It’s been a long day, and your customers are heading into your bar for a nice cold beer. But when the bartender pulls the pint, what's supposed to be a refreshing beverage pours as a glass filled with foam. The reason is because the beer line is running too warm, and the negative effects are numerous. As we get into the heart of summer, warmer temperatures can impact not only your customers’ experience, but also your bottom line. While most 16 ounce beers should have about 2.25 ounces of head, any more than that will leave your customers feeling cheated.

From speed rails to beer towers, keeping a bar productive and efficient will keep the profits pouring. Installers of bar equipment need that same efficiency when installing equipment like ice chests, sinks, and faucets. Nothing can derail a bar or foodservice operation like downtime needed to install new underbar equipment. It negatively affects both the installer's and the bar operator's time. And in the bar industry, time is money.

Over the past several weeks, we've looked back at the last century to see how far we've come in the world of bar and beverage. From the 1917 wine vintages in Europe to cocktail trends through the decades, it's been fun reminiscing about what bars were serving 100 years ago. But now we'd like to take a look at why Perlick is here and the reasons we're still in business after all these years. Let's take a look back at 100 years of bar and beverage equipment innovations.

As the entire country gathers around the television on Super Bowl Sunday, we’ll all have our rooting interests. Some will be pulling for their favorite team and others will be rooting for the host to announce, “The wings are ready!” However, a good number of us will have far more interest in the commercials than the football game itself. Ask someone about their favorite play in the Big Game or their favorite commercial and we bet they’ll recite the advertisement first!

The year 1917 began with our nation on the brink of World War I, which would eventually happen a few months later when President Woodrow Wilson declared war on Germany. On a different gridiron, the New Year began with Oregon beating Pennsylvania in the third annual Rose Bowl. And throughout the year and across the country, bars, saloons, and taverns were as popular as ever. But what were bars serving 100 years ago?

India Pale Ales, or IPAs, are an enormously popular aspect of the current craft beer movement. From West Coast "hop bombs" to "big beer" Imperial IPAs, there's a wide range of options from which IPA lovers can choose. Here's a brief rundown of the different characteristics of IPA beers. For starters, it's important to know that all IPAs are part of the pale ale family. Pale ales were aptly named because they were brewed "lighter" due to pale malts. Current pale ales are certainly brewed with their fair share of hops, but they are much lighter on the IBU scales used to measure bitterness.

Maybe a bar operator wants to include storage in the underbar area where it will be in line with 30-inch high equipment or work surfaces. Maybe an owner is retrofitting an existing underbar because adding bottled ciders to the beverage list requires more refrigeration capabilities in a limited space. Maybe a designer wants to use low height cabinets during the planning and designing phase of a new bar. Now this is all possible with low-height back bar refrigeration and storage from Perlick.

When it comes to back bar and underbar refrigeration, options mean everything. From color to door design to temperature control, finding the right bar refrigeration unit can increase bar efficiencies, allow for more accurate beverage storage, and ultimately increase the productivity and profitability of the bar. Essentially, your bar refrigeration needs to "fit."

Keeping wine at ideal temperatures is obviously a critical element to success for any operations featuring a wine list. That being said, there are different ways to refrigerate wine, and this requires refrigerant. Refrigerant is a substance used to lower temperatures, but there are a range of options to consider. Some are more efficient and eco-friendly than others.

Square footage. It's hard to come by no matter where the operation. Even restaurants in suburban or rural locations have to deal with the challenges of doing more with less in their attempts to maximize profits. Bar and beverage. For many restaurants, it's hard to imagine a menu segment that brings in more revenue, and wine is an important part of this, especially as more and more Americans consume wine.

Eat. Drink. Shine. That's the way life is in Boulder, Colorado, where one of the most established groups in the local food and beverage industry has developed their latest legacy... potions.

On Tuesday, April 24th, Tobin Ellis participated in a Restaurant Development + Design webinar on Bar Evolution. Moderated by Joe Carbonara and attended by fellow panelist, Peter Vestinos, the event recapped important bar and beverage trends such as creating immersive experiences for guests, the balancing act of curating the right bar equipment packages, developing new bar and beverage concepts, and understanding what you want and what it takes to grow.

Whether you want to call it a sodium chloride infused libation, or a simple salted cocktail, the case for adding salt to your drinks is a pretty solid one. And we're not just talking about margaritas, either. Why would you add salt to a cocktail? Our palates can detect five flavors: sour, bitter, sweet, umami (glutamates), and...you guessed it, salt. Adding salt to a drink allows other flavors to more fully develop on the palate. And because we're talking about a very small dose of salt, salted cocktails won't actually have a salty flavor.

You can't judge a wine list by its cover just like you can't judge a wine refrigerator on just the glass. While making a design aesthetically pleasing is certainly important, it's not the only component of a high quality commercial wine refrigerator. Let's take a quick look at some others.

Do you ever wonder where your food and beverage equipment is made? Have you ever seen state-of-the-art manufacturing in action? Would you like to see first hand what sets one beer system apart from another? Take a few minutes minutes, and join us on a short but comprehensive guided tour of the Perlick facilities in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

With their lower initial cost and ease of maintenance, air-cooled beer systems could be an attractive and cost effective option for many operations. Perlick is excited to announce three new factory engineered, air-cooled beer system options. The one that is perfect for your operation will depend on the proximity of your bar to your walk in cooler, the number of beers you want to serve and your style preference.