Should every round come in a clean glass

Subject: Folklore: Should every round come in a clean glass
From: *#1 PEASANT*
Date: 01 Mar 10 - 07:52 AM

It really bothers me that often when I order a second or nth draught the overworked wait staff on behalf of a glutton for punishment dishwasher person brings me out a new frosted mug (yuck usually with a bit of old frozen dishwater in the bottom to dilute my already weak american beer...)

Is this some sort of important folk practice or could we cut the price by the labor saved and just use the same old glass or mug for each round or perhaps bring our own?

I don't like my beverage all that ice cold anyway.

Conrad

Subject: RE: Folklore: Should every round come in a clean glass
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 01 Mar 10 - 08:32 AM

In an English pub then unless the elves and safe teas are lurking or our masters in Brussels have spies in position, one will normally have one's glass (jug or mug) refilled with proper just below body temperature bitter (or mild). If one has a one-and-a-quarter pint tankard, sometimes one can get lucky with that, too.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Should every round come in a clean glass
From: glueman
Date: 01 Mar 10 - 08:52 AM

"If one has a one-and-a-quarter pint tankard, sometimes one can get lucky with that, too."

For similar reasons I always go for the pint glass option rather than the more popular half pint'er at beer festivals. Although the 1/2 is clearly marked the over-worked girls behind the bar never fail to give a larger measure and I've often had shorter pints in city boozers than a festival 'half'.

An old drinking buddy of mine thought it a national scandal the day H&S insisted pubs supply a fresh glass with each drink. He thought it took a few to 'warm the glass up'. Any other drinking folklore?

Subject: RE: Folklore: Should every round come in a clean glass
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 01 Mar 10 - 08:55 AM

The elf and safe tea issues come when the end of the dispenser goes below the level of the beer in the glass - In other words if the pipe that the beer comes out of is dipped in the beer. If you dispense into a used glass containing some bug or another then the same bug remains on the end of the dispenser you are risking transfering an infection - Say Rotovirus or Norovirus.

I don't know if I believe it could happen but that is what a landlord friend explained to me!

The older reason is that some of the more unscupulous landlords used to pour the contents of the drip trays back into the barrels! I don't think that can be done now but I distincly remember buckets labeled 'Mild' and 'Bitter' being used to empty the drip trays into. If they were not re-cycling the contents of the drip trays why did they bother using and labeling individual buckets?

One way you can get round both of course - Only drink bottled beer poured by yourself. But just think what you could be missing!

DeG

Subject: RE: Folklore: Should every round come in a clean glass
From: *#1 PEASANT*
Date: 01 Mar 10 - 09:03 AM

Bottled beer is simply never ever the same.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Should every round come in a clean glass
From: Dave MacKenzie
Date: 01 Mar 10 - 09:09 AM

Naa. I can't imagine draught Sammiclaus.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Should every round come in a clean g
From: Uncle_DaveO
Date: 01 Mar 10 - 09:23 AM

Glueman told us:

For similar reasons I always go for the pint glass option rather than the more popular half pint'er at beer festivals. Although the 1/2 is clearly marked the over-worked girls behind the bar never fail to give a larger measure and I've often had shorter pints in city boozers than a festival 'half'.

Am I missing something here?

Seems to me, re- and re-reading the above, you're trying to avoid getting a bit more beer for your money. You say that 1/2 pint in those circumstances usually comes out more like let's say 5/8 pint. Is that bad?

Dave Oesterreich

Subject: RE: Folklore: Should every round come in a clean glass
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 01 Mar 10 - 09:32 AM

Bottled beer is simply never ever the same.

Does that make it worse? Give me a bottle of Rodenbach above a pint of intercontinental fizzy draft urine any day:-)

How come this thread ended up below the line while the ones on beer mats, meat pies, wearing funny clothes and any number of other 'Folklore' threads stayed above anyway?

I have a self imposed rule to stay upstairs for a while. What am I supposed to do if the threads get moved?

DeG

Subject: RE: Folklore: Should every round come in a clean glass
From: artbrooks
Date: 01 Mar 10 - 09:43 AM

Try "this glass is dirty. Give me a fresh one." Also, "I asked for a non-frosted glass. Give me a fresh one". Works much better than bitching on an internet bulletin board.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Should every round come in a clean glass
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 01 Mar 10 - 10:07 AM

The UK regulations are not concerning norovirus but Hepatitis C. The nozzle of the pump does not need to be immersed in the beer to transfer germs, merely letting the nozzle contact the inside of the glass is sufficient. There is a requirement to issue a fresh glass with every pint of draught beer.
If you insist on having a glass that has 'warmed-up' or that is in your favourite style then don't hand it in when ordering your pint.
Transfer the pint from the 'fresh' glass to the one you're already using & hand the 'fresh' glass back for washing.
Simples?

Subject: RE: Folklore: Should every round come in a clean glass
From: Howard Jones
Date: 01 Mar 10 - 10:44 AM

Is this paranoia over transferred infection based on any actual evidence?

For absolutely no rational reason, I find being given a fresh glass each time intensely irritating. I can only imagine it offends my sense of proper pub practice.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Should every round come in a clean glass
From: Lonesome EJ
Date: 01 Mar 10 - 10:48 AM

What's next, #1 Peasant? "Should be beer that has already been drunk be collected, chilled, and re-served?"

Subject: RE: Folklore: Should every round come in a clean glass
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 01 Mar 10 - 11:03 AM

It already is EJ - They call it Budweiser...

Subject: RE: Folklore: Should every round come in a clean glass
From: artbrooks
Date: 01 Mar 10 - 11:27 AM

Nah...Bud Lite.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Should every round come in a clean glass
From: glueman
Date: 01 Mar 10 - 11:52 AM

Uncle DaveO, no complaints here! If you buy a half pint glass it won't hold any more, if you buy a pint glass with a line half way up the staff invariably* give you a bit extra rather than risk you moan that you've had short measures. The bug question is rarely an issue because real beer comes out of real barrels with a tap on the end, not sparklet pipes that go into the bottom of your glass.

*invariably when there's festival staff on - students, part-timers - gimlet-eyed landlords would rather drown themseves in the mash tun than give you a freebee-r.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Should every round come in a clean glass
From: Andy Jackson
Date: 01 Mar 10 - 12:22 PM

Isn't the chance of transferring an infection from the side of an empty glass in the same league as homeopathic medicine having a scientific proof?

Subject: RE: Should every round come in a clean glass
From: MikeL2
Date: 01 Mar 10 - 03:20 PM

hi D el G

In my time I have worked behind the bar in pubs and you are right about where the drip tray went.


At the pubs I worked at it usually only went back into the mild.

So you were safer with the bitter......but I always drunk mild....it was cheaper.

Cheers

MikeL2

Subject: RE: Should every round come in a clean glass
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 01 Mar 10 - 04:27 PM

But more often that not a half pint costs a little bit more than half the price of a pint, so it probabaly balances out.

Subject: RE: Should every round come in a clean glass
From: Bert
Date: 01 Mar 10 - 10:49 PM

Beer should ALWAYS be served in a clean glass. Unless you like filthy glasses.

Subject: RE: Should every round come in a clean glass
From: MikeL2
Date: 02 Mar 10 - 10:37 AM

hi bert

It is all a matter of taste ( no pun meant).

But having worked behind the bar in pubs I always hang on to my glass and have it refilled.

That way I have only one chance in catching something unpleasant rather than several.

Cheers

MikeL2

Subject: RE: Should every round come in a clean glass
From: Dave MacKenzie
Date: 02 Mar 10 - 11:09 AM

I always like to have clean glasses - easier to see what the barman's up to! Boom! Boom!

Subject: RE: Should every round come in a clean glass
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 02 Mar 10 - 01:56 PM

from the first post: "my already weak american beer"

why don't you move to kansas city and drink Boulevard?

I hear you can get it in St Louis, now, should you prefer southern hospitality.

Subject: RE: Should every round come in a clean glass
From: Dave MacKenzie
Date: 02 Mar 10 - 04:29 PM

I remember an American Christmas beer at 22% a couple of years ago.

Subject: RE: Should every round come in a clean glass
From: *#1 PEASANT*
Date: 02 Mar 10 - 07:53 PM

dont think those should be classified as beer

Subject: RE: Should every round come in a clean glass
From: Joe_F
Date: 02 Mar 10 - 07:58 PM

Surely a 22% beer would have to be fortified! Or perhaps we Americans have bred an industrial-strength yeast?

In my undergraduate days in California (1950s) we used, on special occasions, to afford a wonderfully strong brew from Australia called Ballarat Ale. I think it was 13% alcohol. It seems to be extinct, tho Google reveals that brewing is still done in Ballarat.

ObTopic: In the American bars of my limited experience, the bartender may thank you for bringing your empty back to the bar, but will not refill it; you always get a fresh glass.

Subject: RE: Should every round come in a clean glass
From: Dave MacKenzie
Date: 02 Mar 10 - 08:13 PM

I believe yeast stops working at 13.5%, which is why Hurlimanns started brewing Sammiclaus at 14% (to prove it could be done). Several American craft breweries keep pushing the boundaries, though I think that the Scottish Brewdog's Tactical Nuclear Penguin (32%) is the curreent record holder.

Subject: RE: Should every round come in a clean glass
From: Uncle_DaveO
Date: 03 Mar 10 - 06:06 PM

I remember, many years ago, traveling in northern Germany and stopping at some gasthaus for lunch and a bit of liquid, seeing on the menu what they claimed was Die Strengste Bier Die Welt, "The strongest beer in the world." 17 percent!

I have no idea whether it was fortified to that level or whether their process was something special that forced a higher alcohol level, or a special strain of yeast.

I wasn't all that much of a bier aficionado (how do you say that in German?) at that time, so I don't have any recollection about the flavor. Nor do I have any real recollection of the kick from the one serving I drank. After all, that was about fifty-five years ago.

Dave Oesterreich

Subject: RE: Should every round come in a clean glass
From: Dave MacKenzie
Date: 03 Mar 10 - 07:35 PM

I'd say that somehow the brewery had fooled the yeast into working over 13.5%

Subject: RE: Should every round come in a clean glass
From: *#1 PEASANT*
Date: 03 Mar 10 - 08:12 PM

How much alcohol before the beer starts to melt the plastic cup. Ouzo will do it.

Dont care much for high alcohol beers as one starts tasting the alcohol rather than the beer at some point.

Subject: RE: Should every round come in a clean glass
From: Dave MacKenzie
Date: 03 Mar 10 - 08:16 PM

The high alcohol beers I've sampled have all been well below the point where the alcohol starts drowning out the other tastes, and that goes up to 22% - bit like a port.

Subject: RE: Should every round come in a clean glass
From: *#1 PEASANT*
Date: 03 Mar 10 - 09:45 PM

there are ways to work with the flavor to make it work but few actually achieve this

Subject: RE: Should every round come in a clean glass
From: Young Buchan
Date: 05 Jun 10 - 08:01 PM

"An old drinking buddy of mine thought it a national scandal the day H&S insisted pubs supply a fresh glass with each drink. He thought it took a few to 'warm the glass up'."

As a callow youth in East Anglia, it was the practice of many of the older men not merely to warm the glass up, but the beer too. They bought a pint, kept it in their hand to warm it up, until they had drunk half, then took it back to the bar and asked for half to be put in on top, so that the lower level would take some of the chill off the new in-pouring. As to changing the glass ...

Subject: RE: Should every round come in a clean glass
From: Joe_F
Date: 05 Jun 10 - 10:55 PM

I recall hearing of pubs where the regulars had personal mugs that waited for them on their perennial hooks. Surely, they must have been refilled.

Perhaps that is now against the law. I have never seen it in America, at any rate.

Subject: RE: Should every round come in a clean glass
From: Bert
Date: 06 Jun 10 - 03:19 PM

I you like reusing your glass and are in America then you just buy a jug and refill it yourself. It's cheaper as well.

Subject: RE: Should every round come in a clean glass
From: Rusty Dobro
Date: 06 Jun 10 - 04:28 PM

All this talk about refilling glasses is all very well, but emptying 'em is the real skill. Time I put in some practice!