In article ,
Alan wrote:
On the other hand, beer has antiseptic properties - that's why it
doesn't go off

It certainly does - unless sterilised fizz.

--
*Also too, never, ever use repetitive redundancies *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On Fri, 13 Jan 2012 18:42:35 +0000 (GMT), "Dave Plowman (News)"
wrote:

The original purpose of brewing was to purify water. So if drip tray
contents - only the correct beer obviously - is returned to a real ale
barrel there shouldn't be any hygiene problems.

This is nonsense. I have worked as a cellarman and in the SU bar at
university.

However, I believe a decent pub collects this and that pulled through to
get fresh at the beginning of the day and returns it to the brewery for
credit.

Dream on! I wish!

I took a year or two off between sixth-form college, as we'd call it
now, and going to university. Some of that time I worked as a
cellarman in the Fort St George, on Midsummer Common (I think it's
called), in Cambridge. This would have been 1973, I think. While I
was there, it was nomal practice to put the real ale slops back into
the barrel. The second and subsequent days of use, every barrel of
real ale seemed to me to turn cloudy, and I suspected that the
practice of putting the slops back was the cause.

In due course, the full-time hired manager went away on holiday, and I
was left in sole charge of the beer. The actual proprietor not being
about much, I decided to see what would happen if I quietly poured the
slops down the sink when no-one was looking, and without telling
anyone. By the end of the week, customers were saying things like:
"Gosh, this beer is good - crystal clear!" I had to turn away to
hide my knowing smile. However, on the penultimate or the last day, I
forget which, the proprietor, who must've suspected something, stood
over me as I poured the slops back into the barrel. Next day the beer
was cloudy again.

When I went to university, having the experience I easily got a job in
the Students Union Bar. Again, with the keg beers, we were ordered to
pour the slops openly into the glasses right in front of the
customers. This time, it being 'our' SU bar, I felt bold enough to
resist. I flatly refused, and was sacked. I took my grievances to
the SU, and the manager was in turn sacked, not just for the way he'd
treated me, but importantly for putting slops in the beer in the first
place. He was replaced by his deputy, who besides being a much nicer
guy, seemed to share my views on the subject of slops in the beer.
Although I declined to work in the bar any more, I thought that
perhaps it was diplomatically for the best, AFAIAA that was the end of
the practice.

Such practices are thoroughly unhygienic, and there is no excuse
whatever for them. The proprietor of the Fort St George was a wealthy
man anyway, with, IIRC, a nice house, a yacht, etc, etc. For him to
insist on such practices was the worst sort of penny-pinching
meanness. But then, he was an absolute sh*t to work for, so what
better can be expected of such a b*stard?

And in a completely different sort of way the manager of the SU bar
was an equally unlovely person, who was already highly unpopular
before ever I appeared on the scene. Again, what better can be
expected of such a b*stard?
--
================================================== =======
Please always reply to ng as the email in this post's
header does not exist. Or use a contact address at:
http://www.macfh.co.uk/JavaJive/JavaJive.html
http://www.macfh.co.uk/Macfarlane/Macfarlane.html

Ah, many happy hours spent in the Fort trying to swing the ring
onto the horn.

Were you the tall fair-haired bloke then?



--
Woody

harrogate three at ntlworld dot com

In article ,
Java Jive wrote:
The original purpose of brewing was to purify water. So if drip tray
contents - only the correct beer obviously - is returned to a real ale
barrel there shouldn't be any hygiene problems.

This is nonsense. I have worked as a cellarman and in the SU bar at
university.

However, I believe a decent pub collects this and that pulled through
to get fresh at the beginning of the day and returns it to the brewery
for credit.

Dream on! I wish!

Just why do you think it's pulled through into a clean stainless steel
bucket?

--
*The first rule of holes: If you are in one, stop digging!

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

The stuff that's first pulled through, when a new cask is broached,
directly into the bucket can perhaps more legitimately be put back
into the barrel, although it should be remembered that not all the
beer in the pipe will actually have come from that barrel. The
correct procedure would be to throw away the first pint or two, then
pull through directly into a clean, dry, SS bucket until the beer runs
clear. The bucket's contents could then perhaps be poured back into
the barrel at the end of the day, so the cask can settle overnight.

However the slops from the containers under the pumps are just that,
slops. They've been standing around in a hopefully busy and warm bar
for hours, while bar staff work leaning over them, accidentally
dropping beads of sweat, bits of skin, hairs, even occasionally flecks
of spittle as they speak, and, in my day, cigarette ash. They should
never be put back. To do so is just plain insanitary.

My ex-wife and I once went on a cruise in the Western Isles on the PS
Waverley:
http://www.pswaverley.org.uk/

Although it was quite late in September, it was an absolutely glorious
day - rather too glorious for our expectations, we'd bought no
sun-block and by the end of the day my skin was raw and peeling. At
one point we went below decks to get some food in the restaurant.
While we were queuing, I noticed beads of sweat dripping off the staff
into the food, so we got some sandwiches at the next port instead!

On Sat, 14 Jan 2012 23:55:02 +0000 (GMT), "Dave Plowman (News)"
wrote:

Just why do you think it's pulled through into a clean stainless steel
bucket?
--
================================================== =======
Please always reply to ng as the email in this post's
header does not exist. Or use a contact address at:
http://www.macfh.co.uk/JavaJive/JavaJive.html
http://www.macfh.co.uk/Macfarlane/Macfarlane.html

In message , Martin
wrote

H&S rules OK?

It's probably H&S that dictates stainless steel buckets in a food and
drink premises - but not what it is used for!

A pint or two of beer left in bucket for a day is likely to turn into
something more like vinegar than beer. Return this to a cask and the
quality of what's in the cask will deteriorate rapidly.

I've been to pubs where all the beer (real ale) has been un-drinkable
but in the pub a mile along the road it was it in superb condition. Same
beer, delivered by the same dray and from the same batch. Sometimes a
short sighted approach to recycling does a business more harm than good.

If anyone is interested ... www.tap-room.com new online edition for
Jan/Feb. 3000 printed copies are distributed to pubs in the publication
area

--
Alan
news2009 {at} admac {dot} myzen {dot} co {dot} uk

In message , Martin
wrote

I've been served pints of cleaning fluid.

With some beers you cannot tell the difference

--
Alan
news2009 {at} admac {dot} myzen {dot} co {dot} uk

Martin wrote:

I've been served pints of cleaning fluid.

Years ago went into a local pub quite early in the evening. I think we
could have been the first people to ask for handpulled beer. Both pints
tasted very peculiar, and afterwards we had numbness in our mouths,
especially our tongues.

Bill