Hibernating and Awakening Your Draft System
Whether you are looking to hibernate your draft system or you want to bring it back to life, no worries, we’ve got you covered. Below is a step-by-step process on how to hibernate your draft system and under that you can find your checklist for bringing your draft system back to life.
Your Draft System
If things have been slowing down due to shutdowns and you can no longer fully utilize your draft system for a few weeks, we suggest taking these important steps below. These steps will ensure that your draft system stays healthy and will be ready to use once you are up and running as normal. Whether you have a self-pour beverage wall or a traditional bar setup, if you hibernate your draft system, your establishment will avoid any unforeseen repairs once your doors open and you’ll be ready to start pouring again. Below we breakdown each step:
1. Call your draft cleaning company to schedule your regular cleaning before shutdown.
In case your cleaning provider is unavailable in the coming days, your draft system can go two weeks in between cleanings. While waiting for your cleaning provider, you can leave your system as is. Once the cleaning company arrives, ask that they do not leave any fluid or cleaner in the system.
3. Turn off gas directly from the source.
This is a safety precaution in case there is an undetected gas leak.
4. Keep the beer storage on at a temperature of 36-38°C.
When storing your beer at a cooler temperature, it will age at a much faster rate. The flavor of the beer will be ruined and the beer will lose its bubbles. Storing your beer in warm coolers can cause extensive mold growth.
5. If your system includes a glycol power pack, we advise you to first discuss options with a draft technician.
If there is any water left in the lines, the glycol power pack temperature should be increased to 40 °F. If the lines are empty and cleaned out, the whole system can be turned off.
6. Clean and dry the interior of the cooler.
And, make sure to clean the floors, wall and kegs to prevent any future growth of mold.
Your Draft System
If you were forced to temporarily hibernate your draft system and now you’re getting ready to reopen again, we have created a simple-to-follow checklist for bringing your draft system back to life.
Download our easy-to-follow checklist here!
What will you get in our checklist?
This checklist will have your draft system back in action and serving guests in no time! It will tell you of what you need to take care of and how:
- What to do with gas
- Temperature in your cooler
- What to do if your system includes a glycol power pack
- And other tips!
Don’t worry, we break each step down in the checklist to make it as easy as possible for you to follow.
We suggest that you print out our checklist and grab a pen. Start checking off each step as it is completed. If you are also looking for help creating your Post-COVID strategy, check out our list of 49 Tips when Reopening in the Post-Pandemic World.
Soon, your draft system will be up and running and you’ll be serving customers again. Cheers to that!
