Although some of you may read this and think this is not “Bartending”. I am writing on behalf of the whole industry and I don’t care if you make 4 Long-Islands in 16 seconds or make the worlds best Singapore Sling; If you can’t pour a pint without wastage then you should work on that.
A lot of this depends on how well your Cellar is maintained and factors that may be out of your control as a bartender in which case you should master the Spanish Pour but it should not be acceptable for Management to let the Cellar standards drop as that has a massive, direct, negative effect on your GP as well as the standard in which your business is perceived. I will go into these effects in further detail in more appropriate sections of this page.
To add context. I ran a Craft Beer Bar for 9months. 30 Beer Lines that dispensed 13 products. 11 Consistent and 2 on rotation so in terms of Maintenance and Quality, it was very insightful. As well as potentially being the last time I was really learning. A lot more from that will be based around actual Cellar Management and Stock Organisation. I was calling out Beer Technicians every week. Constantly writing reports and tracking wastage. It is definitely worthwhile to stay on top of as it is something that regularly falls to the wayside.
I will start with the do not's;
- Do not ever let the nozzle of the tap, touch the glass or the liquid. This is largely due to contamination, your hand should never touch anything that is going to touch somebody's mouth. The second factor is that it oxidise the pint. Meaning if the Nozzle is submerged in the liquid then it will leave a metallic taste the beer. Very much like God Save The Queen.
- Never use the same glass twice. Once again, contamination and the glass will now be warmer, further damaging the quality of the drink.
- Do not keep pouring if it’s fobbing. Fobbing is usually the result of a Cellar issue. The only factors that cause fobbing on the Cobra Head end are if the room is too hot or you've put a creamer nozzle on the wrong line. You stop to save on wastage while the cause is investigated.
- Do not serve a cloudy drink (that shouldn't be cloudy). Clouding can be a result of a bad batch of draught, dirty glassware or dirty lines. Having discoloured draught would be seen as the most likely to result in someone becoming ill.
- Do not serve a flat drink (that shouldn't be flat). Once again this can be due to Cellar Issues or warm glasses. The fastest and most obvious issue is that the gas has gone and needs to be changed.
- Do not serve draught in a warm glass.
See above
- Do not serve draught in a dirty glass
See above
- Unless specifically told otherwise, don't "Spanish Pour"
Spanish pouring is where you run off the first couple of seconds of the draught straight into the drain. Usually due to foaming. "Spanish" pouring is a reference to how they have to do this in hot countries due to the temperature of the Cobra Heads.
Sometimes it is necessary and those times must be communicated as it becomes a bad habit that its hard to get people out of, meaning there is more and more wastage as time goes on.
- Do not soak the Draught Nozzles in Soda water. Its an Urban Myth that is based loosely on the fact that soda water used to contain Quinine which had some cleaning effect. I have however found an actual research paper on this and as it has been one of my pet peeves forever. I will analyse it and do another post about it.
Here are the basic do’s;
- The glass must be room temperature (Room Temperature is 21°c, not the actual temperature of the room) or below; Failing that, continental washers can be utilised to chill the glass. If needs be but the added moisture can also have a detrimental effect.
- Do check the lines before serving from them if it's not a regularly used tap or bar. It may just need to be pulled through.
- Do leave a thumbs worth of foam (as a rule of thumb)
- Do skim off the top, at least one of your draught suppliers should be able to afford to send you official skimmers
- Do read the instructions on the glassware or glassware box, if available.
- Do use the correct branded glasses. Most glassware is specifically designed by the brand for the brand. Branded glassware is very often free from the supplier so shortages are another unacceptable fail within management.
- Do start pouring at a 45° angle and then slowly follow through until the vertical.
As with everything else, always serve with the Label/Branding facing the customer.
If you every find any issues, report to a manager immediately. If you are a manager, contact your Lead Brewer and get any issues sorted asap. Free of charge.
I hope this helped in some way, or at least got you thinking.
Please let me know your thoughts in the comments
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