Provided you aren’t standing there for ages waiting to get served, standing at a bar and choosing from a row of taps is usually a pretty pleasant experience.
The trouble is that it’s all too easy to get a pint that doesn’t exactly taste great, and the general assumption is that the barrel needs replacing or the lines need cleaning.
But, as it turns out, there might be another reason why your pint is erring a little too close to funky town.
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A bar manager from Santa Monica in California has revealed why he would never order “draught beer at a dive bar”, although it’s worth noting that standards in the UK may differ – hopefully for the better.
The bar manager in question, Daniel Yeom, told the Huffington Post that you can’t ever know when the draught system was last cleaned. It’s those pesky dirty lines, after all.
"It can be really nasty in there with fruit flies and gunk," he explained.
It’s worth bearing in mind if you’re ever in a pub that doesn’t exactly scream ‘hygiene’ as you walk in. There are certainly some dingey ones about.
Yeom didn’t stop there, however, and went on to share why just about all of your favourite drinks are a risk in less-savoury establishments.
“Never order a glass of wine, or anything other than a gin and tonic, whiskey and Coke, or a beer in a bottle at a dive bar,” he urged.
“I don’t know how long that wine’s been open, and the chances of whatever bottle has been sitting behind the bar making me happy is pretty close to zero.”
To be fair, if a bottle of wine has been open for too long, you’ll notice it’s off pretty quickly. In that case, you’re more than entitled to ask your bartender to replace it with something from a fresh bottle.
Elsewhere, other bartenders have shared more drinks that could be less than delicious on a busy night.
Jack Tynan, a brewery worker from Brooklyn, added: “I wouldn’t get a Guinness at a busy dive bar, because it takes about a week to 10 days to pour the dang thing.
“I’ll sit in a nice quiet pub and get a Guinness because they’ll take the time and do it right.”
That one’s more about courtesy than dodgy flavours, of course, although a poorly-poured Guinness is hardly a rarity.
For other bartenders, cocktails are the bane of their lives on a busy night.
Lauren Lenihan, a bar worker from New York City, said that Long Island Ice Teas are particularly egregious.
“I personally don’t mind making them, but there are a TON of bartenders that refuse to make them, let alone drink them,” she said.
Topics: Alcohol, UK Food, US Food, Restaurants and bars
Rachael Davis