Cellar to glass: keep the beer flowing at Christmas

1 Planning

If cold weather is on the cards plan your deliveries, stock and preventive actions using the tips below now.

2 Deliveries ​

Plan your stock and deliveries so that beer and cider can go straight into the cellar. Kegs and casks should never be stored outside or exposed to the elements for long periods as they can freeze. This is very dangerous and drastically effects drink quality. Beer may also take time to warm up from ambient temperatures (possibly below 5 centigrade) in the cellar before it can be dispensed properly. Allow 48 hours for containers to acclimatise.

3 Container size ​

Make sure you have the right stock in the right size containers. This can mean upsizing kegs and casks to make the most effective use of space and avoid having to find space for extra containers. Also remember that Christmas week is often a short week for deliveries from many brewers.

4 Rotate stock​

Use stock in correct date rotation to ensure beer that has had the longest time in the cellar is used before new deliveries.

5 Cellar cooling​

Check cellar cooling is working properly. It should give a cellar temperature of 11 to 13 degrees centigrade and run for a maximum of 16 hours out of every 24 hours. Clean fan grills and if there is a fan or heat dump outside the pub make sure nothing is stored nearby. Leave it switched on - the control system will call in the cooling when required. Some cellars will get too cold in the winter and the cellar cooling is designed to heat the space up.

6 Keep the cold air in​

Cellar cooling is not designed to cool the rest of the pub! Keep doors and windows closed as much as possible.

7 Line cleaning​

Clean lines every week with a recommended line cleaner. At Christmas it is best to clean lines the weekend before Christmas and then the weekend between Christmas and New Year.

8 Remote cooler care ​

Keep the area around the remote free from items such as turkeys, crisps, nuts and bottled drinks to enable air to circulate around the unit. They are designed to run all the time so keep them switched on. Check the remote is topped up with water. It should just cover the ice bank and coils. If there is a glycol top-up point make sure it is topped up with the correct strength of glycol. This also protects the system from freezing up.

9 Shelf coolers ​

The fan grill in the front of shelf coolers for extra cold beers should be kept clean with a soft brush or, ideally, a vacuum cleaner. Check the unit is topped up with water. Again, they are designed to run all the time so keep them switched on.

10 Manual handling​

Avoid stacking kegs and casks on top of each other unless you have a properly safety-assessed system. During cellar cleaning avoid water spillages outside as they can freeze and cause a safety hazard.