Draught Is My Craft: Troubleshooting Life from the Draught Technicians Perspective

This will be  a brief one. I just had to write a $344 bill to my best client because the previous service provider was an ass. Here in Canada, everything works in celcius, except, for some reason, Glycol Chiller settings.  It isn't that we CANT use Celcius, we just dont.  Why? Cant say. Maybe because all the beer knowledge manuals work with Feregnheit. Regardless, fine.  I  ame up in the business in The Greater Los Angeles Area, so I work comfortably in both scales.   However, what we need to remember, especially because most of the temp control units are made in Italy and China, is that when we switch to Feregnheit from Celcius,  we also need to change the differential to 4° instead of the factory fefault of 2°. A 2°F Differential causes compressors to cycle too often and for too short a time.  Secondly, if you set a password on a temp control, use the industry standard password of 22, or something pertinent to the business, or the manufactu...

  These are the rules that I follow, to guide the way in which I do this job. They have served me well. They have, and will continue to evolve. It may not even be a complete list, because after a while, some of the things we do are instinctual, and don't enter consciousness. I will try to revisit this list twice a year, and if I think of an addition or a tweak, I will put it in as soon as it comes to mind. I hope they serve you half as well as they have served me. 1. Always specify equipment capable of delivering 125% of Armageddon-level demand. Pretend St. Patrick's Day falls on Halloween, durring game 7 of a Stanly Cup final between the Leafs and the Penguins.  2. Whenever possible, pull two extra lines. 3. When estimating run lengths, labor hours,  or BTUs, Round up.  4. Drip trays are for drips, not dumps, pours, or send-backs. Only drips. Otherwise it would be called a pour tray.  5. When you are told over the phone that "the tap" is broken, it is never the...

I do understand the dangers of generalizing. So, please understand that this is merely an observation, and of course, not everyone is always what they appear to be. Political correctness aside, and journalistic integrity intact, my experience as a Draught Equipment Technician has  taught me that, when approaching any sale, it helped to identify my customer. Knowing who my customer was, in terms of spending appetite, and risk tolerance, was absolutely instrumental in knowing how to approach a sale. And don't you dare recoil at the word sale. We all sell things. Politicians sell ideas and agendas. Religious folks sell "God". Most of my customers sell beer, other alcoholic beverages, not alcoholic craft-beverages, service, or like me, beverage equipment. Just because it is necessary, doesn't mean that it sells itself. I have found that there are three main personalities types, when it comes to decision makers, in restaurants. I am intentionally leaving out a fourth type,...