1. The number
one issue is turbulence. Turbulence is caused by, improper
gas settings, air being injected into the flow, beer falling
into the bottom of the container, temperature of the beer and
the temperature of the container.
2. Improper pouring is the second largest problem. There are
many bartenders who feel they need to pre-pour or purge the tap prior to
pouring every cup of beer, whereby they open the tap and let the
start of the pour fall into the drain. They then place the
container under the flow. Now once the tap is purged at the
beginning of the day or event, it does not need to be purged again
until the keg needs to be replaced or if there are several hours
between pouring. The beer that is sent into the drain is
pure waste. STOP Pre-Pouring!
The pre-flow process also causes some additional head when the
container is placed under the flow, some of the beer hits the
bottom of the container which is turbulent and causes foam.
The flow must be continuous into the container where the edge of
the tap or extender tube is placed next to the edge of the
container so that the beer flows down the side of the container
smoothly. Any time the flow hits the bottom of the
container it will cause excessive foam to form. Even with
the beer flowing down the side when it hits the bottom, the beer
becomes turbulent and foam starts to form. With the
extension tube, when the beer flows up to the bottom of the
extension tube the flow then goes directly into the beer already in
the container in which there is no more turbulence which is the
key to the reduction of turbulence or foam. At this point whatever
head that is in the container, that is the maximum there will be
when the container is full. This amount of head is usually
acceptable. When there is excessive head, the beer tender
will hold the container to the side and allow the head to spill
into the drain while they continue to pour beer
into the container. This is total waste!
That head is actually beer and it is sent down the drain.
In many cases between pre-pouring and over-pouring, you waste 2
containers of beer for every beer sold. This is
unacceptable! MONITOR Beer and Bar Tenders to assure they
are properly doing their job. If not, it's costing you
money.
3. To get the
beer out of the keg, gas or air is injected into the keg. Push
gas or air into the keg and the liquid flows out. This is
also called the carbonation process. In most bars and
restaurants, CO2 is the preferred gas and it works very well.
However, if the pressure is not set correctly, this can cause
significant turbulence and cause the beer to be under or over
carbonated. Monitor and Correct.
4. Temperature
in keg systems can have a major impact on foam and taste of the
beer. Beer should be refrigerated at 38 degrees.
Kegs should not be connected to the system until it is cooled
down to 38 degrees. if the temperature is lower than 38
degrees, the CO2 carbonation system must be adjusted so that it
doesn't over carbonate the beer which will cause it to be
erratic and foamy at the tap. Beer that is warmer than 38
degrees will also cause the beer to be erratic and foamy at the
tap. Therefore, careful consideration needs to be made
when using this type of system. Temperature can cost you
money in waste and customer satisfaction.
The Tap Extender because it minimizes turbulence, is long enough
to extend into the container enabling the beer to flow directly
into beer in the container which causes no turbulence which is
the key feature for the Tap Extender. The fact that there
are no trap spots where beer can be held, this is a great
benefit to stop mold from building up in the tube and allows for
easy cleaning on a daily basis as all taps should be cleaned
daily.