6 minute read
BAR AND CELLAR: KEEPING IT COOL
Keeping it cool
Publicans share how they keep drinks cool as the temperatures climb. By Caoimhe Hanrahan-Lawrence.
WITH A hot and dry El Niño summer on the way, keeping drinks cold and refreshing is going to be even more important for Australian operators. Serving appropriately chilled beverages is a key part of providing a positive customer experience, and managing energy costs and maintaining cooling systems are important considerations for operators.
Frosty serves
Sales of beer, soft drinks, and white wine reliably increase over the summer trading period. The February 2023 Consumer Pulse Report from CGA by NIQ indicated that last summer, customers identified the most important attributes of a drink as “ice cold” and “refreshing.” Beer is an important part of the offering at newly opened Brisbane venue, the Brook Hotel, as operations manager Lance Burrows explained.
“We have an open-format venue that is relatively consistent with its offerings between the new public bar, sports bar and beer garden. The beer system is run on standard CO2, in line with best practice. We feel keeping things simple is best, right down to serving beer out of a chilled glass,” said Burrows.
According to The Pub Group owner Craig Power, chilled glassware is an important step in the serving process at his venues.
“We have always had chilled glassware for our beers. This assists greatly in creating a better customer experience,” Power commented.
While ice cold beer is almost synonymous with Australian summer, requests for chilled drinks are coming from unexpected categories. Chilled red wines are on the radar for Rowena Pulido, licensee of the Red Cow Hotel, located in western Sydney.
“The Red Cow has not gained any request for chilled red wine yet, although it is becoming more popular in our city venues, The Office Hotel and Haymarket Hotel. I know this category is growing in the industry every year and may soon reach the Nepean district,” Pulido commented.
In addition, Pulido and her team rotate stock in the fridges to ensure that the coldest drinks are always the first served.
Reliable refrigeration
Power utilises a wide range of cooling systems across his venues. The combined use of refrigerated cool rooms, glycol systems at the bar, ice chests, and fridges gives the venues flexibility and ensures that a large number of drinks can be kept at the optimum temperature.
Regular cooling system maintenance ensures that systems are working to optimum efficiency and lowers the likelihood of any inopportune mechanical failures.
“Consistent maintenance with service agreements in place allow our appliances to be in best condition to handle the increased temperature and trade for summer,” Power advised.
The Brook Hotel uses glycol beer reticulation in its cool room, which houses all the venue’s beer pumps. Burrows explained that the cool room is equipped to send comprehensive temperature reports, allowing staff to monitor the cool room efficiency regardless of where they are in the venue.
“Being a new venue, we had the opportunity to put a lot of thought into the layout to keep the flow seamless and efficient during service, as well as plan for a large room to keep all the beer under temperature to ensure it’s of the highest quality when served to patrons,” said Burrows.
Without an automatic monitoring system, Pulido ensures that regular manual checks are performed to ensure the cool rooms are functioning at the correct temperature and the glycol levels are correct. Too much glycol can reduce the system’s efficiency, and too little glycol can cause expensive freeze-ups or result in an accumulation of microorganisms.
While glycol chilling systems are a common method of keeping beer lines cool, smaller venues with less than six taps may benefit from an ice bank chiller. These fixtures have the benefit of versatility, as they can also be used to cool wine and other drinks.
One concern that operators have during the hotter months is the increased cost of refrigeration. Power has also seen the impact of alternate energy sources and energy-efficient appliances.
“The addition of solar panels and smart energy efficient appliances have been a handy addition to our businesses,” he said.
Even small actions are important in reducing costs during the hotter months.
“Simple practices like keeping cool room doors closed and fridge seals replaced help control cost,” Power added.
Of course, as the oldest method of cooling, ice still plays an important role in the operation of many venues.
“Ice is a major factor for all drinks other than beer. We increase our ice machines capacity during the hot summer months and order extra storage to hold bagged ice for when our machines can’t meet the demand,” Power said.
At the Red Cow, Pulido uses ice to mitigate how often the fridges need to be opened.
“We ice up popular drinks to save the fridges opening all the time. Promotional RTD cans or stubbies are served in promotional ice buckets, so they stay nice, cold, and crisp,” she explained.
There is a wide range of cooling and refrigeration options available to operators, and many venues using different combination of systems. Each venue’s needs are unique when it comes to keeping drinks cools, but luckily there is flexibility and diversity in the options available.
Cooling down in extreme heat
In the Western Australian town of Marble Bar, 45-degree days are the norm in summer. Of course, ice cold beer is a necessity at the local Iron Clad Hotel, but unlike other venues, summer is the pub’s quiet period, owner Thomas Fox explained.
“Over summer, it gets very quiet and very hot!” Fox said.
While the majority of beers are stocked in the cool room, the Iron Clad Hotel no longer has beers on tap. Instead, the most popular beers are kept in two 150 litre ice coolers, which are regularly replenished with ice to keep the beers cool.
“A lot of our beer is sold take away, which comes from the cool room, but nothing beats an ice cold beer when having one over the bar,” Fox said.
