The quality of beer may be perfect in the cellar, but the glass it goes into can severely compromise that quality.
Cask Marque research has shown that 37% of pubs had glasses behind the bar which weren’t ‘fit to fill’ resulting in fobbing, flat, and poorly presented beer – all affecting yields.
Cask Marque’s Top Ten Tips to Perfect Glassware:
- Always manually remove lipstick and never tip beer or slops into the machine as the detergent will be neutralised by the additional protein,and the cleaning will be ineffective
- Glasswashers are for glasses only! No coffee cups, bar runners, drip trays or cutlery
- The water temperature within a glasswasher should ideally be: Wash 55°F Rinse 65-70°F Detergents are formulated to work best at these temperatures, and if the water is too hot, a film can be baked onto the glass.
- Establish a daily glasswasher cleaning regime. At the end of the night, switch off the power, drain the machine, remove and clean filters, wipe all internal and external surfaces with a sanitiser, paying close attention to seals and door hinges. Top up chemicals if required and leave the door open overnight
- Establish a weekly deep clean routine for the glasswasher: remove wash arm, jets and nozzles and clean, run a full cycle with Renovate. Regenerate the water softener (if fitted). If this is not done then the life of the machine will be shortened and more detergent will be needed to overcome the effects of hard water.
- All glasses will need to be Renovated regularly. Use powder Renovate manually in the glasswash machine, or use liquid Renovate constantly. All new glasses must be Renovated before being used to remove residue from the manufacturing process
- Don’t dry glasses with cloths or tea towels: these will leave a residue on the interior of the glass. All glasses should be air dried (good quality rinse aid will speed up this process) and then stored on ventilated matting
- Never refill glasses – even if a customer requests the same glass! A clean cold dry glass must be used every time. Used glasses result in collapsing heads and poor appearance – and they’re a hygiene issue
- Check the quality of your beer glasses regularly: a visual check by holding them up to the light is simple – you’re checking for water spotting, streaks, or ‘cloudiness’. The Water Break Test is another simple effective way of checking whether your glasses are fit to fill: fill a pint glass with water to the brim, empty the water out and keep the glass inverted. Look at the way the water is clinging to the surface of the glass. If the water runs in a continuous sheet from the inner surface of the glass, it’s clean. If it coagulates in droplets, the glasses need Renovating
- Glasses grow old – like humans. If you’ve followed all of the above, and some of your glasses still look worn out, look at the number printed on a pint glass – it indicates the year it was manufactured. For example CE09 indicates the glass was produced and went into circulation in 2009. Maybe it’s time for that glass to retire…
Cask Marque has produced a handy Glasscare Charter which can be ordered free of charge by contacting Cask Marque on 01206 752212.
To find out more about our training courses, which covers glasscare, please visit our training page here.