FAO people with bar work experience

cm1179 · 2 May 2011 at 19:44

speaking to a friend of mine yesterday and he told me about his time working in a bar on a weekend whilst going to uni. one thing he told me that i didn't know was practiced, was that when he opened up, he would have to pull off 2 pints from each barrell and pour them away as the drink goes 'off' in the pipes overnight or is not fit for human consumption.
is this a regular practice? i usually go to a bar in town to watch the early ko football match on a saturday and the bar in question opens at 12:30 and the person running the bar isn't usually there until a few minutes past so i have seen them open up, turn on the electrical equipment and then serve me but i've never seen them pour off the pipes from the night before and it's a pretty high establishment.

PapaLazaru · 2 May 2011 at 19:45

It is a regular practise in a decent bar, yes.

First pint out of a pump in the morning is pretty rank tbh.

cm1179 · 2 May 2011 at 19:48

i never really thought about it but i suppose it makes sense. i must keep a closer eye on them!

PapaLazaru · 2 May 2011 at 19:50

The problem is that they don't have to by any law, it is just good practise. More worrying than that, is the amount of bars that do not clean their pipes regularly. I have seen pipes being cleaned well past the date that they should have and the crap that comes out, is pretty disgusting!

BennyC · 2 May 2011 at 20:04

Worked at a pub 2 years ago during the summer and never once did this...

Does make sense though.

We did flush our pipes regularly though, for the bitters.

MatteH Oxford · 2 May 2011 at 20:15

Yes, as stated the first couple taste like ####!

JBod · 2 May 2011 at 20:19

Bad practices are big contributing factor to hangovers.

8t10 · 2 May 2011 at 20:20

If the pipes are cleaned weekly it isn't so bad, but many pipes are not even cleaned weekly.

jellybeard999 · 2 May 2011 at 21:03

8t10 said:
If the pipes are cleaned weekly it isn't so bad, but many pipes are not even cleaned weekly.

Weekly isn't frequently enough really, but it's a balance between waste an quality in most cases

BennyC said:
Worked at a pub 2 years ago during the summer and never once did this...

Does make sense though.

We did flush our pipes regularly though, for the bitters.

So the other draught (ie lager/cider) was never cleaned?

PU7E · 2 May 2011 at 21:09

It's usually between 1-2 pints depending on the python length, you also need to clean the pipes weekly, if not I'd hate to think what the beer would be like after a few weeks

CliffyBiro · 2 May 2011 at 21:12

Yes you're supposed to pour a few out. When I was opening up, I would do this before opening, and let more run off if it was left for too long after that.

B@Th*nG · 2 May 2011 at 21:59

The pipes were 6 pints long in a place I worked at, what good would turning out a couple of pints do?

B@

Lakeland · 2 May 2011 at 22:07

Never thought about this before but always wondered why some people asked if X pump had been used today

Stupot_ · 2 May 2011 at 22:33

I clean my pipes daily.

Lakeland · 2 May 2011 at 22:49

Stupot_ said:
I clean my pipes daily.

That could be taken the wrong way, no pun intended

Qdos · 2 May 2011 at 23:26

Lakeland said:
That could be taken the wrong way, no pun intended

I think it was supposed to be....

We never ran a pint off - as has been said, there's no point doing it unless your lines are less than 2 pints long. Even so, if you're doing that every day, on every line - that adds up to a large amount of wastage over a year.

Let's say you have 8 lines (not an unreasonable amount) - 16 pints a day wasted - that's 112 pints a week - more than an 11 gallon keg! I'd hate to be doing the stocktaking on that one.

As long as you keep your lines clean (a weekly clean is enough, additionally clean the lines when you swap real ale kegs) that should keep your beer in fine condition. I never had a complaint about the beer unless the keg itself was spoilt. The beer is very very unlikely to go off as long as the valve on the tap is a good seal.

jp_bl_68 · 2 May 2011 at 23:56

I've never poured off the first few pints. As Qdos pointed out it would lead to a great amount of wastage. Not sure if it would go off (assuming the lines are in regular use) but I don't think it would be at the correct temperature.

Rroff · 3 May 2011 at 00:04

Wouldn't think it would be a problem as long as the pipes are cleaned regularly its not like the liquid is exposed to the air so overnight isn't gonna be a huge issue.

Lakeland · 3 May 2011 at 00:24

Qdos said:
I think it was supposed to be....

I mean the sarcasm could be taken the wrong way

Jimbeam3678 · 3 May 2011 at 01:59

My main issue is end of barrels etc should pull 1 off the top of a barrel and throw the last dregs away from end of a barrel. To many pubs just continue a pint halve way through different barrels!