DRAUGHT DISPENSE

There are three basic ways of serving draught beer: the handpull, freeflow tap and metered dispense. Each of these is described below:

Handpulls

Handpulls (also known as hand pumps) are the traditional way of serving cask-conditioned beer. Handpulls draw beer from the cask, and dispense it into the glass, when the handpull is pumped manually. It is a simple but effective way of dispensing beer. Note: they are used only with cask beers and not those packaged in kegs.

Freeflow taps

Freeflow taps raise from the cellar keg beer that is under pressure from gas. CO2, or a mixture of CO2 and nitrogen, is used to pressurise the beer. The tap is manually held open to dispense beer into a glass. Some taps have a creamer that can be used to add a creamy head to the beer at the end of dispense.

Metered dispense

Metered dispense is also used to dispense keg beers. Metered units automatically dispense a measured half a pint of beer each time a switch is pressed. Metered units must be calibrated when they are installed (and regularly checked) to ensure that they accurately dispense beer in the required amounts. Metered units should be Government stamped with the Crown Stamp to confirm that they have been checked and approved by Trading Standards.

Gas and electric pumps

Where the pub’s cellar is located a long distance (horizontally or vertically) from its bar, a gas or electric pump can be used to assist with dispensing keg beer. These pumps are located in the cellar and push the beer through the lines. They can be powered by gas or electricity.

Gas and gas systems

Both CO2 and a mixture of CO2 and nitrogen are used to dispense a range of keg beers today. These gases are also absorbed by the beer giving it special characteristics. These characteristics can include the CO2 ‘bite’, which is typical of many lagers or the smoothness produced by using nitrogen with CO2 to dispense ‘smoothflow’ and ‘smoothpour’ ales.

Gas systems can be rented or more frequently, are loaned to you free of charge from your brewery or gas supplier. The brewery or gas supplier is responsible for maintaining the equipment and can be called out to deal with any faults. CO2 and mixed gases (CO2/nitrogen mixes) can be purchased together with your beer supplies or from other local gas suppliers. The mixed gases come in different percentage mixes for example: 60/40 or 70/30 mixtures (ie 60% CO2 to 40% nitrogen mix, or 70% CO2 to 30% nitrogen mix). Each keg beer product must be dispensed using its recommended gas or mixed gas, otherwise faults can occur, and the beer will not be served at its best. Your brewery or pub company will advise you on this.

Beer cooling systems

Due to changing customer demands, many beers are served at a much lower temperature than they used to be. Though lager has traditionally been served at a lower temperature than other beers, the introduction of ‘extra-cold’ and ‘super-chilled’ lagers has reduced these temperatures further. Other products have followed suit.

In days gone by, the temperature of the beer was dictated by the temperature of the pub’s cellar. Nowadays, technology in the form of cooling systems is used to cool products. These consist of:

• Cellar cooling: a cooling unit that cools the whole of the beer cellar.
• Remote coolers and ‘python systems’: these cool the beer lines by circulating chilled liquid through a snake-like sheath that surrounds the beer lines.
• Flash coolers: they are situated behind the bar through which beer flows and is cooled immediately prior to it being dispensed.

Cellar services

Breweries and pub companies have teams of ‘cellar service’ staff who are on hand to attend to any problems with the dispensing or cooling of beer. They also have a team of experts on hand to attend to any problems with the beer itself. Faults are normally reported by telephoning a helpline number and call-outs are made within an agreed timescale depending on the nature of the problem. It is a good idea to keep these telephone numbers to hand and also ensure that your staff are aware of them, in case of any difficulties.