get into this too deep, but I will say smart retailers negotiate with distributors to get stocking labor. I'm not sure why bars don't negotiate to get the distributors to clean the lines for them. If any business takes the first offer from a vendor and doesn't try to do better, they're just foolish.

 

@RogelioRodriguez, do you know what a burden this would be on small startup breweries? You have some very small startups here in Houston that are working to get their product out into the market. So they land in a bar with 25 taplines, is that brewer supposed to jump in their car and head out there to clean that line? I know some distributors have deals to do this with certain bars, but I don't see where the breweries own this

 

I don't think they do. But when you purchase from major distributor, part of the contract could, and should, stipulate they clean all your lines. When you buy a car, you negotiate a better rate. When yoy get cable, you negotiate a better package. Bars can do the same thing with their distributors.

 

Maybe because they don't want to be asked (or required) to dedicate tap lines to whatever kegs those distributors want connected to them? And if you've got 6 distributors representing 30 or so different breweries each, which distributor would get the nod?

 

Brewers --esp small ones--are in the business of brewing beer. Worrying about the one or two lines they are on in no certain rotation, potentially 100s of miles away with little predictability is a bit absurd as many have tried to point out.

I think we all agree the lines are important and most agree it is not the brewers responsibility.

 

Avery Brewing Co. doesn't agree:

Nor does Schalfly:

 

As a liquor department manager that at an establishment that sells growlers, I take responsibility for the cleanliness of my draft system. Sure, we have our distributors who handle the maintenance of the system, and are scheduled for line cleanings once a week, but if they don't show up, or if we need someone to come out and check outside of those checks, it's only one persons fault.

If it's bad kegs we're talking about here, I'd say fault lies 50/50 between retailer and distributor. Distributors shouldn't be selling out of date kegs. However, again, I won't receive or tap a keg I think is past it's prime. I hold my distributors responsible for maintaining standards, just like my customers expect me to maintain mine.