Clean those taplines!

And bartenders need to keep the tap nozzles away from the beer being poured.
I get so disgusted when I see contact between the 2.

 

There's really no excuse these days not to clean your taplines. From off flavors to beer (and sales) loss. The discerning customer/consumer deserves cleanliness and quality, and beer as true to what the brewer intended as possible. I've worked at a few bars where line cleaning was a dismissed practice, an afterthought, a needless extravagant expense. Each of those joints are all now closed. They all had some other issues, for sure. Regardless, SOP it need be.

 

I've seen some breweries and bars post the 'date cleaned' on their beer menu board. It would be nice if every place did that, and that we could trust that it was actually done.

 

I've had "dirty tap line" beer, and I couldn't get the metallic taste out of my mouth for about 24 hours. Tried everything, just took time. I figured it was infected, but others have said it was dirty tap lines.

A taproom manager told me they once had to change out a line when they couldn't de-skunk it after being used for New Belgium The Hemperor. That stuff is vile, as if was was obtained from fresh-squeezed skunk.

 

There is a local chain which I go to a few times a year and they have Shiner Cheer (Pecan/Peach Dunkel) on that tapline every Christmas time. For the rest of the year, each seasonal that goes on that line ends up tasting like peach. Mgr came over one night and asked how everything was and I informed him of that and he said "Huh, we clean our lines". I told him I had no doubt that they did, but they needed to replace the tubing because it was ruined on that one tap. We'll see if they listened next time I go.

 

The very best proprietors always have their own cleaning equipment and determined schedule of cleaning beer lines. After all considerations beer is a food product and requires cleanliness and close attention. The big beer companies leverage line cleaning for cherished tap placements. They only clean "their" own lines. The business owns the lines period and they should be responsible for their cleaning.

 

I like how they're using the exact SOP for the bartender/employee: "Cleaning must be finished before the taproom opens" lol

Also, "Put everything away in the proper place - other people use this stuff too." What do they mean by "other people"?!

 

I’ve has dirty tap line beer too and the beers were just terrible, not off but truly bad. The smarter owners have them professionally cleaned by people who both know exactly what they’re doing and the proper equipment. Can’t think of a better way to go out of business they selling beers out of dirty lines. If you get that reputation your in trouble, what do you do announce, “ we now have clean tap lines “ on your sign?

 

Wait - there was an era when there were excuses for serving beer from dirty tap lines?

A BEER DISPENSERS HANDBOOK - U. S. Brewers Association, 1937
Section Four - Sanitation:

Of course, that was the era of bars with only a couple of taps and before the "closed system" Sankey keg became the standard.

 

https://www.kiro7.com/news/trending...movie-theater-bar/B7DEYUY5GBARHP44UXR4ALTMKU/

 

This PSA is especially poignant with all the hazy IPAs that have oat, wheat, lactose, etc. Those proteins build up fast.

 

Sam and Kitty split duty every other week at The Long Branch Saloon. They most often had whiskey. It was good for dancing and removing bullets from the gullet.

 

The sad thing is at least by me the distributors will clean the lines if the locations push hard enough.

 

We have had to do that several times at the growler store I work at. Most notably for New Belgium The Hemperor. Everything coming from the line reeked of pungent vegetal nastiness (it wasn't good Pot smells or tastes, just days old unwashed stank). Didn't matter how many times we ran cleaner or how long we let it soak. The other notable time was when a newer brewery was trying out hazy IPA's for the first time (they claimed they were going to be the "Trillium" of Houston) and the line literally clogged up so much from all the crap in the keg that no liquid could go through. We have never had them on again, but live and learn.

 

Ohh. The only Pub here in town gets their lines cleaned only once a month. I’ve never noticed anything off.

 

Finally was able to try Perennial Abraxas (19). I’ve had more than enough fine stouts to discern between a beer I like/dislike, vs poor quality. Based on all I have gathered, this is a fantastic beer. And it tasted almost medicinal. There was a sharp medicinal burn and no flavor. I am assuming the tap line was compromised.

 

I recall seeing this at breweries in the past, but haven't noticed it recently. Not sure if I'm not paying attention, or they stopped posting it.

There is a local company that provides the service, and their website list a number of breweries, restaurants, and watering holes that use their service.

 

Had a bartender working for me in another industry. She told me that she would never drink beer from a tap because too many bars that she has worked at did not clean their lines frequently enough. After reading about the crap that has grown in lines including bacteria and parasites, and with me having a compromised immune system, I am much more careful about where I drink from a tap.