Beer Forum

It's official, no more tap beer at the bar, unless it is a brew pub or tap room.
I went to a local bar last night for a buddy's birthday and to watch the Twins shit the bed...again, and decided to get a Summit Extra Pale Ale. It tasted like crap. Normally it is delicious. I switched to a Boston Lager and it still tasted funky. I think the beers lines were nasty, and I asked the bartender. I used to work there years ago and I know him pretty well. He says the lines are flushed once a month. He also said he had been serving alot of the Summit and the Sam.
Anybody else ever run into this? It makes me wonder how many tap beers I have had in the past, that I never really had a chance to really taste.
I ended up going with Bell's Two Hearted for the rest of the evening, bottled, of course.

I had a Sam Adams Noble Pils at a restaurant we go to frequently that was a little sour. Not horrible, but definately not Noble Pils that I love. I mentioned it to the waiter who said he would tell the bar manager, but I doubt that happened. Every other time I'd been there has been fine.

I was at TGI Fridays the other night because had a gift certificate. Was happy because they had brown sugga on tap. After one sip I could tell it tasted like crap. I don't think they had cleaned there lines and faucet in a long time.

beltbuckle wrote:I was at TGI Fridays the other night because had a gift certificate. Was happy because they had brown sugga on tap. After one sip I could tell it tasted like crap. I don't think they had cleaned there lines and faucet in a long time.

Brown Shugga at a TGI Fridays? I could only dream of such a thing here...

MNHazmat wrote:

beltbuckle wrote:I was at TGI Fridays the other night because had a gift certificate. Was happy because they had brown sugga on tap. After one sip I could tell it tasted like crap. I don't think they had cleaned there lines and faucet in a long time.

Brown Shugga at a TGI Fridays? I could only dream of such a thing here...

Not sure where you are, but Summit is pretty extrordinary, here.
"I dont like dark beer", is all I ever hear. I think to myself that they dont like beer, at all. I can tell by the Coors Light in their hand.

I'm far from an expert on beer lines but I've been around enough to know most bars/restaurants are too cheap to properly clean their lines on a regular basis. Most will run hot water through them once a month for a few minutes and that is about it. They don't want the lines down for more then a few minutes and will rarely if ever allow a service to come in unless they have a major issue.