How Do Bars/Restaurants Clean Their Glassware?

elephantbear · August 30, 2013, 6:23pm

This question popped into my head after a recent post (linked below) on the r/homebrewing subreddit that did a side by side test of the affects of various cleaners (Ajax, star san, etc.) on head stability. Does anyone know how bars, brew pups, and the like go about cleaning glassware?

Link for the original post:

http://www.reddit.com/r/Homebrewing/com ... xperiment/

The imgur account is linked at the top of the post. It shows an interesting comparison of the effects of various cleaning methods on lacing and head retention.

tom_sawyer · August 30, 2013, 8:04pm

I think a lot of bars use a no-rinse cleaner/sanitizer, at least thats what I see used in the small sinks behind bars. Seems like Barkeepers Friend is one brand although I’m not certain of that.

jmck · August 31, 2013, 2:52am

My favorite bar has a 1-rack dishwasher under the bar which has a really short cycle time. It puts out a lot of steam, and I never noticed them put detergent in it, so I think it’s either a pressure/steam sterilizer or I just never looked close enough to see the cleanser go in. (The only time I see them use it is when I’ve been drinking :mrgreen: )

This place is very reputable, so I’m sure whatever they do is board of health compliant.

Their beers have good head retention and the glasses give good lacing.

abrown001 · August 31, 2013, 2:49pm

Three-basin sink, with dump/spray-rinse in the first, (sometimes they just dump it in the first)

http://www.amazon.com/Glass-Rinser-Asse ... ass+rinser

submerged brushes and foam-free detergent in the second,

http://www.amazon.com/Evriholder-SBR-Gl ... ng+station

no-rinse sanitizer in the third.

http://www.amazon.com/Clean-Rinse-Sanit ... +sanitizer

silentknyght · August 31, 2013, 4:09pm

[quote=“Elephantbear”]This question popped into my head after a recent post (linked below) on the r/homebrewing subreddit that did a side by side test of the affects of various cleaners (Ajax, star san, etc.) on head stability. Does anyone know how bars, brew pups, and the like go about cleaning glassware?

Link for the original post:

http://www.reddit.com/r/Homebrewing/com ... xperiment/

The imgur account is linked at the top of the post. It shows an interesting comparison of the effects of various cleaning methods on lacing and head retention.[/quote]

That is crazy. I’m going to do a side-by-side with my own clean (off the shelf glassware) and a similar one that I dunk in Starsan, first.

brewingdan · September 3, 2013, 3:31pm

My restaurants have always used a non foaming wash agent and finished with a non rinse sanitizer.

jaygtr · September 3, 2013, 4:36pm

[quote=“JMcK”]My favorite bar has a 1-rack dishwasher under the bar which has a really short cycle time. It puts out a lot of steam, and I never noticed them put detergent in it, so I think it’s either a pressure/steam sterilizer or I just never looked close enough to see the cleanser go in. (The only time I see them use it is when I’ve been drinking :mrgreen: )

This place is very reputable, so I’m sure whatever they do is board of health compliant.

Their beers have good head retention and the glasses give good lacing.[/quote]
Most of those systems have the detergent added in the water lines, partially to avoid people seeing what’s going on, but mostly to avoid having the bartenders having to add it in. It is dosed into the machine at measured amounts, to have the correct amount used - too much, is a waste of detergent and therefore money, too little and the glasses don’t get clean.
As far as I know, the system is a wet-down, then detergent wash, then high-heat rinse.
THis is the system used by most of the bars I go to.

wahoo · September 4, 2013, 12:05am

Don’t use bars (even top-notch beer bars) as your measuring stick. Bars deal with extremely high volume, and I can’t count the number of times I’ve been given glassware in a bar that is “dirty” by cicerone standards.

mullerbrau · September 4, 2013, 4:29pm

I sell the pumps that go into glass washers in bars and restaurants. These machines have about a 2 minute cycle time. Some are round conveyors, some are rack type washers. First they wash, rinse and finish by sanitize. The machines have to pass a couple tests before they can be approved for sale (NSF). They must pass a dried baked on buttermilk test and a lipstick test.

For the manual washers, they have 3 compartment sinks. Wash, rinse, sanitize and then air dry.

Myself, I go through a lot of glassware in my home bar. I put a dishwasher in the kegerator room and cleaned out the rinse aid compartment. The only thing I use is PBW in the dishwasher and a heat dry. The glasses sparkle like diamonds and the lace on an empty beer glass is very nice.