New year, new habits: get your bar ready for 2025

Industry expert shares how to get your cellar sorted

“Customers buy their second beer based on the quality of their first”

International Draught Master Allan Stevenson is on a mission to make sure bars and restaurants serve the perfect pint. From keg coupler to the glass, Chemisphere’s Draught Quality Training Manager says the early-year lull is the perfect time to get your cellar sorted.

After Christmas and before Easter, bar teams need to lay the foundations for a prosperous 2025. But after decades in the industry, Allan says some breweries and management companies simply “hand the keys over and say good luck”, leaving the bar team to pick it up as they go along.

Luck shouldn’t come into it, and his courses at Chemisphere’s purpose-built academy show managers how they are missing out on better margins.

Here’s Allan’s new year hit list of things every venue needs to tackle.

Training

This time of year is perfect to invest in your team. Better knowledge of their role and how it increases customer satisfaction grows pride, aids career development and improves engagement.

It’s inexpensive and adds incredible value to your business. As your employees’ confidence increases, many will see it as more of a career rather than a ‘drop-in, drop-out’ job.

A better pint means customers stay longer so any training, from cellar maintenance to the perfect serve, will pay for itself in no time.

Why it matters

I meet plenty of bartenders serving poor pints who say, “I’m self-taught”, “no one ever complains” and “the regulars are used to it”.

But when you give someone a fresh, properly poured beer in a clean glass with no chips or scuffs and the brand logo facing them while smiling at them and talking, the difference in quality is like night and day.”

34% of people will go somewhere else based on the perception they get from a bad first glass or beer

bilab.co.uk

Top Tips

Ensure cellar cooling and beer cooler are left on (you wouldn’t turn your fridge off overnight).
Ensure gas is switched off every night.
Clean the beer lines every seven days.

53% will pay more if the quality of all the key elements is good

bilab.co.uk

Three-pint challenge

People buy with their eyes, so what their beer looks like, the feel, smell and taste of it are all crucial. That’s why I use the Three Pint Challenge when delivering training to bartenders.

Pour the first two badly, one with as little foam as possible and the other using the ‘disco dance’ and ‘milk the cow’ methods. This involves submerging the beer nozzle and producing too much foam which is then poured into the drip tray as wastage, releasing too much gas.

The third should be perfect, placed with the brand logo facing the customer and served with a smile. Ask the bartenders which of the three they’d prefer – 100% of the time they’ll go with the third pint as it looks the best and most appealing.

Cellar-savvy

Always make sure someone trained, competent and with common sense is managing your cellar.

Because they’ll be dealing with a potentially dangerous asphyxiant in an enclosed space, knowledge of gas safety, ventilation, gas monitoring and door access is vital.

It’s absolutely critical that your team knows what each bit of equipment does. That means understanding the different kinds of keg couplers and how to change a gas bottle.

If they’re trained to take pride in the cellar and the beer, the customers will notice the flavour and service and will keep returning.