Protect your beer quality: 7 crucial cellar to bar checks you should carry out daily

When you walk into a bar, pub, or restaurant, what is the first thing you notice? Perhaps it’s the décor and the smell of freshly cooked food filling the room. Maybe it’s the welcoming atmosphere and spotless tables adorned with menus just inviting you to sit down. Whatever your answer is, a great deal of effort goes into maintaining the front of house areas. This is, after all, the customers first impression of the venue. However, it’s also important to keep everything in top shape behind the scenes, as any issues there can have a knock-on effect. Here we explore the importance of carrying out cellar to bar checks and highlight top management tips.

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The importance of carrying out cellar to bar checks

7 daily cellar to bar management tips

How can Clear Brew help?

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The importance of carrying out cellar to bar checks

As we briefly mentioned before, any issues behind the scenes can negatively affect front of house. For example, if the cellar is neglected, the beer quality could be compromised, resulting in complaints and wastage. To avoid situations like this, it’s crucial to carry out a few cellar to bar checks on a daily basis.

7 daily cellar to bar management tips

1.     Clean the cellar
There are few aspects to look out for when it comes to cleaning the cellar. You will need to clean up any spillages and ensure the walls are spotless too. Make sure you do not use a highly scented disinfectant as this can affect the beer quality. Instead, opt for a quality Cellar Floor & Wall Cleaner. Don’t forget to clean the drains too! While you’re cleaning out the cellar, make sure there isn’t a build up of rubbish or vermin around.

2.     Remove anything that shouldn’t be in the cellar
It can be tempting to store items in the cellar however it should be kept to the bare essentials. For example, it’s important to avoid storing fresh food in the cellar as it encourages the growth of wild yeasts that result in spoilt beer.

3.     Carry out a temperature check in the cellar
Want to preserve the quality of your beer and save money? Check the cellar temperature on a daily basis. The cellar temperature should be between 11-13°C to give your beer the best storage conditions. This simple task takes less than 60 seconds and can help you identify if there are any faults with the cooling equipment.

4.     Check your stock
When it comes to checking stock it’s important to check the ‘best before’ date has not been breached. To avoid this happening, you can rotate older stock to the front. Once a keg is connected up for sale, it should be sold within 5 days. After this time, it will start to gas up, resulting in fobbing and wastage. Cask beer should be sold within 3 days of being connected up.

5.     Vent the cellar
As part of your cellar management routine, it’s important to ensure the area is vented each day. To do this simply prop the door open for 10 minutes. After this, the cellar door must remain closed to prevent the room becoming warm and adding unnecessary pressure to the cellar cooler.

6.     Take good care of glassware
It’s good practice to get into the habit of following a specific glass care checklist. To get you started, here are a couple of points to note at the start and end of each working day.

Before opening for trade:

• Ensure there is enough glasswash detergent to operate the machine.
• Ensure there is enough salt in the water softener (if one is present).
• The glasswasher should be switched on and allowed to reach temperature.

After closing for trade:

• Make sure that glasses have been cleaned and returned to the correct storage area.
• Ensure the glasswasher has been emptied of dirty water.
•  The glasswasher can then be turned off and the air-rack can be emptied and cleaned.

Alongside maintaining a solid glass care routine, it’s important to use quality products as part of the regime.

7.     Keep your nozzles in top shape

Did you know that a dirty nozzle can introduce bacteria into your beer lines, which can cause unpleasant flavours? Out of all the areas of a beer dispense system, nozzles are the part that is often neglected. At the end of service, make sure that you remove all nozzles, thoroughly rinse them under warm water and leave to dry overnight.
This process should be carried out alongside a weekly soak.

How can Clear Brew help?

As part of the Clear Brew beer line cleaning service, we provide cellar to bar checklists for you and your team. These can be displayed in the cellar and are easy for the team to refer to on a daily basis. On top of this, we act as an extra pair of eyes in the cellar during our 3-weekly visits to clean the beer lines. Any issues will be noted on the dedicated Clear Brew app. For more information about how the Clear Brew service could benefit you, get in touch with our team.