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Supplementary
Arising from questions asked at a meeting of the Health Committee,
investigations were made into the question of beer spillage and the
following is a report based on a survey of eight public houses in the
Borough.
The practice of re-using "spillage" arising from overfill of beer glasses
or from "first drawing" on new barrels has been followed in nearly all
public houses since the introduction of the beer pump. With clean and
frequently sterilised pipes, spillage trays and filters there is little objection
to this practice on hygienic grounds, but the recharging of used glasses
with the consequent "washing" of the glass into the spillage is a practice
which cannot be regarded as satisfactory.
The following factors are said to influence the methods and practices
normally followed in this trade:—
1. Excise duty is paid by the brewers on the volume of beer manufactured
from a known quantity of malted grain, and stocks and costings
in retail premises are based on the quantity of beer delivered thereto.
Duty is not refunded on overspill beer caused when filling customers'
glasses, although an arrangement of this kind would be beneficial from
a hygienic point of view as it would prevent this beer being returned to
the cask for sale.
2. Where beers are returnable to the brewers for re-processing, an
allowance of about 10s. for nine gallons is made. This represents less
than the initial cost of the liquid to the licensee.
3. All licensees endeavour—for economic reasons and because the
filtering of beer is a duty which they wish to keep to a minimum—to
keep spillage as low as possible and they claim that an experienced and
skilled barman will keep it as low as 2% or even less. However, it has
been necessary in this trade, as in many others, to employ persons of
lesser skill and sometimes the amount of spillage may rise as high as 20%.
4. The estimated amount of spillage beer passing back into the "fresh"
beer is generally between 5% and 10%.
5. Some brewers are stated to recommend the tipping of bottle bottoms
into mild beer spillage for filtering and passage back into this type of
beer on the grounds that this improves the head on the beer, but most
licensees do not follow this practice.
6. Tests have proved that beer, when it reaches the consumer, usually
has an extremely low bacterial count and pathogenic organisms are
generally absent. Beer being slightly acid (it usually has a pH value of
approximately 6) is not a suitable medium for the growth of the types
of bacteria which are associated with food poisoning.
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