Your Beer Lines are Clean? Prove It!

I recently had pints at the now well known Pony Bar in Hell's Kitchen in NYC. This bar is successful because of owner Dan Mcloughlin's passion for great beer and his vigilance in preserving the brewer's intent. His passion is infectious and the staff at Pony Bar also take great care when serving pints.

As many of us know, the final packaging of a draught beer actually happens when the beer is poured into the glass at the bar and there are many bad things that can happen to the beer before it even gets to the glass: hot storage, bad stock rotation, slow selling draught, dirty glassware, and most commonly, dirty draught lines.

Industry standards like the Draught Quality Manual (www.druaghtquality.org) recommend that that retailers clean draught lines every two weeks and many do. Many more don't this often and it is terrible for the beer, the customers, and retailer profits.

Dan at Pony bar has jumped way out in front of his competition in NYC by simply placing a sign behind his bar that states when and by whom his lines were cleaned. This is genius and I wish more bars did it.

I challenge all retailers who sell draught to let their patrons know when they've cleaned their lines last and proudly state that they are serving beer in the best condition possible.

If people like Dan at Pony bar, take care of our beer until it reaches our lips, we'll all benefit from it!

Warmest Regards,
Finest Beers,
Deepest Thanks,

Samuel Merritt
President, Civilization of Beer
Certified Cicerone TM.
www.civilizationofbeer.com
www.theponybar.com