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  • Flow Meters

    We have recently installed a beer monitoring system in our brewpub. It calculates the amount of beer poured with a flowmeter, and sends data in real time to a website that I can access from any computer. It communicates dierectly with the bars POS system, and gives me a variance between oz. poured and oz. sold. It helps with inventory control, and lets me know of waste, and comped beers, ect. In the first few months of using the system, it has brought my waste from 25% to under 10%, thus helping to increase our bottom line. If anyone would like to know more about this system, please feel free to contact me.

    tim@empirebrew.com
    Tim Butler

    Empire Brewing Co.
    Syracuse, NY

  • #2
    I never understood why anyone would want to use one of these systems on beer, distillates yes. So 25% of every keg was going down the drain? Sounds more like a bartender give away, pressure, temp problem. The obvious to me is too many free beers, if you can't trust your employees this is a band-aid. Just my 2 cents.
    Joel Halbleib
    Partner / Zymurgist
    Hive and Barrel Meadery
    6302 Old La Grange Rd
    Crestwood, KY
    www.hiveandbarrel.com

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    • #3
      The average loss of draft in the beer industry is 25%. This is a fact, not just a guess. I was operating under that percentage. After the system was installed, I did go under 10%. What was it due to? A number of variables that this system helped me get under control. Where did that 15% go? Into a glass across the bar. It increases our bottom line. Why WOULDN'T you want this system? We trust our staff, in fact every shift our bartenders are given a 25$ comp tab for goodwill. They have no reason to steal beer. I work too hard to just accept that 25% of my beer was being wasted. Once everyone was aware the system was in place they paid more attention to pouring a beer. We have all been to bars, and seen a bartender pour "foam" off the top of a pint and downt the drain, only then to fill it again with more beer. That "foam" is in fact beer and it is wasted. How about the one where the bartender opens the tap and lets it run for a second befor putting the pint under the tap, I have seen it a million times, and guess what, that is waste too. Hundreds of ounces a night can be wasted in this manner. Once these and other practices are under control, it helps save beer, and in the long run, a brewers precious time. The system also has a great many inventory control benefits as well, again, saving me time. I could get into this in greater deail, but I wont at this time. I have some beer to take care of!!!!
      Tim Butler

      Empire Brewing Co.
      Syracuse, NY

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      • #4
        I have a system that is very similar, although I have forgone the direct link to a pc. Every day the values are added to compare rings to ounces the meter reads. Our variance is typicaly 1 Percent a week. REvenues increased immediatly after installation and some bartenders left right after. We have been using these for 6 years now and love the technology.

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        • #5
          Just paying attention to the spill is a GREAT first step...we run close to zero at a lot of our locations. Remember, you can't manage what you don't measure. Nice work getting your number down from 25%!

          that's like a 10% increase in capacity too!!!

          Also, it's a fact....bartenders just don't care about your beer as much as you do. Bringing them into the converstation about loss is great....helps to avoid both the 'tip and spritz' and the 'Liberacci pour' (you know, watching the game as he / she pours beer down the drain).

          FYI locations where we taped a bike computer to the draft system had similar reductions in loss to locations where we actually installed meters.

          we don't use the meters anymore, we just compare inventory to sales every week.

          Thousands and thousands of dollars every year can be saved this way.

          cheers
          Larry Horwitz

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          • #6
            what did the bike computer do?

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            • #7
              Probably just looked like a flowmeter that 'could' get someone in trouble.

              Kinda like in my old field of instrumentation and control where you'd set up an operator interface screen with a button labelled 'do not touch'. All it would do would be to increment a counter. You'd be suprised the number of times it got pressed.

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