Pizza Today - June 2019 - 26

FRONT OF THE HOUSE

Walk the Lines
Beer draft system maintenance vital for beverage sales
S TORY ANNELISE KE LLY

P H OTO J O S H KE O WN

Pizzaandbeer has over
100,000 Instagram posts.
Must be a classic combo,

right?
Their dual appeal relies on more
than mere tradition or compatible
comfort-food allure. Beer's bitterness
and acidity offer a perfect foil for
fatty, creamy foods while standing up
to the acidic spark of tomato sauce,
and beer's effervescence helps cleanse
the palate with each sip.
Today's increasingly sophisticated
customers expect an intriguing variety of craft beers, and their standards
have never been higher. Pizzeria
operators are responding with bigger
selections, which means more taps
and more maintenance.
2 6 / P I Z Z AT O D AY. C O M / J U N E 2 0 1 9

A PROPER DRAFT SYSTEM CLEANING
AND MAINTENANCE PROGRAM IS ESSENTIAL TO ENSURE A FRESH AND DELICIOUS
PRODUCT. It's also a financial necessity

to protect equipment and prevent
wasting beer due to off flavors, foaming and other quality issues.
"We've evaluated the economics of
cleaning, proving that places which
clean regularly have more repeat
guests and do better business," says
Damon Scott, technical brewing
projects coordinator at the Brewers
Association, a trade organization for
small and independent craft brewers.
Craft brews are laced with living
yeast, carbohydrates, grain proteins,
hop resins and hundreds of organic
compounds. These components feed

yeast, mold and bacteria, while adhering
inside the lines, faucets and couplers which
deliver draft beer.
Routine cleaning prevents contaminants
from causing off flavors and jeopardizing
pouring. Organic contaminants include yeast
and mold on faucets, keg couplers and drains
that are exposed to air. Beer stone is a mineral deposit (calcium oxalate) which accumulates and flakes off, interfering with taste
as well as with pouring mechanisms. "If it's
not pouring properly, beer may be improperly carbonated or the wrong temperature,"
says Scott.
The greatest risk is from bacterial growth,
which, while not a health hazard, compromises taste and aroma. Sour, vinegary off
flavors come from acetic acid, a bacterial
byproduct. "There's also a common off flavor
caused by diacetyl, associated with dirty
lines. It tastes like butter or popcorn," says
Scott. "It's really detrimental, with a very
low flavor threshold. It doesn't take much to
dominate all the other flavors."
While trained, experienced tasters can
identify a bacterial infection, by the time
an infected line generates sufficient off
flavors for sensory detection it is difficult or
impossible to remove, so cleaning protocols
represent vital preventative measures.
REVIEW STATE AND LOCAL REGULATIONS WHEN
ESTABLISHING A CLEANING AND MAINTENANCE
PROGRAM. Recognize that regulations focus

on food safety, not quality, falling short of
what it takes to ensure optimal flavor and
freshness.
Operators can outsource cleaning responsibilities to a distributor, equipment supplier
or third-party cleaning vendor. Lenox-Martell, a Boston-based supplier of draft equipment, offers cleaning services. Steve Thomas,
draft operations manager, believes outside
vendors do a better job. "Most employees
don't understand the fittings and connections, and a typical bar owner won't train
them properly. We strip it all, take it apart,
put it together, check the washers. Another
advantage is we're in and out quickly, and we
have all the parts."
Jacob Passey, assistant director of brewing at Pinthouse Pizza with three locations
in Texas, says "responsible restaurant or bar

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Pizza Today - June 2019

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