Washing Beer Glasses

[zachjenny]

I'm on the verge of opening a brewpub and will be buying a seperate dishwasher for the bar to clean beer glasses. I originally decided to go the high temperature route for preserving beer head, but have recently heard of other places using low-temp(much cheaper) machines, just cutting back on chlorine based sanitizers to fix that problem.
Any opinions on pro's and con's of each dishwasher type?

Thanks,
Zach

[matt]

If you are going to the trouble to add a washer for glasses, I would recommend a "GLASS" washer, not a dish washer. They may cost up front, but worth it. They are small, have shorter cycles and do a good job.

I have not heard of low temp washer. I would think most health regulation would require about 65 degree C water. This also helps remove foam killing lipstick, oil, etc. I would also recommend using detergent without the anti-spotting agent which is not good for head retension.
Have extra racks for the washer, so while one rack is washing, one or two are getting filled with dirty glasses and one or two are cooling off after washing.

[zachjenny]

dishwasher

I guess I should clarify when I say "low temp" dishwasher, I mean a dishwasher that uses other sanitizing methods than heat. I guess it's the sanitizing method that sounds to be problematic with head retention in some brewpubs.

[JaxBrewer]

We are currently using the German made Spulboy at our brewpub. It is a manual dishwashing machine that goes in a three comparment sink. This machine is made specifically for washing beer glasses and does a fantastic job. I purchase ours through G.W. Kent and I believe they run about $175 a piece. Our of our bar glassware is cleaned using the Spulboy and we have no issues with beer clean glassware.

Here is a link to GW Kents website with the listing

http://breweryparts.com/category.asp?category_id=222&market_id=2

[bigdogbrewer]

Mechanical Glass washer

We use the rotating automatic glass washers which have hot side wash ~130 -140 deg F. and then an iodophore cold water rinse ~ 65 deg (ambient cold water temp) (http://www.glastender.com/glasswashers.htm). You put dirty glasses on one side and a tray rotates either clockwise or counter and the clean ones come out the other half.

Having been a barback and bartender, my belief is that a bartender should spend his/her time with the customers, not washing glasses. I've used the three compartment sink with manual brushes, automatic brushes and automatic glasswashers like above. You will sell more product if you are not bogged down with manually washing glasses.

No question, the automatic glasswasher will eliminate your need for a bar back/bus person on most nights. Yes, the automatic machines cost about $6000, but you will save this in less than a year in payroll and increased sales.

[zachjenny]

dishwasher

bigdogbrewer,
So would you say that the rack style(25 glass) dishwasher would be just as good if not more convenient than the carousel type?

[bigdogbrewer]

There are benefits and negatives to each type.

The rotary glass washers can handle more glasses per hour and the glasses are cool when they finish the sanitation cycle. They continually wash glasses so long as you are unloading and reloading the machine.

The rotary glass washers are top loading while the rack style are front loading.

The rotary glass washers are about twice as expensive as an undercounter rack style.

If you buy a rack style, just make sure it is a glass washer with a cold water chemical sanitization rinse like this one:
http://www.hobartcorp.com/hobartg6/pr/hobspecs.nsf/0/FAAE377241763FB285256C41006A0D4A/$file/F-8367(5-02).pdf

We have an undercounter Hobart dishwasher, not a glass washer, in the kitchen which we tried to wash glasses on initially, and after the 3-4 minute cycle, they are spotless, however even after a cold water (non sanitized) rinse, the glasses are hot to the touch when they come out and required 15 - 20 minutes to cool. The wash cycle is 180 deg. water on a non-chemical rinse machine.

Whichever you choose, you will be happy to not have wash glasses manually!