The Keg Changeover and Menu Sync Checklist

Stage one: set the cellar up before doors

• Name the handles likely to blow todayCheck level or weight on every keg that has been pouring more than a few days. Good looks like two or three tap numbers on the whiteboard so a bartender knows what to expect before it happens mid rush.
• Stage the replacement kegs in cooler orderMove the next keg for each of those handles to the front of the walk in and write the tap number on the crown in marker. Staging turns a five minute swap into a ninety second one.
• Read gas pressure and cooler temperatureNote the reading on each regulator bank and the cooler and glycol temperatures. Good looks like pressures matching the balance your system was built for and a written number rather than a glance.
• Confirm every menu matches the wall right nowWalk the bar with a screen in view and check the website list and QR menu on your own phone. Fix any disagreement before the first guest reads it and orders a beer you cannot pour.
• Keep couplers, wrench, sanitizer and towels in the coolerStore the tools where the swap happens, not behind the bar. Nobody should be hunting for the right coupler type or a wrench while a line builds at the register.

Stage two: make the swap at the coupler

• Shut the gas and relieve pressure before breaking the sealClose the gas to that keg, pull the relief valve, then disengage the coupler. That order keeps beer out of your gas line and keeps you dry and the cooler floor clean.
• Wipe and sanitize the keg neck and coupler probeSpray sanitizer and use a fresh towel on both before you connect. The cooler floor is the dirtiest surface a keg touches, and whatever is on that neck goes straight into the beer path.
• Seat the coupler squarely and open the gas slowlyEngage it fully, then bring the gas back up gradually instead of snapping the valve. A slow open avoids driving foam down the line and makes the first pour usable sooner.
• Record the keg identity and the timeWrite the date, beer, and keg or batch number on the cellar sheet or in the app. Good looks like a record you can trace for TTB removals and for chasing a quality complaint two weeks later.
• Watch the line for thirty secondsLook for foam clearing to solid beer and check the coupler and wall bracket for weeping. Catching a leak now beats finding a sticky cooler floor at close.

Stage three: prove the pour before you sell it

• Dump the first glassPour a full glass into the waste bucket to clear mixed foam and the old beer sitting in the line. Nobody gets charged for the pour that clears the line, including staff.
• Judge the second pour in a beer clean glassUse a rinsed, beer clean glass and look at head retention, clarity and lacing. Good looks like a firm head leaving rings down the glass instead of sheeting straight off the wall.
• Taste it against what that beer should beTake a small taste yourself. Butter, wet cardboard, vinegar or a sour bite that does not belong usually means the line rather than the keg, and that handle comes off until it is cleaned.
• Time the pour against your targetFill a pint and count the seconds. A pour that runs fast and foamy or slow and flat points at applied pressure or line balance, not at the keg you just tapped.

Stage four: publish the change and close the loop

• Update the tap list the second the pour is approvedRecord the change on the phone at the cooler, not later from the office. In TapListLive that single action moves the bar screens, the website list and the QR menu at the same second.
• Confirm each surface with your own eyesLook at a bar screen, refresh the beer page and scan your own QR card. Good looks like three surfaces showing the same beer, the same ABV and the same price with no stale entry left.
• Tell the floor what changed and what it replacedSay the beer, style, ABV and price out loud to everyone working. Servers who first hear about a new handle from a guest will guess, and guesses end up in reviews.
• Retire the empty properlyMove it to the return area, mark it on the cellar sheet and count it toward removals. Empties stacked by the cooler door with no record are how a deposit and a tax count both go missing.
• Log what the line told youNote foam, slow pours, leaks or off flavors next to the keg record. Three notes on the same handle inside a month is a line cleaning problem, and the log is what proves it to whoever pays for it.