Operating a bar is no easy feat. Not only are the hours long and the patrons sometimes a headache, a bar owner needs to be a good business man. Beer is not just fun, it’s business. It takes more than a love of beer and good times to run a successful bar. One of the staples of a profitable bar is draft beer. However, it’s easy to let those profits slip away one spill at a time. Fortunately, there are some ways to control the flow of beer and limit the amount you are losing.
Throwing Away Beer Is Throwing Away Money
Foam is a tricky, albeit important discussion to have when it comes to beer. You need an inch or so in your glass. The foam “head” looks good, releases delicious aromas, and keeps beer from spilling on the way to the table. It also boosts your profits, as foam is only 25 percent beer. The problem is that when a keg empties it is not fully empty, it still has foam in it. If the line continues drawing from the keg it will fill the lines and the subsequent beer glasses with foam. A line full of beer will have to be flushed before it can be used again. This will waste beer from the new keg, before it hits a consistency which can be served. This is beer which you could be selling.
Using A F.O.B. Detector
One of the keys is properly using a Foam On Beer (F.O.B.) Detector. FOBs can be used with C02 and mixed gas pressurized dispense systems making them available to almost all bar owners. The FOB is a device which tests the beer as it leaves the keg and enters the line. Once solid beer flow is exhausted it shuts off the keg. The foam is left outside the line and the solid beer is trapped in the line until the replacement keg is in place.
Once the new keg is tapped, it will temporarily become very foamy, the FOB will only allow solid beer into the line.
Improving Your Profits With F.O.B.’s
All “long draw draught” beer systems will improve your profits with foam control detectors. Most manufacturers estimate a FOB will pay for itself after 6 to 12 kegs, just by reducing the amount of beer lost through foam. Each keg has a certain amount of profitability, but that amount decreases with each spill, and each drop of beer which is thrown away.
If you need to keep a closer watch on your draft beer lines, check out our FOB systems. We offer the full spectrum of servicing beer lines, from installation to cleaning and maintenance. We have recently installed systems at the famous Cask n’ Flagon outside Fenway Park and the Bostonia Public House. At Clean Beer, in Milford, MA, we sell new and used beer line equipment, home kegerators, ornate and imported dispense towers, and much more. Clean Beer is the home of the clean beer line experts, contact us about your home or commercial tap needs.