Not cold

enough

Pubs are struggling to serve beer at the recommended temperature, according to an investigation by the Morning Advertiser. Armed with a thermometer, NIGEL HUDDLESTON tested pints of beer poured from standard and extra cold fonts and found that only two brands made the grade

It's become something of a given that consumers want extra cold lager and other drinks, and that when it says extra cold on the font, it's extra cold in the glass.

A recent Morning Advertiser special feature on lager revealed some disquiet, however, from licensees troubled for space by the extra technology required to stock extra cold brands, and from non-extra cold brewers who thought their brands were cold enough anyway, without making a song and dance about it.

To refresh your memory with just a couple of views, Richard Bradbury, on-trade sales director for Heineken, said: "We're already serving Heineken at 4°C to 6°C anyway ­ we just don't put cold on the font.

"I'm not sure consumers are bothered about getting something that's extra cold, they just don't want something that's warm."

In the other camp, John Holberry, on-trade sales director at Coors Brewers, said: "Most beer has not been dispensed cold. It's been at about 8°C to 10°C when it is supposed to be 4°C to 6°C. Other brewers can say what they like about what should be dispensed but they haven't been around the trade with a thermometer."

That was like a red rag to a bull to the MA features desk, so off we went, armed with a thermometer to find out which beers were hitting their brewer's targets and which weren't.

We're not claiming any strict scientific basis for the test; it's simply a snapshot of how brands were performing at a particular moment in time in one place.

We're happy to concede that it could be quite different on another day. Make up yourown mind about the results, but it is interesting that "ordinary" Carlsberg and Heineken were the only brands that were spot on, although Carlsberg Extra Cold was just 1°C cooler than the Carlsberg in the same venue. Allowing for the fact thebarrel had just been changed, we tried a second half of Extra Cold some time later, but the same result was recorded.

One interesting footnote: in one pub we visited, Draught Guinness and Extra Cold Guinness were both served at 9°C, which clearly goes against the brand's marketing message.

Worried about the temperature of your beers?

If you think pints might be being poured at the incorrect temperature, carry out a simple test like the one we did. Any discrepancies between the temperature you record and the supplier's recommendation could be down to a simple fault with the dispense system or in the cellar, socheck them both. If the problem continues, call your supplier or landlord and ask them to lookinto it for you.