1. Hygiene

•  Clean up any beer spillages immediately
• Ensure the cellar is cleaned thoroughly once a week with an odour free cleaner
• Wash all cask equipment after use and allow to air dry
• Scrub shives and keystones with hot water before venting and tapping
• Don’t store food in the cellar

2. Temperature

•  Ensure the cellar is kept at a constant 11 to 13° centigrade
• Keep the cellar door and drop closed at all times, other than to ventilate for 10 minutes each day

 
3. Deliveries

•  Check the BB dates on casks and kegs: 14 days ahead of the BB date on cask, 20 days ahead of the BB date on Keg
• Ensure the right size container is being delivered
• Check there are no damaged or leaking containers
• Operate a First In First Out system of stock rotation

4. Equipment Checks

•  Top up remote ice bank coolers once a week
• Brush any debris from the grills of coolers and fans
• Clean auto tilts with hot water once a week
• Top up Ale Python Control Units with water once a week
• Clean keg couplers at the same time as line cleaning
• Secure gas cylinders upright with chains or straps

 
5. Line Cleaning

•  Clean all cask and keg lines every 7 days
• Always flush beer from the lines with clean cold water before introducing line cleaning solution
• Make up solution according to the manufacturer’s instructions
• Agitate the solution through the lines at 10 minute intervals
• Don’t leave the line cleaning solution in the lines for longer than an hour
• Switch off glycol coolers 1 hour before the line clean
• Flush line cleaning solution from the lines with plenty of water
• Test no traces of solution are left in the lines by using litmus paper

 
6. Cask Conditioning

•  Allow casks to settle for 24-48 hours after delivery before venting/tapping
• If casks are on auto tilts, vent with a hard peg, replace with a soft peg, and tap at the same time
• If using Cask Widge, drive the Widge through the keystone with a mallet and turn the lever to the ‘on’ position
• Check Clarity, Aroma and Taste (CAT) 24 hours after venting. If not fully conditioned, leave the soft peg in, or the Widge valve open
• When CAT sample passes the CAT test, hard peg or close the Widge valve to ‘off’ until ready to serve the beer
• When on sale, use a soft peg, or ‘on’ valve during service, and hard peg or switch the valve to ‘off’ after service
• Aim to each cask container within 3 days

 
7. Glassware

•  Use a clean, cold, dry glass every time (branded if possible)
• Only use the glasswasher for glasses
• Clean the glasswasher thoroughly at the end of the night, drain the water, and leave the door open
• Renovate glassware regularly
• Ensure detergent and rinse aid are topped up in the glasswash machine
• Use Quash to remove lipstick and grease from the rims of glasses

8. Perfect Serve

•  Always hold the glass by the bottom half
• For keg products, tilt the glass at a 45 degree angle, open tap fully and straighten as the liquid rises up the glass. Keep nozzle out of liquid
• For cask using a bottom fill spout with sparkler attached: hold glass straight, sparkler at base of glass, and create head with first pull. Keep the sparkler beneath the surface of the head
• For cask using a top fill spout with no sparkler, hold glass at 45 degree angle, spout above surface of beer and straighten the glass as it fills
• Bottles and cans: hold glass at 45 degree angle and keep the neck of the bottle/can away from the rim of the glass

9. Serve Temperatures

•  Regularly check the temperature of a sample of the draught beer with a probe
• Cask: 11 to 13° centigrade
• Lager: 2 to 5° centigrade
• Keg Ale: 2 to 8° centigrade
• Bottles and Cans: 4 to 6° centigrade

10. Personal Hygiene

• Always wash hands before coming on shift, after smoking or eating and after visiting the toilet
• Don’t wear heavy perfume, aftershave or handcream
• Tie long hair back
• Cover any cuts or abrasions with a coloured waterproof plaster

Visit www.cask-marque.co.uk to find out more