Beer Around the Garage and Workshop

If  you like to putter around, then you may be spending a good amount of time in the workshop and garage. Besides enjoying a beer when you’re putzing around, here are some ideas for using beer as a tool in your kit.

Flying Bug Catcher. If you like to work free of flying insect, then setting up a trap may be a solution for your workshop and garage. Many bugs are attracted to the smell of beer and you can construct a simple one-way in, noway out trap for flying insects. Punch holes in a metal-lidded jar or plastic lidded tub just large enough for winged insects to get inside. Pour beer into the container deep enough to drown the bugs and replace the lid. The insects will climb in and be unable to escape, creating a no-fly workshop zone for you.

Polish. Beer is an effective polish for metals and surfaces. Dampen a rag with beer and rub down the surface of choice. In some cases you may want to rinse the surface with clean water when you’re done. In other instances you don’t need to rinse the beer from the surface, for example if you are scrubbing garden pots. . Keep in mind that rinsing will help keep critters away from the finished project as well as keep it from being sticky to the touch. The residual sugars in beers will be attractive to our small multi-legged friends so rinse them completely if you’re not interested in making new friends.

Soaking. Do you have an old coffee can or catch-all containers of assorted screws, nuts, bolts and washers? Beer can help dissolve or soften the rust if you want to salvage those priceless project parts. The acidity of the average beer  will help eat away at rust that has developed on metal parts and pieces. If the beer you’re using is still carbonated, thee CO2 will assist in the release of the rusty particles. Pour beer into a watertight container, place the pieces in the beer and set your timer for an hour. Stirring or shaking the pot a few times during their bath will help agitate the parts and get beer into more nooks and crannies to do its work.

All who love great beer know this sensation. It might be the 99th trip to a favorite neighborhood beer bar or the first visit at a brewpub discovered while on vacation. It is the instant a brewer hopes for when the inspiration and hard work finds its way from the brewhouse to the pint glass. We know it from the first sip. It’s the beer world’s equivalent of baseball’s perfect game.

Sadly, we also know the feeling of the moment that misses the mark. When the experience is just not what it could have been, not what we remember from the past. It is a promise unfulfilled. And just like the difference between the perfect game and a one hitter, there are a number of little things that can go wrong that are hard to detect until it is too late. The one pitch that hangs in the strike zone or the outfielder playing one step too far from the foul line, and a memorable experience becomes something less than perfect.

Who decides whether or not we have that perfect pint? Let’s call them the Beertender.

Assuming that the brewer has done their job and the distributor handles the product properly and gets the beer delivered fresh, there is no reason why each and every pint of beer should not be perfect. To deliver on the promise requires a dedicated Beertender who worries about everything from temperature in the cooler to the glassware to the knowledge of the staff. Part art, part science and part vaudeville. A great glass of beer does not just happen. Each step along the way helps determine whether you will be smiling the moment that first sip crosses your lips.

In recognition of All About Beer Magazine’s 25th Anniversary, we set out to find the most important factors in a perfect pint. After all, this magazine exists for beer lovers and there is nothing a beer lover loves more than a great draught beer. In talking with Beertenders around the country, we learned what goes into making sure your next pint is your best beer.

1. System Design: What you don’t see really does matter. Yes, the bartender might have a cute smile and there may be tons of interesting breweriana hanging from the rafters, but you have come to find the perfect pint. What’s behind the wall where the tap knobs beckon is more important than you can imagine. A good draught system is critical. One key element that can get ignored is the beer lines. Lines from the cooler to the tap should be short and chilled. “Beer lines need to be refrigerated. All of our lines are no more than nine feet long, which is about a pint or a little more,” says Josh Judy, beverage manager and Beertender at The Flying Saucer in Charlotte, NC, which has 82 taps.

2. Walk-in Coolers: The best draught emporiums have two or more separate coolers to allow beers and ales to be served at their optimum temperature. At Wynkoop Brewing, an always-busy brewpub in Denver, CO, bar manager Scott Stengaard has the Beertender responsibilities for a line up of 10-14 different house brews. He maintains two cooler temperatures: one in the upper 30s for most of the beers and a second at between 43-45 degrees for IPA and ESB that are hand-pumped through a beer engine.

3. Gas Mixture: Most beers are served using carbon dioxide. Some use a mixture of carbon dioxide and nitrogen. Making sure that the gas mixtures are correct and at the right pressure is critical to proper draught beer service. At Monk’s Café in Philadelphia owner and Beertender Tom Peters runs beers and ales off of three different gas mixtures: straight carbon dioxide, a 75 percent nitrogen and 25 percent carbon dioxide “Guinness mix” and a 30 percent nitrogen and 70 percent carbon dioxide mix. “The right gas mixture and the amount of contact the beer has with the gas is critical to the flavor of the beer,” Peters says.