Get your taps summer ready sets out the order to work through before the first hot weekend. This pre-summer cellar checklist is the version you print and carry into the cellar.
Work through it zone by zone. Each item has a pass condition, so it is either right or it is not. Anything that fails goes on the list for the pre-summer beer system service.
Check the cooling before the heat hits
- Cellar temperature checked in the afternoon, not the morning. Pass: holding steady at the target set for your system.
- Cellar temperature checked again with the door opening at summer frequency. Pass: recovers rather than drifting up through the shift.
- Cooling unit airflow clear, with nothing stacked against it. Pass: unobstructed on all sides.
- Condenser and vents free of dust. Pass: visibly clean.
- Python or trunk line insulation intact along the full run. Pass: no gaps, no crushed sections, no exposed line.
- Font cooling working on every tap. Pass: font cold to the hand before service.
Sort your gas and regulators early
- Cylinder stock on hand for a peak weekend. Pass: enough to cover your busiest trading period without a delivery.
- Short-notice delivery arrangement confirmed with your supplier. Pass: you know the lead time and it works for December.
- Cylinders secured and stored correctly. Pass: restrained, upright, in the designated area.
- Gas monitoring in place and calibration current. Pass: within the six-month calibration cycle and dated.
- Alarm audible outside the cellar. Pass: heard from the nearest work area.
- Regulators, gas boards and pressure settings inspected. Technician job. Pass: checked at the last service and no fault noted.
Inspect your lines and couplers
- Line clean interval current for your throughput. Pass: last clean on schedule, not overdue from winter.
- Line clean booked ahead of peak. Pass: date confirmed.
- Couplers seating cleanly on every keg. Pass: no hiss, no seep, no forcing.
- Spare gaskets and washers on hand. Pass: enough for a weekend without a callout.
- Line runs free of kinks and pinch points. Pass: no visible damage along the accessible run.
Keep taps and fonts pouring right
- Every tap pour tested, including the slow ones. Pass: clean pour with a correct head.
- Nozzles removed, soaked and refitted. Pass: done and dry before service.
- Tap handles and shanks secure. Pass: no movement, no drip.
- Drip trays draining. Pass: clear and free running.
Fix the glassware and pour standards
- Glass washer chemical dosing correct and rinse temperature right. Pass: glasses come out beer-clean, with no film and no clinging bubbles.
- Beer glasses washed separately from anything greasy. Pass: separate cycle in place.
- Glass stock adequate for peak covers. Pass: enough to trade through a rush without reusing warm glassware.
- Pour standard covered with every new starter. Pass: everyone rostered for summer has been shown.
Manage your stock and cellar rotation
- Tap list reviewed against the summer menu. Pass: every tap earns its place at summer throughput.
- Slow-moving lines identified. Pass: either promoted, swapped, or accepted with a shorter clean interval.
- Keg stock rotated by date. Pass: oldest forward.
- Keg storage in the cool room, not the corridor. Pass: nothing warming up before it is tapped.
Decide what your team can do and what needs a technician
The split matters, and it is where most cellar problems get worse rather than better.
Trained staff can pour, change a keg, wash and check glassware, run a temperature check, keep airflow clear, and spot and report a fault.
A trained duty manager can also handle keg rotation, coupler changes, nozzle cleaning, and beer line cleaning where they hold the right chemicals, PPE and training for it.
A technician handles everything else. Gas regulators, gas boards and pressure settings. Cooling systems and refrigeration. Line replacement. Monitoring calibration. Anything under pressure, and anything you would be guessing at. Those are safety, compliance and warranty jobs, not cost-saving ones.
Anything on this list that fails goes to your pre-summer beer system service booking. If several items fail in the same zone, that is the zone to raise first. Book the beer line cleaning and full system check while there is still a diary to book into.