---
title: "Bar Glassware & Ice Machine Checklist"
canonical: "https://peakscaleops.com/checklists/bar-glassware-ice-machine-cleaning-checklist/"
---

> Source: https://peakscaleops.com/checklists/bar-glassware-ice-machine-cleaning-checklist/

[Checklists](/checklists/) / [Bar & Pub](/checklists/bars-pubs/) / Glassware, Ice & Bar Hygiene

# Bar & Pub Glassware, Ice Machine & Hygiene Checklist

Glassware and ice are the two things in a Bar & Pub that touch every drink and get checked least - so this checklist **verifies the glasswasher's temperature and sanitiser strength, runs a beer-clean test on the glasses themselves, and controls the ice machine, well and scoop**. All 9 checks are backed by published evidence: FDA Food Code warewashing limits, Cask Marque's finding that 40% of glassware is dirty, and a Journal of Water and Health study that found coliform bacteria (a sign of contamination) in 51.4% of ice samples while the source water had no E. coli at all and coliform bacteria in only 12.4%. If the head collapses on a perfect pint, this is the page to work through.

[Run this checklist - free](/run/bars-pubs/?list=glass-ice) [Download PDF](/checklists/pdf/peakscale-bars-pubs-checklists.pdf)[Download Excel](/checklists/excel/peakscale-bars-pubs-checklists.xlsx)

The checklist · 9 checks

### The glasswasher itself

**1\. Check wash and rinse temperatures for your machine's type. Hot-water mechanical rinse: 82°C (180°F). Stationary-rack single-temperature: 74°C (165°F). Chemical-sanitising spray-type wash: at least 49°C (120°F).** A machine that does not reach the right temperature just moves warm, dirty water around. It spreads film onto glasses instead of removing it.

**2\. Test sanitiser strength with strips. Chlorine: 50–100 ppm. Iodine: 12.5–25 ppm. Quats: follow the maker's instructions.** Sanitiser at the wrong strength either does nothing or spoils the taste of the next drink. Test strips cost only pennies a day.

**3\. Change the wash water. Clean the filters, jets, seals, and racks. Descale the machine on schedule.** The glasswasher itself is often the source of the film you are trying to wash off.

### Beer-clean glass

**4\. Run a beer-clean test (sheeting, salt, or lacing) on a sample of glasses each shift.** The film that ruins the head on a beer is invisible until you test for it. Testing is the only way to find it before a customer does.

**5\. Keep beer glasses separate from glasses used for dairy, cream, cocktails, or food, and from their racks.** Fat left on a glass ruins the head on a beer. One milkshake glass in the beer rack can spoil the whole wash cycle.

**6\. Air-dry glasses upside down on a slatted or louvred surface. Do not polish beer glasses with a cloth.** A cloth puts fat and fibres straight back onto a glass you have just cleaned.

### Ice and bar surfaces

**7\. Keep the ice scoop in its holder outside the bin. Keep the machine lid closed. Do not store or chill anything in the ice.** The water supply is almost always clean. Dirty ice is almost always caused by handling or the machine, both of which you control.

**8\. Empty, drain, and sanitise ice wells every night. Deep-clean the ice machine on the maker's schedule.** Mould and biofilm inside the machine are much harder to kill than dirt on the surface. A scheduled deep clean is the only real fix.

**9\. Sanitise bar tops, soda guns and holsters, speed rails, pourers, and bottle necks. Check the handwashing sink has hot water, soap, and towels.** Surface sanitising and handwashing are the two checks that inspected venues fail most. Both happen within arm's reach of the drink.

## Frequently asked questions

**What temperature should a bar glasswasher run at?**

Under the FDA Food Code as adopted in Ohio Administrative Code 3717-1-04.4, a hot-water sanitising rinse must reach 180°F (82°C) for mechanical machines and 165°F (74°C) for stationary-rack single-temperature machines; manual immersion sanitising runs at 171°F (77°C) or above, with no 194°F ceiling - the 194°F (90°C) maximum applies to the mechanical machine's hot-water sanitising rinse, not to manual immersion. Chemical-sanitising spray-type machines need a wash solution of at least 120°F (49°C), with sanitiser at chlorine 25–100+ ppm depending on pH, iodine 12.5–25 ppm, or quats per the manufacturer's spec in water of 500 ppm hardness or less. Verify it daily with a thermometer and test strips, because FDA's national risk-factor data (2003 data, published 2004) found 'surfaces/utensils cleaned/sanitized' out of compliance in 42.5% of full-service restaurants.

**Why won't the beer hold a head in my glasses?**

Almost always an invisible fat or detergent film, not the beer. Cask Marque reports that 40% of glassware is dirty, carrying a film coating that prevents proper head formation, and its 2016 reporting found 33% of glassware and 35% of glasswashers dirty - meaning the washer is often the source rather than the cure. The fixes are mechanical: keep beer glassware away from dairy-, cream- and food-soiled racks, air-dry inverted on a slatted surface instead of polishing beer glasses with a cloth, and run a sheeting or lacing test on a sample of glasses every shift so you find the film before a customer does.

**How often should a bar ice machine be deep cleaned?**

NSF/ANSI 12 requires cleaning at a frequency specified by the manufacturer - typically 2 to 4 times per year - or at whatever frequency is necessary to preclude accumulation of soil or mould, and Listeria can be around 1,000 times harder to eliminate once it sits inside a biofilm (a sticky layer of bacteria). The daily controls matter just as much: in 105 ice samples from food establishments including 20 bars, the Journal of Water and Health found coliform bacteria in 51.4% and E. coli in 6.7%, while machine and chest surfaces carried coliform bacteria on 67.6% and E. coli on 21.9%. The source water had no E. coli at all, so the contamination is being introduced at the machine, the bin and the scoop.

## More Bar & Pub checklists

[Goods-In: Kegs, Spirits & Bar Deliveries](/checklists/bar-delivery-checklist/)[Cellar, Kegs & Gas](/checklists/pub-cellar-checklist/)[Beer Line Cleaning Cycle](/checklists/beer-line-cleaning-checklist/)[Opening & Responsible Service](/checklists/bar-opening-checklist/)[Closing - Cash, Stock & Pour Cost](/checklists/bar-closing-checklist/)[Weekly Checks](/checklists/bar-weekly-checklist/)

One free app has all of them: [open the Bar & Pub Checklists app](/run/bars-pubs/) - offline, no account, add it to your home screen.

## Sources

Every statistic on this page comes from public inspection and food-safety data:

-   [Journal of the Institute of Brewing & Distilling, 'Draught beer hygiene: a survey of on-trade quality'](https://s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/brewers/PKAlZEHR7aGm3MYzsc5A-draught-beer-hygiene-a-survey-of-on-trade-quality-pdf)
-   [Cask Marque Beer Quality Report 2017](https://cask-marque.co.uk/quality-report/)
-   [Brewers Association, Draught Beer Quality Manual](https://f.hubspotusercontent40.net/hubfs/6632597/PDFs/Draft-Beer-Quality-Manual.pdf)
-   [Cask Marque, 'Beer quality issues'](https://cask-marque.co.uk/beer-quality-issues/)
-   [Chartered Trading Standards Institute, 'Over two thirds of UK beer and wine is short measured'](https://www.tradingstandards.uk/news-policy-campaigns/news-room/2024/over-two-thirds-of-uk-beer-and-wine-is-short-measured/)
-   [Cask Marque, 'Scores on the Cellar Doors' launch, citing Quality Report 2016](https://cask-marque.co.uk/cask-marque-launches-scores-cellar-doors/)
-   [ACFE, Occupational Fraud 2024: A Report to the Nations](https://www.anchin.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/2024-ACFE-Occupational-Fraud-Report.pdf)
-   [Toomey et al., 'Can Obviously Intoxicated Patrons Still Easily Buy Alcohol at On-Premise Establishments?'](https://experts.umn.edu/en/publications/can-obviously-intoxicated-patrons-still-easily-buy-alcohol-at-on-/)
-   [Toomey et al., 'Alcohol sales to pseudo-intoxicated bar patrons', Public Health Reports](https://scispace.com/pdf/alcohol-sales-to-pseudo-intoxicated-bar-patrons-41guui6gpf.pdf)
-   [NHTSA, Countermeasures That Work - Alcohol Vendor Compliance Checks](https://www.nhtsa.gov/book/countermeasures-that-work/alcohol-impaired-driving/countermeasures/enforcement/alcohol-vendor)
-   [Ohio Administrative Code 3717-1-04.4](https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-administrative-code/rule-3717-1-04.4)
-   [FDA Report on the Occurrence of Foodborne Illness Risk Factors](https://www.fda.gov/media/157223/download)
-   [Journal of Water and Health](https://iwaponline.com/jwh/article/15/3/410/28453/Microbiological-quality-of-ice-and-ice-machines)
-   [Food Safety Magazine, 'The Sanitation of Ice-Making Equipment', citing NSF/ANSI 12-2012](https://www.food-safety.com/articles/4343-the-sanitation-of-ice-making-equipment)
-   [Miller, Buckingham-Meyer & Goeres, 'Simulated aging of draught beer line tubing increases biofilm contamination'](https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4593278)
-   [Brewers Association, 'Economics of Draught Quality' November Power Hour Q&A](https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/brewersassoc/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Economics-of-Draught-Quality_QA.pdf)
-   [British Guild of Beer Writers, analysis of Food Standards Agency FHRS data](https://www.beerguild.co.uk/news/average-food-hygiene-rating-for-pubs-bars-and-clubs-revealed-across-the-uk-as-more-than-92-score)