A more profitable pour, Part II: evaluating your bar's glassware.

Three club managers each have identical draft beer dispensing systems, offer the same mix of brands of draft beer, and each has their system properly cleaned on a regular basis. They pay the same price for the kegs they buy and they charge the same amount for each 16-ounce serving of draft beer. Given all these similarities, why does one club continue to generate 10 percent more gross profit from the draft dispensing system than the other two clubs?

The answer lies in the glassware that they use to serve the beer to members and guests, and the size of the head on the beer. Changing the style of the glassware that is used can increase or decrease the number of glasses of beer that get dispensed from each keg by as much as 24 glasses per keg. These extra glasses of beer from the keg could be generating significant dollars for your club. If you charge $4.00 per glass and you generate an additional 15 glasses per keg, that's $60 extra per keg. If you sell 5 kegs a week, that's an extra $300 per week, which can be over $15,000 per year just by having the right glassware in your establishment. Changing the size of the head on the beer from 1/2" to 3/4" can increase the yield by 8 glasses, and improve gross profits by more than $8,000 per year. Changing to a one-inch head can increase the keg yield by 17 glasses, which in our example would add an additional $68 of cost per keg.

While all 16-ounce glasses will hold a full 16 ounces of liquid, the difference that is responsible for generating the additional profits is the shape of the glassware and the size of the head on the beer. A glass with a wide brim has more area available to hold the foam head. With more foam, you have less beer in the glass, and so the yield from the keg is greater, and in turn the profits are higher.

In order to see the amount of beer you are not putting into a glass with a 1/2" head, try this simple test. Take the glass you normally use for beer and fill it with water, and leave enough space at the top to replicate the space taken by a 1/2" head of foam. Place a coaster over the top of the glass, and place your hand over the coaster to hold it in place while you turn the glass upside down. Now look at the amount of space in the glass that doesn't have any water in it. That is the amount of beer you are not putting into each glass of draft beer that you serve. If you have different styles of glassware available, try this with each one and compare the results to determine which glass you want to use in your club.

Another key element to maximizing profits from your draft beer is to have a solid beer-friendly glass program in place. A dirty glass will make a beer look unappealing, and will turn people off from ordering an additional glass of their favorite brew. You wouldn't serve a meal on a dirty plate, so why would you serve a beer in a dirty glass?

How can you tell if your glasses are clean or dirty? There are some simple tests you can perform to determine whether or not your glasses are beer friendly. The first is to look at the beer in the glass after it has been poured. Do you see any bubbles adhering to the glass? If there are bubbles clinging to the inside of the glass, then that part of the glass is dirty. Another way is to look at the foam head. Does the head immediately collapse or does it stay intact? If the head collapses quickly, you have dirty glasses. Another test is to watch the glass as the customer drinks the beer. Is there a lacing effect of the foam on the side of the glass? If yes, then your glasses are beer friendly.

If you want to check the cleanliness of the glassware without pouring any beer, simply pour some clear soft drink into the glass without any ice. It should look like a glass of water, and if it doesn't then your glasses aren't beer friendly. A final test would be to rinse the inside of the glass with cold water, and then sprinkle salt inside the glass. The salt should stick to the inside of the glass; any bare spots indicate that the glass is not beer friendly. Some additional questions you should ask about your cleaning program for your glassware are: Do you wash the glasses everyday? Do you wash them by hand? Do you use a non-animal fat/petroleum-based cleaner? If you answer yes, you are well on the way to a beer friendly glass.

If the above describes what a dirty glass looks like, what is the process for ensuring that the glass is beer friendly? The bar should have a three- or preferably four-sink setup. The fourth sink should be a dump sink for emptying the leftover contents of the glasses. The first sink should have cleaning brushes, warm water, and a low sudsing, non-animal fat or petroleum-based cleaning detergent. Make certain that the cleaning brushes are clean and free of any residues or food particles. Be sure to clean the brushes at least every two weeks by sprinkling salt on them and rinsing with warm water. The glass should be dipped into the solution butt end down, dumped, and then placed on the cleaning brushes and scrubbed several times.

The next sink, the rinse sink, should be cold, clear running water. The glass should be dipped fully into the water, butt down at least three times before moving to the final sink. The last sink should be filled with warm water and should also contain a sanitizer. The glass should be dipped fully into the sink butt down and the contents emptied back into the tank. The glassware should then be placed upside down on a corrugated surface and allowed to air dry. After air drying you could use a glass chiller to cool the glassware to the temperature of the beer.

If you use frozen glasses, ice crystals will form on the inside of the glass that will contribute to excess foaming. In addition, frozen glassware may contain residue from the sanitizer, which will create off tastes and aromas in the beer. Whenever John Wayne walked into a saloon in one of his Westerns, you always saw the bartender behind the bar shining the glassware with a bar towel. While this might seem like a bright idea, it really isn't as good of an idea as you might think. The lint on that towel will often come off, stick to the glassware, and end up in the beer.

The Perfect Pour

To pour the perfect glass of beer, start with a clean glass and rinse the inside of that glass with cold water. Some brewers do recommend a dry glass, so check with your beer salesperson to confirm what is best for the beers you are pouring. Hold the glass under the faucet at a 45-degree angle, but don't touch the glass to the faucet. Snap the faucet open using two fingers held at the base of the faucet handle. Allow the beer to fill the glass to approximately 3/4" full and then turn the glass upright to complete the fill and to create the head on the glass. Snap the faucet closed using two or three fingers at the base of the faucet handle. Holding the faucet handle at the top will only lead to broken faucets, costly repairs, and lost sales while the faucet is off-line.

If you don't have any head on your beer, you are overpouring the glass, which reduces profits. In addition, no foam could indicate other problems, such as the beer being too cold or flat. Both are symptoms that you have a problem with your system; fortunately, those problems can be easily remedied.

One final question: How many ounces are in the pint glass you are using? Check it out the next time you are calculating how much beer you are pouring into the glassware. The answer might surprise you.

Editor's Note: In our October 2006 issue the author analyzed the differences in profitability between various draft beer systems. This time around, we take a look at the use of glassware and its impact on the bar's bottom line.

Richard Banks is the national accounts manager for Micro Matic and can be reached at 800-435-6950 or [e-mail].