The increase in popularity of craft beers in recent years has resulted in draft beers accounting for a larger portion of sales for many bars. In addition to their popularity, there are several good reasons why serving draft beer is beneficial to your bar:
While this crucial task is important to maintaining sanitary conditions and improving the beer-drinking experience for your customers, cleaning your draft lines also results in an unwanted issue – it wastes a lot of beer. Cleaning your beer lines is a bit of a process:
In addition to the beer lost when you flush the lines, you typically waste a little more when you restart the system due to the amount of beer that needs to get pushed through the line before it will pour properly. This is one of the reasons why you typically experience more natural waste with draft beer products than with other items served at your bar.
The cost of this wasted beer can add up over time. Consider the following estimates:
To see how this wasted beer impacts your bottom line, let’s consider these cost estimates:
As we stated above, if you have a lot of draft beer lines, this will add up quickly:
BIOQTECH is a company that can help you minimize your draft beer waste. Their product utilizes BLM (beer line maintenance) technology to reduce the frequency of your line cleanings. This is accomplished by shooting sound wave impulses into your draft beer lines. These sound waves inhibit the growth of beer spoilage bacteria and mold on your draft lines. Inhibiting the growth of bacteria also prevents the development of biofilm in your tap lines, which can cause your beer to taste skunked.
These benefits are even greater for bars that have long draft beer lines and split lines. The numbers discussed earlier regarding the cost of draft beer waste are based on beer lines that are approximately 50 feet. If your lines are significantly longer or you use split lines, you’re most likely losing more money per line every time you clean your draft system. Therefore, the savings you’ll experience by reducing the frequency of your cleanings can be significantly greater than these estimates.
In addition to the money you’ll save by reducing the frequency of your line cleanings and minimizing the associated draft beer waste, the reduction in bacteria and biofilm will help your beer taste fresher, providing a better experience for your customers.
The BIOQTECH system requires power to run, but there is no other regular maintenance cost. Once you install the system, it runs in the background 24 hours a day. The electricity used to run this system is approximately 1 watt per line, which will be a minimal addition to your monthly overhead expenses. Keep in mind that while your line cleanings are being done every other month instead of every other week, you still need to clean the couplings and other parts of your draft beer system once a month. However, this process doesn’t involve draining the lines, so you won’t waste any beer.
The installation cost of the BIOQTECH product is $60 per line. After this, there are no ongoing monthly fees. As a result, it will take approximately one and a half years to break even based on the $40/year cost of draft beer waste when you have 50-foot lines. After that, you are saving money by minimizing the waste associated with your line cleanings.
If you carry expensive craft beers, it will reduce the time period it takes to break even with this service since you’re losing more money per line clean. Using longer lines or split lines will also reduce this break-even period.
At Bar-i, we strongly recommend this technology for our bar owners. We currently have two clients that are in the process of installing this system in their restaurants, and we should be able to provide you with more hands-on data regarding the effectiveness of this technology within the next few months.
If you’d like to learn more about how Bar-i can help you streamline your operations and maximize your profitability, please contact us today to schedule a free consultation. We serve bars and restaurants nationwide from our offices in Denver, CO.