Perfect pint glass: Washing beer glasses with a commercial glass washer
7 December 2020 -
Glass washer: how to improve the washing
of beer glasses
Do you want a perfect pint glass ? Well, washing beer glasses is not an easy job, especially when it is not done by hand, but through a commercial glass washer.
If you want a good beer, one of the first indicators to focus on is the beer head (or beer foam), which must be of a certain height and lasts for a long time. For this to happen, it is essential that the glass into which the beer will be poured is perfectly clean, without any visible or invisible stains.
How to tell if a glass is not clean?
The most classic case is the presence of stains visible to the naked eye on the glass.
If, once the beer has been poured, bubbles form on the inner surface of the glass, this means that the glass is dirty or at least not very clean, because the carbonic acid present in the beer itself causes the dirt to adhere to the glass.
Another clue is the lack of horizontal rings left by the head foam every time the customer takes a sip of beer. If these rings do not appear, it means that the head foam does not cling to the glass as it should.
Washing beer glasses is therefore an operation that has a direct impact on the quality of the beer itself, not to mention the health problems caused by poor hygiene. The possible presence of stains or halos resulting from detergent, rinse aid or any other type of dirt causes a double damage:
- an increase in the customers’ perception of a lack of cleanliness and care, resulting in a worsening of the business’ reputation and popularity
- a change in the beer’s taste, which is clearly an unacceptable situation for all lovers of good beer.
It is therefore essential to have professional washing equipment which can guarantee total safety, removing even the smallest impurity, stain or halo, providing a perfectly washed, clean and safe glass.
Maintaining a high image is thus essential for any bar, restaurant, pizzeria or brewery. Customers go to a bar mainly for two reasons: for the quality of the products offered and for cleanliness. A dirty glass is immediately detectable and the risk that the bar will suffer the consequences is very high.
Between the tapping of beer and the cleaning of its glass there is a close relationship, and master brewers in their constant search for ‘the perfect pint’ know this well.
There is in fact a real procedure that indicates the shape of the glass, the tapping angle, when and how to serve the beer and how best to clean the glass.
The care of the glass, which must always be cool, dry and clean, is therefore crucial to get a perfect pint glass.
The importance of cleaning beer glass for a perfect pint glass
The cleanliness of beer glasses is so important that one of the most important brewers’ organizations, perhaps the most important, the Brewers Association, has written the Draught Beer Quality Manual, a manual on how to tell whether a beer glass is clean or not.
A business has two systems for washing beer glasses: through a commercial glass washer or by hand, but the second choice would involve an excessively long process:
Each beer glass would have to be immersed in very hot water to which a sanitizing product would be added. Then, one glass at a time, it would have to be cleaned with a sponge and detergent containing neither oil nor grease.
Clearly no business could wash glasses by hand, which is why choosing the right commercial glass washer specifically for the foodservice industry becomes a strategic choice. A glass washer must have the following features:
- ease of operation
- can be installed under the counter
- fast washing cycles
- small size
- high washing versatility
- low water and energy consumption
- high washing performance even in extreme conditions
- high sanitation
- high performance in removing stains, haloes and various deposits
The range of commercial glass washers with these specifications can be found by clicking here.
What are the advantages of using a commercial glass washer for washing beer glasses?
The first major advantage is that a glass washer uses much less water than hand washing, and water is too precious a resource to be wasted.
In some traditional breweries, hand washing is still used, but due to high costs, less and less rinse water is being replaced, with the result that beer glasses remain greasy.
The second motivation is productivity a commercial glass washing system has a much higher washing capacity than a manual glass washing, and is able to optimize the washing and sanitizing time for a very large number of glasses.
The third reason is full hygiene. The correct temperature of the water combined with powerful water jets and the use of detergent and rinse aid in the correct quantities ensure that the beer glasses are completely clean and hygienic.
What factors influence the washing of the glass washer?
There are essentially 3 factors that can influence the washing quality of a professional dishwasher:
- Water quality
An important factor is the quality of the water during the washing process. If the water has not been properly treated for washing, it leaves halos and limescale deposits on the glass, even after an intensive washing cycle. To prevent this, combining the dishwasher with a water treatment module, such as a water softener or reverse osmosis system, can be the appropriate solution.
- Position of beer glasses in the glasswasher basket
Once the beer glasses have been placed in the basket, care should be taken to ensure that the water jets, sprayed by the washing arms, do not knock the glasses against each other during washing. This prevents slight damage or even breakage of the glasses. For example, the soft-start feature included in the UNICA glass washer and dishwasher range reduces the initial start-up of the washing pump with a gradual increase in intensity.
- Appropriate temperatures
Delicate glasses should be washed in the glasswasher at a temperature between 55°C and a maximum of 63°C, and at about 80°C in the rinse cycle, if possible only with the dedicated programme. At higher temperatures, glasses may be damaged. It is also recommended to use a specific detergent for washing glasses and to take out the basket immediately after the end of the cycle and not to leave it inside the dishwasher’s washing chamber.
There are several types of commercial glasswashers, all equipped with a peristaltic dosing pump as standard: the Jet Series glass washers, for those who need a small, simple and practical unit. The Alpha family, consisting of simple yet elegant glasswashers. The Unica range, technological excellence with soft-start for maximum care of glasses and glassware. The UnicaP 40 and 50 models, the fresh water glass washers that achieve the highest standards of hygiene, performance and safety. And theA Series, the range of dishwashers with integrated softener that removes limescale from the water.
To find out more about which type of glasswasher would be best suited to your business to get the perfect pint glass, contact us and we will be happy to provide you with the necessary advice.
Sistema Project Italia staff