Clean those taplines!

Pretty much the only time I drink anything on draft these days is when I'm at a brewery taproom or know the proprietors care about their draft lines. I've worked in the service industry for years, and I can't tell you how many times I've heard stories like yours from servers and/or bartenders.

 

That is why you must trust your local publican. Good beer places stand out and do not necessarily proliferate.

 

I have a trade show in Northern Indiana each year and there is a bar that has 80 some craft beers on tap. The beers taste awful, such off flavors it’s astonishing. I don’t understand why they don’t clean their lines, but then again 90% of their customers drink either Miller Lite or Bud Light.

 

I would reckon that if the tap lines aren't cleaned, it would be most noticeable with beers that are on the lighter side. Shrugs.

 

My brother said the Miller lite tasted odd but not clearly bad.

 

I don't understand why their distributors, as representatives of the breweries, don't make them do it.

 

If most of their customers drink the Miller or Bud stuff then maybe they save money and clean only those two lines and say, "Piss on you craft beer lovers. You want flavor, you get extra of it here." .

 

You don't want to piss-off the customer (the bar owner). Sales need to be made.

 

If anybody has worked in a beer hall or watched Bar Rescue you know how nasty that ish can get. One of the Beer 101 rules that get constantly ignored.

 

Better to piss off the owner than the customers who are buying the beers and expecting them to taste what the brewers intended. I see line cleaning at our Old Chicago all the time.

 

Yeah, and in reality, the distributor's sales person will probably lose their job for looking the other way when the beer tastes bad because of those dirty lines.

 

Deservedly so.

 

Could it also be, the beer is so old? Even being old it shouldn’t have wildly off flavors.

 

Probably call the tap lines the n word after too.

 

Notuptosnuff?

 

Fill me in.

 

That's the n word that came to my mind.

 

I think that really hits the nail on the head though, if those places has happened to close down for other reasons those reasons are probably tied into the same mentality of not cleaning tap lines. It carries over the other day today things that are indulgences so to speak, like wiping down the bar, or cleaning the glasses out.

 

This reminds me of the Island Grill in Fort Collins... all they have that I wanna drink is Odell IPA on draft, like almost anywhere in town- which is obviously great.

What’s not great is that they clearly NEVER clean their lines... they serve you a beer that you can *see* from a mile away is an Odell IPA, but then you take a sip and can tell immediately that its off. Its honestly disgusting...

Then you hear that ‘if you think that’s bad, you should see their dumpster area...’ and its clear that nothing in between the taps and the garbage out back is anything you should be consuming.

TL;DR anywhere with draft lines needs to clean them regularly to keep the integrity of the beer being served.

 

Dirty tap lines is the same as a restaurant not cleaning their grills, ovens, or stoves. Its basic stuff, and if it isn't done, there are a whole lot of other things they aren't doing. Same deal with keeping old beers on tap, if it isn't selling enough to cover the keg before it gets too old, get rid of it.

I'm glad I work at a place that views all of this stuff as super important. We make our own beer and serve other beers of nearby breweries, so there is a reputation to uphold, with customers and others in the industry.