The art of pouring agood beer
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Guest
The art of pouring agood beer
I was wondering if anyone out there has experienced a decline in the service of beer over the years? It seems to me that alot of barstaff have no idea when it comes to pouring abeer. The worst one involves filling the glass in one go - then giving it a whack at the end - resulting in beer flowing everywhere! Seems as though some got their experience at rugby keg-sheds. You get to know the worst offenders I guess and when they stuf f up pouring my amber ale its time to move on. Cheers Glenm.
Gotta say, I reckon the two part pour is a waste of time. Except for maybe Kilkenny or Guinness that is pouring heady. Even then, if the gas levels are right then the one part pour is the winner.
That said, I'm right with you. Can't count the time some bar monkey has overflowed my Guinness or Kilkenny. It takes all my willpower not to reach over and slap the offender.
That said, I'm right with you. Can't count the time some bar monkey has overflowed my Guinness or Kilkenny. It takes all my willpower not to reach over and slap the offender.
Evo - Part Man, Part Ale
I used to like the shielas who would put a little shamrock in the top of the Guiness, but they are hard to come by these days, they would pour a good quick beer that didn't flow all over the place so your hand stayed clean and put a little picture on top (I am sure that made it taste better), now I cannot seem to find them anywhere. I miss them and their pouring ways. The worst offenders for pouring beers is when you go to an Irish pub that is giving the Killkenny and Guiness a good work out but you order a pint of Coopers (or any non Irish beer), they bugger it up every time and take about 5 minutes and three glasses to get you something that is acceptable.
This is the writ of the Baron, thou art truly blessed.
Irish Club (Elizabeth St in the City) still does it.the Baron wrote:I used to like the shielas who would put a little shamrock in the top of the Guiness, but they are hard to come by these days, they would pour a good quick beer that didn't flow all over the place so your hand stayed clean and put a little picture on top (I am sure that made it taste better), now I cannot seem to find them anywhere. I miss them and their pouring ways.
Tony
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beermeister
- Posts: 188
- Joined: Thursday Oct 07, 2004 6:40 pm
- Location: Perth, Western Australia
I think this situation is an indicator of a broader phenomenon: The decline of professional bar/waiting staff. A lot of people in hospitality are full time students and like me (a few years ago now...) they receive bugger all training (which usually consists of a week of unpaid work). They get paid sod-all, the hours are terrible, the customers can be rude, drunk, leachorous or a combination of all three...so unfortunately professionalism eventually goes out the window.
Employers don't seem to want to put anyone on full time (or they go the other way and give 60-70 hour rosters). The popular pubs can afford to put on clowns (like I was) because the crowds will turn up even if trained monkeys are working the bar. So, they won't be arsed paying a good barperson a couple of dollars extra an hour if some half-starved Austudy receipent is willing to work for slave wages...
That felt a bit like a "me-generation" whinge. R. Magnay will probably go off!
Ultimately its economic rationalism at work. The dollar rules.
Employers don't seem to want to put anyone on full time (or they go the other way and give 60-70 hour rosters). The popular pubs can afford to put on clowns (like I was) because the crowds will turn up even if trained monkeys are working the bar. So, they won't be arsed paying a good barperson a couple of dollars extra an hour if some half-starved Austudy receipent is willing to work for slave wages...
That felt a bit like a "me-generation" whinge. R. Magnay will probably go off!
Ultimately its economic rationalism at work. The dollar rules.
I have started my own training school at home, I have a 9 year old nearly ready to graduate, a 6 year old that needs some work still, and a 2 year old that would be a gun if he could hold the glass and reach the tap at the same time he needs a lift up to reach the tap once he has it in hand he knows what to do though.
Love your work Shaun !
Almost inspires me to knock my girlfriend up (thank Elvis she doen't read this forum). I trained my niece from age 1 1/2 to go and get me beers. I don't even need to ask now - she just grabs me one of her dad's from the fridge. Don't know if I'd trust her to pour me one from my kegs yet. A five year old with pressurised beer gun in hand...
Beermeister - haven't pubs always been like that ? Crap paying, bugger all training ? I worked in a pub in England in 1991. It was certainly the case then. I did learn how to put a shamrock on a Guinness though. That got me a few freebies off the "Paddy's".
Almost inspires me to knock my girlfriend up (thank Elvis she doen't read this forum). I trained my niece from age 1 1/2 to go and get me beers. I don't even need to ask now - she just grabs me one of her dad's from the fridge. Don't know if I'd trust her to pour me one from my kegs yet. A five year old with pressurised beer gun in hand...
Beermeister - haven't pubs always been like that ? Crap paying, bugger all training ? I worked in a pub in England in 1991. It was certainly the case then. I did learn how to put a shamrock on a Guinness though. That got me a few freebies off the "Paddy's".
Evo - Part Man, Part Ale
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Dogger Dan
- Posts: 3168
- Joined: Thursday Aug 26, 2004 10:43 am
- Location: Lucan, Ontario, Canada
Shaun,
I am way to fussy with my pours to teach it to the kids, even the missus treads gently around there.
They can get me a bottle ever now and then but stay away from the tap.
Dogger
I am way to fussy with my pours to teach it to the kids, even the missus treads gently around there.
They can get me a bottle ever now and then but stay away from the tap.
Dogger
"Listening to someone who brews their own beer is like listening to a religous fanatic talk about the day he saw the light" Ross Murray, Montreal Gazette
my missus works in a pub, and biased as I am, pours a damn good beer. No Guinness at the pub though. She actually takes pride in her work, I even let her pour from my kegs!!
However I do notice when out and about the way some bar-people pour a brew. What really gets my goat is when they hold the glass arounf the top!!! I have been known to send them back if it happens, I don't know where the hand has been so the glass ain't going near my mouth!! It's just a sign of poor training and no thought for customer.
However I do notice when out and about the way some bar-people pour a brew. What really gets my goat is when they hold the glass arounf the top!!! I have been known to send them back if it happens, I don't know where the hand has been so the glass ain't going near my mouth!! It's just a sign of poor training and no thought for customer.
Some people say I have a drinking Problem....
I drink, I get drunk, I fall over....
What's the problem?
http://www.brodiescastlebrewing.com/
I drink, I get drunk, I fall over....
What's the problem?
http://www.brodiescastlebrewing.com/
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Dogger Dan
- Posts: 3168
- Joined: Thursday Aug 26, 2004 10:43 am
- Location: Lucan, Ontario, Canada
Some of it is how far it has to come,
Last time I was out they were drawing it from 150 ft away, would hate to see the pressure loss they must have been driving it 65 psi at the keg.
First two glasses were piss warm to.
Dogger
Last time I was out they were drawing it from 150 ft away, would hate to see the pressure loss they must have been driving it 65 psi at the keg.
First two glasses were piss warm to.
Dogger
"Listening to someone who brews their own beer is like listening to a religous fanatic talk about the day he saw the light" Ross Murray, Montreal Gazette
what about when you order beer in a twist top bottle & they use their shirt/apron/whatever dirty rag they can find to twist the cap off...grabman wrote:However I do notice when out and about the way some bar-people pour a brew. What really gets my goat is when they hold the glass arounf the top!!! I have been known to send them back if it happens, I don't know where the hand has been so the glass ain't going near my mouth!! It's just a sign of poor training and no thought for customer.
oh yeah hate that too!!!!!
just pure bloody bad manners!
just pure bloody bad manners!
Some people say I have a drinking Problem....
I drink, I get drunk, I fall over....
What's the problem?
http://www.brodiescastlebrewing.com/
I drink, I get drunk, I fall over....
What's the problem?
http://www.brodiescastlebrewing.com/
yeah - and I hate how sometimes, when a badly poured pint spills over the glass and then they hose the outside of the glass with water, just so you dont get beer on your hands and think they are being polite, when they shouldn't have stuffed it up in the first place
but I have another question
I don't know much about kegs, but once a keg is hooked up to the taps in a pub, how long does it stay fresh for? and are the last few beers at the bottom of the keg (when it all foams up as it is being poured) poor quality compared to the stuff at the top -- and are the first few glasses from a new keg necessarily the best?
but I have another question
I don't know much about kegs, but once a keg is hooked up to the taps in a pub, how long does it stay fresh for? and are the last few beers at the bottom of the keg (when it all foams up as it is being poured) poor quality compared to the stuff at the top -- and are the first few glasses from a new keg necessarily the best?
This depends on the pub and their setup if they are running kegs in banks through a fob monitor you will get none of the foaming death throws from the keg bank. The fob monitor has a float valve that drops as air enters the beer line, once there is to much air in the line it is shut of resulting in no beer at the tap. The lines remain charged with pourable beer and all the bar staff need to do is connect new kegs to the bank and remove the dead ones and release the air from the fob monitor they can then go back to pouring without have to purge the foam from the lines. It is a very good system.
Most commercial kegs are at there best for the first 30 days of their life in that time there should be little differences from first glass to last. After 30 days the flavour will start to change and go down hill. The other thing that can affect the beer is pubs placing old kegs on the end of a new bank this can send the rest of the bank off.
Quality can also depend on the type of system used in the pub. 1st is the kegs in the cold room lines out to the bar then cooled again at the tap by a temprite. 2nd Glycol system, kegs in cold room beer lines run out to bar but are insulted all the way to the font with glycol. 3rd is direct pull system the kegs and beer lines are in the cold room and the taps extend from the wall of the cold room.
Direct pull is considered the best, then Glycol, followed by the temprites.
Most commercial kegs are at there best for the first 30 days of their life in that time there should be little differences from first glass to last. After 30 days the flavour will start to change and go down hill. The other thing that can affect the beer is pubs placing old kegs on the end of a new bank this can send the rest of the bank off.
Quality can also depend on the type of system used in the pub. 1st is the kegs in the cold room lines out to the bar then cooled again at the tap by a temprite. 2nd Glycol system, kegs in cold room beer lines run out to bar but are insulted all the way to the font with glycol. 3rd is direct pull system the kegs and beer lines are in the cold room and the taps extend from the wall of the cold room.
Direct pull is considered the best, then Glycol, followed by the temprites.
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Beer Krout
- Posts: 180
- Joined: Monday Dec 06, 2004 11:55 am
- Location: Melbourne
Hmmm ... very interesting. Shaun, you've obviously worked in a pub or two in your life.
Temprites.
I've wondered what they were. Is that where the tap itself is kept ice cold has that ice cold look to it.
Glycol lines must cost a bit. Will all that insult-ation
and
Direct Pull. Would be similar to having a tap on your fridge door at home. Is there many pubs with this setup? Maybe the new ones that care?
Which makes me think.
Don't most pubs have the cold room fairly close to the bar. Traditionally when building a pub, this wasn't the norm? There must be some history for pub design, here, that someone could shed some light one?
BK
Temprites.
I've wondered what they were. Is that where the tap itself is kept ice cold has that ice cold look to it.
Glycol lines must cost a bit. Will all that insult-ation
and
Direct Pull. Would be similar to having a tap on your fridge door at home. Is there many pubs with this setup? Maybe the new ones that care?
Which makes me think.
Don't most pubs have the cold room fairly close to the bar. Traditionally when building a pub, this wasn't the norm? There must be some history for pub design, here, that someone could shed some light one?
BK
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Glen Michel
- Posts: 21
- Joined: Sunday Apr 03, 2005 12:22 pm
Picked up an old temprite about when 18 gallon kegs cost 80 dollars - well well - they were still in operation at my local sport club up to a year ago until someone with amodernising streak decided to put those 'king cobra" units in. globalisation I put it down to. Why not! They know better, apparently. Bastards!! 
GlenM.
GlenM.Beer Krout
I have never worked behind a bar or in a pub. When I was putting together my keg setup the bar member at the club I drink in was looking at doing up the system in the bar. I made a point of giving him a hand, he had CUB come out and run their bar course. They taught him all about the different systems good and bad points of all he then told me and gave me all the training martial. I also made a point of being there when the work was done and asked lots off questions of the contractor doing the work. Learnt lots then put together my keg system without a problem using some techniques and parts not normally available to the home brewer.
Temprite is an instant cooler that cools the beer in the line that will have warmed up after leaving the cold room (most cold rooms are not that close to the taps if there is a cold room). Problem with the system is on busy hot days they may not keep up with the through put of beer.
Glycol systems are the ones with the icy/frozen fonts it is the glycol in the font that makes it icy/frozen. Good as the beer is not warmed up then cooled again, very expensive to install though.
You can tell direct pull systems as the taps will be on the back wall of the bar not on the bar itself. The beer is always cold; however the pub/bar has to be designed around the cold room. You will see them in pubs where the bar is built around a cold room or where the bar backs onto a cold room's wall, so only newer pubs may have this system. Yes your keg system in a fridge with taps through the door is a direct pull system.
I have never worked behind a bar or in a pub. When I was putting together my keg setup the bar member at the club I drink in was looking at doing up the system in the bar. I made a point of giving him a hand, he had CUB come out and run their bar course. They taught him all about the different systems good and bad points of all he then told me and gave me all the training martial. I also made a point of being there when the work was done and asked lots off questions of the contractor doing the work. Learnt lots then put together my keg system without a problem using some techniques and parts not normally available to the home brewer.
Temprite is an instant cooler that cools the beer in the line that will have warmed up after leaving the cold room (most cold rooms are not that close to the taps if there is a cold room). Problem with the system is on busy hot days they may not keep up with the through put of beer.
Glycol systems are the ones with the icy/frozen fonts it is the glycol in the font that makes it icy/frozen. Good as the beer is not warmed up then cooled again, very expensive to install though.
You can tell direct pull systems as the taps will be on the back wall of the bar not on the bar itself. The beer is always cold; however the pub/bar has to be designed around the cold room. You will see them in pubs where the bar is built around a cold room or where the bar backs onto a cold room's wall, so only newer pubs may have this system. Yes your keg system in a fridge with taps through the door is a direct pull system.
I've had nothing but good experiences, then again i only buy beer at a pub where the person pouring it knows about it.
The Beer Cafe's here in Sydney are good, particulary in the CBD (argyle street...).
Good to see the bartender jet your glass with fresh water, pour your beer as it should be (in the correct glass might i add) then dip the glass in the water bath and cut the head to the correct serving of each particular beer.
Anything less, is just not good enough.
The Beer Cafe's here in Sydney are good, particulary in the CBD (argyle street...).
Good to see the bartender jet your glass with fresh water, pour your beer as it should be (in the correct glass might i add) then dip the glass in the water bath and cut the head to the correct serving of each particular beer.
Anything less, is just not good enough.