Public house question

[Surfer01]

If you go into a public house and order a lager type beer

and you are the first person to have that sort of beer of that day,

 

should the landlord pull the first pint and toss it in the drain as the beer will have been sitting in the tubes since the previous day?

 

Yesterday I was served the first beer out of the tap and took a couple of sips before I realised it was the beer and not my mouth.

 

It was not flat, but tasted a bit sharp and had no head.

 

Landlord was not bothered with replacing it so I had a Guinness instead.

 

However later on my stomach felt a bit upset and ended up with a lot of wind during the night and a loose stomach.

 

This was not caused by food at home which was fresh cold meats and salad.

Only had 2 Guinness so no over indulgence.

 

Surely LL has some obligation to serve a decent pint?

 

I am not after any compensation, but would like to give the LL a mouthful the next time we call at the pub.

[dx100uk]

it is typical for what you describe to be done a good while before opening.

 

i doubt that keg beer sitting in pipes overnight would cause that.

 

it sounds more like the pipes were cleaned with sterite by someone else then night before [a weekly if not better routine in a pub]

and not flushed through properly or enough.

 

what you describe is very much the kind of pint you would get.

 

or it could have been the glass, detergent will do the same.

 

not unusual, happens all the time in the trade, i certainly did it lots of times!!

 

i admit though, its strange the LL didn't just change the drink or refund you.

 

if it were me in my day, that would of been my MO.

 

might be an idea to have a quiet word.

 

most landlords are very accomodating.

 

dx

[LaughingGirl]

Yes, have to agree with DX...sounds like someone's done a rush job on flushing through the pipes after they've been cleaned, or possibly the dishwasher detergent could be the culprit.

 

Shame that the LL wasn't more accommodating...I think customer service is a bit of a dying art these days.

[morteee]

lager sitting in pipes overnight will not produce the symptoms you are describing here, if there were cleaning fluid still in the pipes you would DEFINITELY know about it as most have a purple dye in them now (Prosan plus for example), which you would definately have noticed and the clear ones (protonate etc) would leave you with a soapy feel in your mouth and a sore mouth to boot if there was a really poor flush through as its highly caustic

 

however

 

IF it were the beer's fault an iffy tummy etc would more likely be down to the lines not being cleaned enough so there is a build up of yeast in them

 

Beer lines should be cleaned every 7 days without fail and cask ale lines at the very minimum flushed through with water after every time a cask is changed AND cleaned once a week, you would be shocked at just how many pubs DON'T clean every 7 days without fail (I know, I work for a massive pub company and one of my jobs is to track the line cleaning reports of each pub and eugh!)

 

however I would look to another possible culprit, norovirus is very prevalent at this time of year and this year especially and is highly contagious, there are other tummy bugs out there as well and they can all be caught with something as simple as you using a door handle after someone who hasn't washed their hands then putting your fingers in your mouth for any reason or prepping/handling food without washing your hands after being "contaminated" it doesn't mean you aren't a clean person but how many time do we all lick a finger after handling money for instance?

 

luckily our immune systems are well adapted to cope with most basic things out there, it could be you just copped for something your system hasn't come across before

 

either way though for the landlord to not offer you a change of pint suggests to me that you need to find another local, one where your "host" looks after his customers better!

[Surfer01]

Thanks all. It was only a slight tummy issue so doubt if it was an virus. Went to pub yesterday and his wife was serving. Decent lager and enjoyable. Anyway Merry Xmas to all.

Edited December 25, 2012 by Surfer01

[MARTIN3030]

Most pubs will be happy to change a pint if you are not happy with it.

Lots of premium lagers and Guinness extra cold too,have under bar flash coolers now so the draw off comes from there.Unfortunately many staff are not given basic cellar management training these days,but a good experienced landlord knows the inns and outs.If it was flat it could have been a gas problem.