Is it possible to water dowwn beer at the bar?

[williamp]

Your best bet is to stop drinking awful Belgian Beer and start drinking proper British Ale...

[moleamol]

Marshy said:

Which pub is selling the "strong" stuff then?

I'd say the only place in my town where Kronenbourg tastes like Kronenbourg is the Wetherspoons. All yummy pints from there

>> Edited by moleamol on Thursday 21st August 12:32

[chrisgr31]

elms said:

The rumour surrounding my local is that their (sick making) Calsberg is bought cheap as it is past its sell by date? Is this feasible

Don't know. However a very large chain buys short date beer, ie beer that is approaching its sell by date, therefore gets it cheap, and can sell it cheap. I wonder how much of it goes out of date before it is all sold though!

[Fatboy]

chrisgr31 said:

elms said: The rumour surrounding my local is that their (sick making) Calsberg is bought cheap as it is past its sell by date? Is this feasible Don't know. However a very large chain buys short date beer, ie beer that is approaching its sell by date, therefore gets it cheap, and can sell it cheap. I wonder how much of it goes out of date before it is all sold though!

If it's the chain I'm thinking of, they shift so much of it, so fast, that they never usually get less than a day closer to the use by date (big deliveries every day - used to be a drayman as a summer job)

[Fatboy]

williamp said:

Your best bet is to stop drinking awful Belgian Beer and start drinking proper British Ale...

Can't sorry, I don't have a beard

[dontlift]

raceboy said:

So I take it your not interested then

In what?

[williamp]

Fatboy said:

chrisgr31 said: elms said: The rumour surrounding my local is that their (sick making) Calsberg is bought cheap as it is past its sell by date? Is this feasible Don't know. However a very large chain buys short date beer, ie beer that is approaching its sell by date, therefore gets it cheap, and can sell it cheap. I wonder how much of it goes out of date before it is all sold though! If it's the chain I'm thinking of, they shift so much of it, so fast, that they never usually get less than a day closer to the use by date (big deliveries every day - used to be a drayman as a summer job)

Oh come on, lets be honest: its Wetherspoons. And why not do it???

The Beer is bought cheap, and is sold cheap- good
The Beert would othersise be destroyed, but is now drank- good
The buyer gets an interesting and varied choice of beers

But yes, often the Beers can go off- Thursday seems to be a bad day to drink in Maidstone, because they get a big delivery for the weekend in but dont put the beers on until friday.

The weekend gives an excellent selection of Beer, though

[Incorrigible]

simpo two said:

Hydrometer to measure specific gravity? Or aren't they accurate enough?

That measures the specific gravity before fermentation IIRC

[FourWheelDrift]

elms said:

The rumour surrounding my local is that their (sick making) Calsberg is bought cheap as it is past its sell by date? Is this feasible

The taste might also have something to do with not cleaning out their pipes properly.

[TheGreatSoprendo]

Incorrigible said:

Although some of the "creamy head" varieties use nitrogen

Indeed, and isn't it the nitrogen that gives you a cracking headache the next morning when drinking the likes of Caffrey's? Which is a shame cos I quite like the stuff

[andyvdg]

Incorrigible said:

simpo two said: Hydrometer to measure specific gravity? Or aren't they accurate enough? That measures the specific gravity before fermentation IIRC

In other words it's near enough water when you drink it!

[joust]

danger mouse said:

then accidentally nearly hop into bed with one of my male mates!* * the guy had stolen my usual bed. I was carried there by the "Stella-fuelled Beer train". Force of habit, not desire, believe me!

Come on DM....

Beer doesn't change your sexuality - merely "enhances" it

Welcome to the club mate

[michaels]

[joust]

thanuk said:

I'm not sure how watering-down would be possible. Beer comes in pressurised barrels so you can't just pour some out and pour some water in. The water would have to be mixed with the beer by the tap (similar to the way Coke syrup is mixed I guess). I can't imagine those pubs owned by large companies would install taps that illegally watered-down beer.

It's actually very easy.

Take one keg connector
Take one funnel
Untwist keg connector's pipe tightening ring
Pull off both pipes (gas in, beer out)
Push funnel into beer out hole
Take one barrel
Turn off gas
Unconnect keg connector
Twist in connector
Gas comes out empty "gas in" connector
Water / slops / whatever goes in funnel.
Disconnect modified keg connector
Reconnect real one
Turn on gas
Keg repressurised
Done.

And don't ask how I know

J

[moomin]

Spotted: Danger Mouse talking to man painting house in Melbourn at lunchtime

Edited after learning how to type.

>> Edited by moomin on Thursday 21st August 14:01

[simpo two]

Incorrigible said:

That measures the specific gravity before fermentation IIRC

Let's be devils and bung it in *after* fermentatioin then!!! (Next week - perpetual motion....)

[peetbee]

A pub I used to work at would just stick Fosters on tap when the Stella ran out, normally everyone would have had a pint or two of Stella before this happened so I don't think anyone noticed.

You always had the odd customer who would say 'get it from the other tap please it tastes better' trouble is they used to run both taps off one barrel (lagers, bitters, guiness etc) so the only difference was the last few feet of pipe!

[joust]

peetbee said:

You always had the odd customer who would say 'get it from the other tap please it tastes better' trouble is they used to run both taps off one barrel (lagers, bitters, guiness etc) so the only difference was the last few feet of pipe!

Ah - but did you only clean the pipes once every day? Pipes *should* be cleaned with water every day, and chemicals once every 7, but no-one I've ever seen does the once a day water flush cause it's a real pain and wastes the amount of liquid in the pipes....

J

[ATG]

My sister used to be a trading standards officer and she did pub checks for a while. Few complaints and in they'd go ... and guess what? If the beer tastes watery, it usually is. Water, trays from under the taps all back in the barrel. Not hard to measure the booze content. Even easier thing for the landlord to dilute is the spirits.

[johno]

joust said:

[quote=peetbee][quote] Ah - but did you only clean the pipes once every day? Pipes *should* be cleaned with water every day, and chemicals once every 7, but no-one I've ever seen does the once a day water flush cause it's a real pain and wastes the amount of liquid in the pipes.... J

With todays line cleaners and pastuerised beers there is no necessity to wash the lines with water every day.

A clean every 7 days is adequate, the problems occur when this is not done.

I have been in more pub cellars than most people and until the Environmental Agency, Food Standards Agency etc ... make them treat the area as a food preparation area you will continue to have cellars with all sorts of stuff in them that shouldn't be there.

People seem to believe that because beer is in a metal barrel these days that other stuff doesn't effect it. It's nonsense.

I want go into how many cellars I've been in with dog shit in them ! This is a common problem.

As for watering down beer, increasingly uncommon with competitive pricing in the market place, but it easy enough to do.

Don't even bother with all the additional pipework. Just get a keg key and when you're half way down the barrel, open it up, top it up with water, drip tray contents and reseal. Caryy on serving, if its too bad, then send it back to the brewery as ullage (bad beer) ...