Cool customers
In spite of the unseasonal weather, demand for extra-cold beer is rising. Graham Ridout investigates effective ways of coping with drinkers' demands
The demand for extra-cold beers shows no sign of abating. Diageo is generally acknowledged as the major player that started the ball rolling in the UK before the turn of the millennium with Guinness Extra Cold. Now, every brand owner appears to be at it, with lager, cider, stout, and keg beer being served extra cold. Even some cask-ale producers are lowering dispense temperatures by a few degrees.
Innserve, the UK's largest dispense-equipment installer, says increase in demand for cold beer has had a major impact on pub-cooling capacity over the past 18 months. Commercial director Julie Charge says Innserve calculates that the proliferation of extra-cold products has increased demand for typical coolers by about 28% for the average pub or bar.
She says: "Attractive condensing fonts have improved sales, but also added to cooling demand. Brewers and brand-owners continue to work on additional brand innovations for extra-cold products that will further increase the demand on cooling capacity. Few non-
extra-cold beers have been launched in recent years. The world is getting hotter, but beer is getting colder and the trend is likely to stay that way."
Two competing systems
Currently, there are two major competing dispense systems - those using ice banks and those using glycol.
Ice banks have been around for three decades and are used at the vast majority of pubs - a compelling financial reason convincing brewers to retain ice banks instead of installing glycol systems, which only recently started to gain favour in the UK. However, the increasing demand for cold beer has placed a strain on ice-bank technology's ability to cope. To solve the problem, remote coolers have been installed in cellars, coupled with under-bar shelf coolers or cooling "pods" to achieve temperatures of between 2°C and 4°C - the range specified by many brand owners.
City Dispense Services business development director Vic Nicholls says: "The use of this additional equipment increases energy consumption and pushes existing dispense systems to their upper limit. Glycol remote coolers are designed to run at sub-zero temperatures, using glycol as the coolant as opposed to the ice used in ice-bank coolers. This enables the glycol unit to be switched off during non-trading periods, which saves energy.
"An added benefit is that the temperature pull-down is shorter from start-up than for the ice-bank units.
"Generally, new glycol systems are installed with improved python insulation, enabling dispense temperatures of about 3°C to be reached."
Nicholls does concede that "Glycol is not a one-fits-all solution" - nor will one temperature "fit all varieties of beer". Yet, he adds: "Glycol is the next generation. Pub companies with retail-driven managed houses and astute retailers are switching to glycol systems."
He says this is proven by the way JD Wetherspoon and Mitchells & Butlers are converting their estates to glycol.
Glycol supplier Universal Dispense Systems sales director Neil Tanner is another who maintains: "Extra cool is here to stay."
Tanner predicts that the days of having the same brand dispensed at two different temperatures from two different fonts are numbered: "Everything will be served at the lower temperature," he suggests.
Not surprisingly, Tanner thinks "glycol is best equipped" to cater for increased demand for ultra-cold beer and that "it does cool beer a lot quicker".
Currently, he estimates that glycol dispense-systems only command between 10% and 15% of the market, but thinks this is likely to rise to about 50% in about five years' time. "The driving force will be the brand owners who want the same temperature across their range of products, and I'd like to think glycol will play a major part in this."
The basic requirements
Ice-bank supporters are confident that equipment currently undergoing final appraisal will be able to match what glycol can offer. All that is needed now is for some of the larger brewers to signal that they are happy with the new equipment - a development that is expected in the next few weeks.
Until then, Innserve's Julie Charge is reluctant to reveal too many details, but says the aim has been to achieve the following criteria:
l Deliver temperature specification of 2°C to 4°C across the bar of the first and all subsequent drinks without affecting cask or keg ales;
l Minimise space occupied by under-bar equipment;
l Minimise capital costs and scrapping or recycling of existing equipment and materials;
l Ensure the solution is fully tradable between brewers, either by line or by the full system;
l Equipment must be maintainable within the existing skill base of the industry;
l Systems should be capable of running font-condensation systems;
l Systems should have high reliability.
More red tape
New legislation came into force on 4 July covering refrigeration systems above a certain size and type. Under the F-Gas regulations, pub operators will have to pay for an annual inspection by an approved refrigeration engineer to certify the equipment is functioning properly and not leaking gases or coolants into the atmosphere. Innserve believes many large glycol units will be affected by the legislation. To date, managed-house chains JD Wetherspoon and Mitchells & Butlers have been at the forefront of glycol-system installation, and it is thought that most of the two companies' larger outlets will have to be assessed every year.
Lack of cohesion among brewers causes problems for pubs
Vic Nicholls highlights a problem facing customers who don't use companies such as City Dispense Services, which provides cover for all brands and elements of dispense systems.
He says: "Many (non-national) brewers continue to provide their own dispense services, but no longer offer single-service provision to their customers.
"The major pub chains have little option but to contact each brewer's dispense-service function separately when they have a specific brand requiring service.
"This can present problems when a
central element of a dispense system
fails and the outlet manager is not
sure which brewer should provide this service, for example when a remote cooler fails."
Hot tips for cool beer
To make sure beer is delivered consistently at the low temperatures now demanded by pub customers, attention should be paid to both the dispense equipment and cellar management.
In the cellar
l Make sure cellar-cooling is set at between 10°C and 12°C
l Inspect and clean all air-intakes and exhaust-air outlets to make sure nothing obstructs the airflow
l Schedule deliveries and control stock rotation to maximise the cooling time for kegs and casks in the cellar before they are tapped
l Consider ordering larger kegs to
allow them to spend more time in the
cellar
l Always keep the cellar door closed and do not store unnecessary goods there as this increases cooling-load on air-conditioning equipment
l Consider adding extra insulation to walls and ceiling to reduce energy loss and fuel bills
For dispense equipment
l Ensure equipment is functioning properly and that thermostats are set at the correct temperature
l Ensure airflow to remote cooling equipment is not impeded by
obstructions, dirt and dust. Undertake similar checks for shelf-coolers and
pods
l Check water level in remote cooler to ensure that it covers ice bank and coils. Similarly, check glycol level in glycol systems
The pros and cons of ice bank and glycol systems
Ice Bank
Positives
l Technologically proven over three decades
l Understood by the majority of operators
l Maintained and serviced by dispense engineers rather than more exp
