New bar owner needs help/opinions...can you guys help?

Considering that only 1-2% of beers are nitro, I can't see justifying more than 2 lines for nitro beers.

 

i think 1 nitro beer is enough

especially in southern cal i would imagine most of your beer would be IPAs/dIPAs anyway

as for kegs, as long as they're well maintained they should be fine for a month. but you would hopefully be clearing each keg each month anyway. get those sales

 

Oh man.

2-4 dedicated lines coming from a mixer wouldn't hurt for your stouts/porters...the idea of having a line for just that style is funny and whoever told you that isn't wrong, but they're not right either. I've seen beers mess with lines, not as often as you'd think though. Make sure you clean your own lines AT LEAST once every two weeks. This should allow you to keep lines fresh when you switch over a keg, you most likely won't keep tasting it in the line. Watch out for things like habenero sculpin on the lines...

Depends on the beer, but american craft beer isn't really pasteurized and never sterilized. Refrigerate everything you can, instead of a keg starting to develop more off flavors after thirty days without refrigeration, you can probably get something like 120 days out of it if its kept at the correct temperature.

The best piece of advice I can give you is to buy the correct machine and learn how to clean your own lines, then use it!

I hope your endeavor goes well, someone please correct me where I'm wrong or thin on advice.

 

I can't totally tell from your post, but you might be confused regarding stouts and having a tap with a nitro dispenser. Stouts are associated with nitro more than any other style but you can have one without the other.

 

I would keep the nitro taps to a minimum, I don't care for nitro beers. I would keep. Mostly ipas or pale ales on tap in SoCal.

 

To be more direct, yes, you can pull a stock ale thru and put a pale ale on. Nobody will know if your lines are properly maintained.

 

I am with others....1 nitro line...maybe 2 tops.

I am not a fan of nitro IPA. Better put, I would rather order whiskey at a beer bar instead of drinking a nitro IPA. Big Stouts or British beers on nitro...ehhh...ok. Same goes for cask beer. Maybe once in a while as a gimmick, but keep it to a minimum.

Your goal is to sell pints and make money.

 

1 nitro tap, 2 max, and none at all would be fine too. Most of my favorite stouts and porters I would prefer to NOT be on nitro.

 

My perception of nitro is that it has sort of a mixed reception, some love it, some hate it, most are indifferent.
I would maybe have 2-4 stouts/porters on tap, with 1 of these being nitro if you think its absolutely necessary. But many people don't even mind if a stout doesn't have nitrogen infusion, so its not totally necessary.

 

Do at least one cask ale at all times...

 

1 nitro/cask out of 24 is more than plenty ... you might find 0 works better for your clientele, though I'd personally start with 1 to see how it moves

4 stout/porters out of 24 is plenty ... your clientele will help you decide if more or less is necessary -- personally, I'd love as many as 6 options out of 24, but I love stouts/porters. your clientele might prefer 1-2.

 

Nothing to do with the draft system, but have a detailed beer menu. When I first started drinking good beer, one of our local gastropubs had a very helpful menu that led me towards a few beers I would be interested in. I was new to craft beer and found descriptions of the beers very helpful. Good luck!

 

Hey Guys!
I'm an investor in a gastropub set to open in Southern California and had some questions about the draft system.
I've done my research, but there is so much contradictory information. I've also gotten differing feedback from several vendors, but I come here to ask the hop-heads. OK, for starters, draft system information put out by guys like MicroMatic and Glacier isn't contradictory...it's all based on science and things like The Ideal Gas Law. Asking this crowd for draught information is akin to asking your accountant how to deliver a baby.

We're going to have 24 beers on tap. This is a good start and a manageable number of draught beer lines.

Out of 24, how many taps is a good number dedicated for stouts/porters (Nitrogen). While Nitrogen (N²) may seem synonymous with the stout / porter styles, it is actually a method of dispensing beer. By using N² gas, you displace CO² through a faucet containing a creamer plate in order to achieve a tightly knit collar of foam. Many brewers are now making N² IPA's in addition to other styles other than the traditional stout / porter styles. That said, if you want to turn your Nitro kegs over quickly, I wouldn't recommend more than one line, especially in Southern California.

Once a stout beer line is cleaned, can a different style of beer be used like a pils or IPA? I've been told a line used with a stout or porter should stay that way. The most effective way to clean lines is to do it every 14 days...although it certainly doesn't hurt to also clean lines when switching from one beer style to another. Switching from a porter to a pils is never an issue with properly leaned lines. Immediately disregard all advice you have received from the above named individual...this person is clueless. The Brewers Association Draft Quality Manual should be required reading for every bar owner in America: http://www.draughtquality.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/DQM_Full_Final.pdf

How long does a keg of beer last? I was originally told a bit over a month after it's been tapped, but I've been also reading kegs can be good up to 4 months! The longevity of a keg has many factors. How old was the keg prior to being delivered? How was the keg stored prior to and after delivery? What style of beer is it? Was the keg pasteurized by the brewer? Most well-kept kegs will last at least 60 days...but, for example, a barleywine can be good for years. Again...I question your source(s).

Thanks in advance for any input! You are welcome. I'm in SoCal with 23 years experience...PM me if you'd like me to stop by sometime.

 

Seems like these would have been good questions before you invested.

 

In Connecticut, your tap lines have to be cleaned every week; therefore the dedicated lines for Stouts/Porters isn't needed. I'm not sure what the law is like everywhere else about cleaning tap lines, but I would suspect that the longer the beer sits in a tap line without it being cleaned, the more likely you are to have cross contamination.

 

These guys have your back: http://www.micromatic.com/

Another resource: http://www.probrewer.com/

 

I highly recommend a cider in that 24. Not all of us married women that enjoy beer, and when a cider is on draft, my chances of returning to that bar/restaurant are greatly increased.

 

Restaurant operator in Pennsylvania here. Our state law requires that draft lines be cleaned every week with the exception being if you have a BLM-2000 installed. These units send out sonic pings that disturb the yeast that grow inside your lines. I would recommend finding a draft beer line cleaning service that utilizes these units.

IceAce linked you to a fantastic resource for that should answer most of your technical questions at draughtquality.org

 

Lots of good info here that's above my paygrade, but I think the longevity question was about after it was tapped. I could be wrong, tho. I'd also like to know myself if you don't mind answering that question. Thx