Draft beer when bars reopen

I don't think beer in tapped kegs will go flat. As long as the pressure is properly maintained. Bigger issue is cleaning the draft system lines. Any reputable place needs to do that before beer starts flowing again.

 

I drank some draught beer twice this week. They tasted fine. @Old Chicago in Casper.

 

$10 a pint?? Yikes.

 

I'm not worried about it being flat, just the age. During our shutdown several places were pushing to-go growler sales that never did before in order to reduce their old inventory. As soon as the reopening dates were released they stopped. Reading between the lines I'll pass on on-premises draft sales for awhile.

 

My recommendation to you is to request a sample taste prior to ordering your draft pint.

Cheers!

 

I’m my experience the beer in the line will go “flat” if not poured for a day or two. Normally this would never be a problem at any place that does any amount of normal business. We’ve been selling deeply discounted growler fills but it seems like we’ll often have to clear a line before filling if it’s something that hasn’t been poured for 24-48 hours. Probably depends a lot on how far the draw is as well. Cheap growler or not - I’d ask for a sample first given the current situation.

 

Growlers are a little tricky. If they aren't filled correctly or consumed within a few days they can easily go flat.

I agree the bigger concern will probably be clean beer lines during the shut down.

 

I’m a beer and wine buyer at a Whole Foods. All of our bartenders (including me) were initially extremely confused why we were directed to run ALL the kegs out. Sure, we had a handful of IPAs, but there were many other beers on tap that would’ve been perfect. We had recently had our system re-evaluated, tweaked, and all questionable seals in tubing repaired. The whole nine. All of our kegs would’ve been fine. We offered growlers to TMs at a heavily discounted flat rate, until we sold 20 of them, ran out of growlers, and were told not to buy any more cases of growlers.

It felt like pulling pitchers for ghosts, pouring those perfectly good beers just to walk a couple feet and dump them down the sink. In hindsight, it was a proper decision. It’s good to start fresh. And hey, it’s not my money that was going down the drain!

 

I would worry about this in some bars and taverns, but not in a brewery tasting room. A craft brewery will not knowingly serve a bad beer to a customer. These owners are passionate about their craft.

This will be a NON-ISSUE in Breweries that care about their product and they will dump beer that is past its prime. They are going to pour beer through clean taplines when they reopen. In fact if they are not using them for growler/crowler fills they are probably already clean and dry.

I listened to a podcast the other day interviewing the owner of Hillman Brewery, and she said she requiring that staff only take the shorter life stuff (IPA's, etc.) home and not the stouts, porters, etc., that age much better.

I have had an 'off' beer on rare occasions, and I take it back and tell them I think it is off. Every time they have tasted that beer, and every time they have taken off the tap handle. It's usually just that keg, and after connecting a new keg and flushing the old beer out, it has been fine. And every time they have given me a fresh pour of my choosing.

 

I'm not paying $10/pint unless it is something really special, and there are some that qualify, but those are usually served in 10oz pours.

Flagships, seasonals, and other beers produced in quantity, nor take aging, or special steps... nope.

 

Were you guys really locked down? The only thing we couldn't do is go out to bars & eating joints to eat, If I was there doing to go food for people that would've been my take home incentive for my staff.

 

https://www.beeradvocate.com/commun...ts-happening-to-the-beer-left-in-pubs.637583/

 

If a bar has any knowledge of beer then time really should not effect carbonation. If they uncoupled the kegs from their draft lines then the keg's seal will maintain its carbonation for a really long time, maybe years.

If they left the kegs coupled then they should be attached to a CO2 draft system which will maintain the carbonation level. The beer in the lines will get flat (and possibly sour) if its left in there for too long. So they should empty and clean all lines before reopening. Again no effect on CO2.

And if for any reason any kegs are are pouring flat after they reopen they can attach CO2 to it and force carbonate it overnight at 30-35 psi. Or if they are unable to they can return it to their distributor or the brewery.

If you are consistently getting flat growlers from a location I'd assume they don't know how to fill them properly, regardless of the shutdown.

 

Whoops meant to go beer