Introduction

 What is not acceptable to the customer

Dirty Glasses

What to look for:

Take a moist white serviette and wipe the inside of a supposedly clean pint glass. If there is a brown residue showing then there is a protein build up on the glass. Alternatively, turn a pint glass upside down and look at the outer ring of the base. The poor results will be magnified and shown up as a brown ‘halo’.

If there is a film of bubbles on the inside of a lager glass then it is a sure sign that the glass is not clean. The bubbles will only stick to an impurity.

Glasswasher:

Wild yeast: Look for a beige or even black film or deposit (build up of growing yeast cells) around the door and door hinges. If this exists then it will transfer to all of the glasses and give poor results

Cures:

1. Leave the machine door open overnight. This will allow the bacteria and algae to dry out and then usually it dies. The machine should then be easier to clean.
2. If the results are only slightly poor then it is possible to solve the problem by increasing the detergent dosage manually.
3. If the results are very poor then it will be necessary to use a strong chlorinated powder detergent to resolve the problem. This is a specially formulated product designed to RENOVATE glasses back to a satisfactory condition. It will also sterilise the inside of the glasswasher cabinet.
4. Always ensure that the detergent container never runs dry. Dosing failure results in protein build up which is difficult to remove and ‘RENOVATE’ may have to be used.
5. Check that the glasses are not coming out too hot. If they are then this will bake a film on the glass, so call an engineer to rectify the problem.

Flat Beer/Poor Head Retention

There are two main types of problem, which are made worse if the lager is also low in CO2, or if the glass surface is very smooth. This can be the case with toughened glassware, gas bubbles form more easily from a roughened surface.

The head is killed by chemicals on the glass from excessive amounts of rinse aid and detergent or fats from coffee cups or from customer’s lips when they have been eating peanuts or crisps etc.

The head is not regenerated from the rising gases due to either the glass being too smooth or there is a film on the glass. The head of the beer will be acceptable when it is first poured but it is not maintained by effervescence (bubbles continually released).

Cures:

1. Ensure that Elmwood Rinse aid is used
2. Ensure that Elmwood Rinse aid is not over dosing
3. Ensure that the rinse water pressure is sufficient and consistent

Spots and Streaks / Glasses not drying out

As the glasses are taken from the glasswasher they will appear with a "raindrop on the windowpane" appearance and the water is not ‘sheeting off’ of the glass. This can be caused by:

Oil film on the glass, possibly from drying with a tea towel, which has been washed in fabric conditioner.

Beer or protein film on the glass

A high level of salts in the water, which are not removed by the water softener.

Cloudy Glasses

Water quality throughout the UK is no longer consistent. In many cases sites, which have had good results, can suddenly experience a cloud or bloom appearing on their glasses. This effect is quite different to a protein film and is not brown when wiped with a white serviette. It is caused by minerals, which are totally dissolved in the water drying on the glass i.e. put a clean glass into the glasswasher, and it comes out cloudy.

The cure is expensive and requires the fitting of one or two demineralising cartridges they are about £600 each