---
title: "Pub Cellar Management Checklist"
canonical: "https://peakscaleops.com/checklists/pub-cellar-checklist/"
---

> Source: https://peakscaleops.com/checklists/pub-cellar-checklist/

[Checklists](/checklists/) / [Bar & Pub](/checklists/bars-pubs/) / Cellar, Kegs & Gas

# Bar & Pub Cellar, Keg & Gas Checklist

A Bar & Pub cellar checklist controls four things: **temperature from keg to glass, keg and cask age, gas supply and cellar safety, and the hygiene of everything the beer touches on its way out**. These 8 checks cover all four with a three-times-daily temperature log, and each is backed by published evidence - the Brewers Association's 34–38°F (1–3°C) keg-to-glass standard, Cask Marque's 11–13°C (52–55°F) cellar band, and its finding that one in four pubs had a major temperature issue in a single year. Cellar temperature is not the same as serve temperature, which is why the checklist makes you probe the pint, not the room.

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

The checklist · 8 checks

### Temperature from keg to glass

**1\. Write down the cellar and keg cold store temperature at opening, mid-shift, and closing.** Beer held at the wrong temperature pours cloudy, foams at the tap, and tastes flat. That is the fastest way to lose a regular draught customer.

**2\. Check that the python (trunk line) cooler and its pump are running, and that the line is cold at the font.** A cold cellar with a broken python still serves a warm pint. The last few metres of line decide if you win or lose the sale.

**3\. Before service starts, check the temperature of the first pour on each line against its serving target.** Serving temperature is what the customer actually tastes. One degree off can mean a returned pint.

### Kegs, casks and gas

**4\. Check tap-on dates against your sell-through window, and take off anything past it** A keg left on gas too long pours slow and flat. Every pint from it is worse than what the brewer made.

**5\. Read and log the gas cylinder contents or pressure. Change cylinders before service starts, never during it.** Running out of gas at your busiest time stops every draught line at once. It also causes foam in the first pints after you change the cylinder.

**6\. Before you enter the cellar, check the ventilation is running and the CO2 alarm reads clear.** CO2 has no smell and collects near the floor. A leaking cellar can hurt someone before it costs you any money.

### Cellar hygiene and line condition

**7\. Clean and sanitise keg couplers, cask taps, spears, and the cellar floor and drains.** The coupler is the first thing beer touches after it leaves the keg. A dirty coupler can dirty a freshly cleaned line again within days.

**8\. Write down when each beer line was installed. Put its replacement date in your diary.** Old tubing holds bacteria (biofilm) that survives even a strong clean (caustic). You cannot scrub your way out of an old line.

## Frequently asked questions

**What temperature should a beer cellar be?**

For kegged beer, the Brewers Association standard is that beer travelling from keg to glass is maintained at 34–38°F (about 1–3°C); for cask ale, Cask Marque's cellar standard is 11–13°C (52–55°F). When it is actually served, the targets differ again: cask ale 11–13°C (52–55°F), lager and keg 5–8°C (41–46°F), and extra cold 1–4°C (34–39°F), all with a leeway of ±1°C. Getting this wrong is common and expensive - Cask Marque reported one in four pubs with a major temperature issue in the year covered, and 6% of all pints served too warm, equating to 208 million pub pints annually.

**How long can a keg stay on tap?**

Cask Marque's guidance is that kegs should sell within 5 days, so anything past your own sell-through window comes off rather than being poured slowly to regulars. The mechanism that breaks this is carrying more brands than you can turn over: Cask Marque's 2016 reporting states that pubs on average overstock by 5 brands per pub, which leaves slow lines standing between cleans. That matters because a Journal of the Institute of Brewing survey of 237 keg beers from 57 pubs and bars found 65% had picked up some kind of bacteria damage (microbiological) from being poured - damage done in the cellar and the line, not the brewery.

**How often do beer lines need replacing, not just cleaning?**

Track the installation age of every line, because cleaning stops working as tubing ages. Miller, Buckingham-Meyer and Goeres measured the bacteria layer (biofilm) at 5.6 Log10 CFU/cm² on new vinyl tubing compared with 6.6 Log10 CFU/cm² on tubing aged to simulate five years of use; cleaning with a strong alkaline (caustic) solution cut living bacteria below 2.75 Log10 CFU/cm², but the bacteria layer on the aged tubing grew back to 3.6 Log10 CFU/cm² within 24 hours. Nearly ten times as much (a full order of magnitude) regrowth in a single day means old line needs either a shorter cleaning cycle or replacement - it is not a scrubbing problem.

## More Bar & Pub checklists

[Goods-In: Kegs, Spirits & Bar Deliveries](/checklists/bar-delivery-checklist/)[Beer Line Cleaning Cycle](/checklists/beer-line-cleaning-checklist/)[Opening & Responsible Service](/checklists/bar-opening-checklist/)[Glassware, Ice & Bar Hygiene](/checklists/bar-glassware-ice-machine-cleaning-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)