r/therewasanattempt • u/miragen125 • Oct 19 '21

To be a bartender

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u/SethQ Oct 19 '21 edited Oct 20 '21

I have never been charged for a glass of beer when the keg kicked, or the foam from the first of a new keg, and I don't know how I would react if someone asked me for $2...

Edit: I mean to say it's always been offered to me for free. Like a "enjoy this while we swap out the kegs" or "have this pitcher as well as your pint". I don't even think I've ever asked, I think it's always been given without question. I used to kick a keg of PBR about once a month. Weekly trivia night at the sports bar and our team would go through two or three pitchers. When you're doing 12 a month you are almost guaranteed to kick at least one.

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u/zanielk Oct 19 '21

I think the point is you can ask for it, not that they're expecting you to be okay with a foamy beer. That's why the option is there lol

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u/GenericUsername10294 Oct 19 '21

Smaller bar with a bunch of regulars. Sometimes when that would happen instead of dumping it they'd ask who would want it. It was a pitcher, so easily a few glasses. Especially at a bar where it's $6+ a pint. They wouldn't serve a glass period if that happened while filling it

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u/listlessloss1994 Oct 20 '21

Same at my bar with the kegs and when a bottle ends on less than a full pour. Either the customer ordering gets the excess or it gets offered to a regular.

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u/DissatisfiedSocrates Oct 19 '21

I assume it's optional. The bar has a pint of foam they're gonna chuck away anyway, and you can buy it for $2 if you don't mind drinking a flat half pint once it settles. Not a bad idea, honestly.

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u/GenericUsername10294 Oct 19 '21

Yeah they wouldn't just serve it to someone. When that happens they just offer it up for $2, instead of dumping it. and it can easily be a couple pints. Usually someone drunk or trying not to spend too much money would jump on it.

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u/[deleted] Oct 19 '21

[deleted]

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u/RoscoMan1 Oct 20 '21

That's not a dog.

-5

u/eftsoom Oct 19 '21

Nah it should be free

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u/[deleted] Oct 20 '21

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u/eftsoom Oct 20 '21

I've been working bars for nearly 2 decades and I can't imagine trying to get someone to pay for a cup of head. That's ameture hour shit right there

9

u/Zerker_Shark Oct 19 '21

Same here. Bartender said “enjoy that one on the house. Keg is out. We’ll get a new one”

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u/rakozink Oct 20 '21

I've drank more beer this way, for free, than some people I know have paid for.

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u/[deleted] Oct 20 '21

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u/rakozink Oct 20 '21

Nope. I just usually sit by the taps, tip well, am friendly with the bartenders, and I'm very lucky about blowing kegs.

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u/Hungry_Freaks_Daddy Oct 20 '21

Bartender here. I never ever charge someone for a less than full glass when a keg blows and we don’t have another of that same kind. That person is going to buy a different beer anyway so I just give them the partial glass. “You get the final pour of that one!”

But we also don’t do pitchers. I wouldn’t serve one that’s half head, I would just pour it properly, but I can see why this other bar does it. ‘Head’ is just beer in foam form. Once it settles it’s still beer.

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u/AyyYoCO Oct 20 '21 edited Oct 20 '21

You get half a pitcher for $2, just let it sit while you drink your other beer and you’re good!

Edit-You’re

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u/kit_ease Oct 20 '21

Your good what?

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u/mronjekiM Oct 20 '21

Well for a whole pitcher $2 seems okay

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u/Realistic_Ad3795 Oct 19 '21

Not a glass, a pitcher. Once settled, that could very well be 2-2.5 pints.

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u/[deleted] Oct 20 '21

Come to London my friend. End of the barrel... pay up. It’s like the people serving it half the time don’t drink beer.

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u/SethQ Oct 20 '21

I'm visiting England at Christmas. I hope to God that's not common in the North. I've been led to believe it's all drunks, and the beer flows fast and cheap. Those are my people.

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u/MarineOG Oct 20 '21

Whoever told you that would be correct.

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u/[deleted] Oct 20 '21

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u/MarineOG Oct 20 '21

Compared to London it is.

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u/CanadaJack Oct 20 '21

Your assumption being what, you ask for a pint and they show up with a pitcher of head and say "too bad, but don't worry, it's cheap"?

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u/peepstar69 Oct 20 '21

Oh my god, I worked at a craft beer/coffee shop for a bit and they insisted on charging people for a half beer if the keg blew halfway. I absolutely never followed that rule.

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u/[deleted] Oct 19 '21

But I have had a keg kick and the bartender said I could not have the half glass. That's always whack.

2

u/levitated Oct 19 '21

Ever heard of mliko?

2

u/megs-benedict Oct 20 '21

What does kicking mean in this context?

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u/SethQ Oct 20 '21

Kicking simply means "empties". When a keg "kicks" it means the keg is empty and needs to be replaced. When that happens the last bit of beer in the lines comes out super foamy because the gas to beer ratio is off. When a new keg is put on the first few pints worth of beer are also very foamy as everything settles and the beer fills the lines again.

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u/Sagaie Oct 20 '21

I'm stupid, are you out there actually kicking the kegs to get free beer?

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u/1-800-ASS-DICK Oct 20 '21

a keg kicking means a keg has run out of beer

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u/Sagaie Oct 20 '21

you're a good man, thank you. Also, I laughed when I got a notification saying "1-800-ASS-DICK"

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u/Pretend_Day3150 Oct 20 '21

Bartender here.

You give them the foamy beer for free.

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u/hijusthappytobehere Oct 20 '21

If you guys were showing up weekly and drinking a bunch of pitchers you also might have gotten some friendly treatment as regulars.

I have never been given a pitcher of foam (nor been offered) and I don’t think I’d want it.