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Shooting Blanks posted:I think that was B.A.R., but I remember rushing through that one as well. I don't think ANY of us aced it - I know I didn't because there were more than a couple questions that were worded really weirdly, at least a couple that I flat out disagreed with, and one portion had a ton of really obscure historical poo poo that few people will ever know unless they actually go through the full length course. And AFAIK, none of us did the final - which was basically a paint-by-numbers behind the bar. Well, not aced, but I think everyone got high enough to have "passed" the course. And yeah that last bit was a joke, whoops you used the wrong brand of whatever, you fail.
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Apr 11, 2013 05:58
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| # ? Jun 1, 2024 22:37 |
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I've been out of the bar for 4 months. My first day back was yesterday. I closed last night and opened this morning so I ended up making $350 in 24 hours. God I missed that.
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Apr 13, 2013 04:48
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For those working in bars with larger (24+) craft beer draft selections I have a question: Do you have an exceptionally large walk-in box to house full sized (50 liter/15.5gal) kegs or do you opt for mainly sixtels? If so, do you find the need to increase the price per pint to make up for the higher beer cost that comes with sixtels and 1/4 barrels? Looking into some new spaces for a craft beer oriented bar and deciding on the viability of the existing walk-ins.
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Apr 13, 2013 16:27
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Probably Infected posted:For those working in bars with larger (24+) craft beer draft selections I have a question:
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Apr 13, 2013 18:06
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I can't get a link to just the video on my phone but Hay Merchant is THE place to get craft beer in Houston and here's a tour of their coolers http://blog.chron.com/beertx/2012/02/behind-the-bar-tour-hay-merchants-lager-and-ale-coolers/
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Apr 13, 2013 20:01
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Daric posted:I can't get a link to just the video on my phone but Hay Merchant is THE place to get craft beer in Houston and here's a tour of their coolers I know those guys, and I've been in that cooler (didn't watch the video). They primarily use full size kegs, FWIW.
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Apr 13, 2013 20:24
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Adding love for Hay Merchant, I know some of their employees and they are doing things right. I used to barback a night club; the biggest and most popular in Tucson. This nightclub happens to be retrofitted into the first floor of the Hotel Congress, and building that was completed in 1919. It was a great barbacking experience, because it was quite possibly the worst laid out bar in the history of such blunders. There are three primary bars, with two secondary smaller bars. None of them have dishwashers, only two have triple sinks and two have keg refrigerators. That's right, keg refrigerators, not lines from an independent keg walk in. So, when the club was packed and a keg blew, it meant the barback going into a back prep room where the beer walk in was, shouldering a nigh 200lb half barrel (against all OSHA code and any common sense but because the bar was so narrow, and of course 42" tall), walking through a club full of 900-1200 people a distance of 500-1000' and switching it out at the bar. Rinse, repeat. Yeah, get a walk in.
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Apr 13, 2013 21:30
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Probably Infected posted:For those working in bars with larger (24+) craft beer draft selections I have a question: The very first bar I worked at was a dive that only served 6 beers including Canadian/Bud/Kokanee on tap with a few other bullshit beers that I don't remember. They had a walk in cooler for some reason that had something like 20+ kegs stored in it at all times because we sold a fuckload of Canadian to loggers/farmers/townies, and our bottle fridges were just extensions of this walkin (as in, I could go into the walk-in and stock my bottle fridges from the back). I've never been on the management side, so I couldn't speak to costs, but we were selling pints at 4.50 for most of our stuff, which in BC 6 years ago wasn't bad for a beer (even though the beer was poo poo).
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Apr 13, 2013 22:34
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Choom Gangster posted:Adding love for Hay Merchant, I know some of their employees and they are doing things right. Motherfuckin P.I.M.P.
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Apr 13, 2013 22:46
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Daric posted:I can't get a link to just the video on my phone but Hay Merchant is THE place to get craft beer in Houston and here's a tour of their coolers Very interesting set up, I wonder what the square footage of the combined coolers is. With rents in NYC being as ridiculous as they are, the basements are usually an afterthought. Depending on what the space was used for before, the walk-ins are usually 80-140 sq ft. Shooting Blanks posted:I know those guys, and I've been in that cooler (didn't watch the video). They primarily use full size kegs, FWIW. If I had a walk-in as large as those, full-sized would be the way to go. Especially if you can build a shelving system. Choom Gangster posted:Adding love for Hay Merchant, I know some of their employees and they are doing things right. I'm always surprised when I walk into a great looking bar (especially one with more than 20 or so drafts) and see they're usually under counter kegerators rather than a walk-in. I imagine it has to do with their basement situation, because the pain of having to maintain/repair/service 10-15 independent coolers has got to be enormous. JawKnee posted:The very first bar I worked at was a dive that only served 6 beers including Canadian/Bud/Kokanee on tap with a few other bullshit beers that I don't remember. They had a walk in cooler for some reason that had something like 20+ kegs stored in it at all times because we sold a fuckload of Canadian to loggers/farmers/townies, and our bottle fridges were just extensions of this walkin (as in, I could go into the walk-in and stock my bottle fridges from the back). I've never been on the management side, so I couldn't speak to costs, but we were selling pints at 4.50 for most of our stuff, which in BC 6 years ago wasn't bad for a beer (even though the beer was poo poo). With NYC distributors, the prices are so damned similar for 1/3 the amount of beer it's frustrating. So doing a 5gal keg may run $90-$100 but a full 15.5gal is only $140 (this obviously varies with brewery). Finding a tall enough walk-in to have shelves is nice. Currently one promising space has just that, but it's only about 90 sq ft. I could see 24 drafts lining the perimeter with 12 on the top shelf and 12 on the floor (all running separate fobs/regulators).
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Apr 14, 2013 01:49
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I've just been out in my small hometown, and goddamit in three different bars every pint I was served was flat. I've worked in bars in that town and no beer would be flat when I was serving. This was Saturday night so you know the supervisors were on, I don't understand why people will let the gas on their taps run out without changing it. I had to ask for some extra head on my beer in three different places just to make it drinkable.
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Apr 14, 2013 05:30
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Hoops posted:I've just been out in my small hometown, and goddamit in three different bars every pint I was served was flat. I've worked in bars in that town and no beer would be flat when I was serving. This was Saturday night so you know the supervisors were on, I don't understand why people will let the gas on their taps run out without changing it. I had to ask for some extra head on my beer in three different places just to make it drinkable. Some combination of lazy, stupid or cheap, I'm guessing.
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Apr 14, 2013 07:55
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Honestly, plenty of folks where I work don't/can't understand what flat beer is. Our distributor takes weeks to tune the keg to what it should be, and gently caress if I'm gonna mess with the high-pressure dealio which no one's taught me to work with before. I'd love to have someone come and explain to me how to work with our CO2 tank, but everyone treats it like the goddamn Ark of the Covenant.
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Apr 14, 2013 08:03
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The craft beer bars around here mainly use the small kegs installed directly under the bar. Generally smaller places. I think they prefer the small ones, because they can cycle through beers much faster. Those 20 taps may have 40 different beers on them after a few days. And the bartenders can change the kegs he selves pretty easily if there are no barbacks.
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Apr 14, 2013 12:51
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Well that new GM just got fired. I guess some habits are hard to break when coming from Vegas. Course I'm on the other side of the country getting gloriously drunk.
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Apr 14, 2013 23:25
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On carrying kegs to bars, I once watched a fellow barback (a five and a half foot, 220 pound, walking, talking, cut of muscle, piss and gristle) trip himself with a half barrel shouldered come crashing down trapping his arm and shoulder between the back bar and said keg. Tore his rotator cuff. Filed for worker's comp, was told he was at fault for shouldering the keg by ownership. That place really is just atrocious.
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Apr 15, 2013 04:26
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I can't think of a single place who would pay out workers comp for loving yourself up while shouldering a keg though. Unless you're specifically told to by management, they're not really responsible and there's no reason to try and be that much of a hero. Maybe if you had a cool dude in management who could try and falsify a claim or make it look like somehow a keg flew up accidentally to head height broke your shoulder but pretty much any insurance company who sees a claim for, "staff member was carrying a keg on their shoulder and..." is going to laugh in your face and say thanks for trying.
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Apr 15, 2013 10:26
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I'm sure the various typical management screwups would be enough to find them at least partially at fault for any given work injury at a bar. Between poor training, complete lack of any documentation, and poor maintenance, good luck to them.
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Apr 15, 2013 13:00
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I just ran into this and wondered if I could get your take on it: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/partyrobotics/bartendro-a-cocktail-dispensing-robot I remember reading some earlier discussion about cocktail-making machines and if I recall correctly, the main strikes against them were reliability issues / cost of maintenance and the fact that people actually like talking to bartenders.
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Apr 15, 2013 18:19
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Fire Safety Doug posted:I just ran into this and wondered if I could get your take on it: quote:Bartendro is not fully sealed; the electronics are intentionally visible because we think they're cool to look at. That sounds like an amazing idea in a bar.
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Apr 15, 2013 18:43
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Jeoh posted:That sounds like an amazing idea in a bar. To be fair, I think it's unlikely that any self-respecting bar would get one of those things. It's butt ugly, only good for drinks that don't require prep beyond "put a + b + c in glass", and I would imagine that a competent bartender can whip up a superior result while the Spergtender 2000 is still slurping up ingredients.
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Apr 15, 2013 18:53
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Fire Safety Doug posted:I just ran into this and wondered if I could get your take on it: Wow, cocktail bartender registering his opinion. That robot better have some good patent work, because it'll never be worthwhile in a bar. I have hundreds of bottles, recipes, and variations, and still work for peanuts to the house. Gimmicks come cheaper than this, but not as cheap as people.
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Apr 15, 2013 18:59
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Fire Safety Doug posted:I just ran into this and wondered if I could get your take on it: Still seems like a terrible idea. Also seems like the kind of thing an F&B manager with no floor experience might buy, which promptly breaks, and then sits there for months.
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Apr 15, 2013 19:19
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It will never work in a bar. Maintenance on that thing will end up costing more than the $2.00 an hour they pay me. However, I could see having one at home for when I get lazy. Also so my friends will shut up with the "DARICCCC, MAKE ME A DRINKKKK" like I can make their jack & coke better than they can.
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Apr 15, 2013 20:12
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Let's say I ask for a drink and they don't know what that is. What's good protocol in that situation?
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Apr 16, 2013 04:59
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Tricky Twisty posted:Let's say I ask for a drink and they don't know what that is. What's good protocol in that situation? Tell them what it is.
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Apr 16, 2013 05:06
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Well, I finally got sick of being dicked around on shifts and quit. It's been 3 years since I applied for a hospitality gig and I can't remember, is it considered a good idea to list higher education (university/college) when applying to corporate places (hotels, resorts, etc.)?
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Apr 16, 2013 08:04
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Got laid off today from a job that I love. Time to get back on the hunt I guess, but I'm always gonna compare any job to this old place - wearing t-shirts and listening to punk rock at work was such a blast 
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Apr 16, 2013 20:44
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I have a strange question that you guys may or may not know: did Jameson change their recipe, because every shot or bottle I've had lately has had this insane amount of sugary taste to it that is bordering on flavored whiskey. I'm not sure if we just hit a weird batch, or what, but when Kessler's has more bite than a new bottle of Jameson, I'm concerned. EDIT - I mean 'good bite,' not 'what am i doing with my life' bite. Old Boot fucked around with this message at 11:05 on Apr 17, 2013 |
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Apr 17, 2013 10:57
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Protip: remembering my beer from last week and offering it to me is impressive. Not actually having that beer in stock is not.
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Apr 17, 2013 13:40
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Back in the mix  seems like the sweet spot for experience in Vancouver is 5+ years. Only took me 2 days to find a new gig.
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Apr 18, 2013 22:17
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Day 3/5. 16 hrs/day. Close to 1k heads/day. More than 5k cocktails, in several formats, including shaken, stirred, and two kinds of on tap batched and ready to roll. My crew is all OG NYC cocktail, and I'm gonna pay my rent three times on this check, after taxes. gently caress sleep, gently caress 1099s, and gently caress death. This is what I live for.
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Apr 20, 2013 14:52
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Vegetable Melange posted:Day 3/5. 16 hrs/day. Close to 1k heads/day. More than 5k cocktails, in several formats, including shaken, stirred, and two kinds of on tap batched and ready to roll. My crew is all OG NYC cocktail, and I'm gonna pay my rent three times on this check, after taxes. gently caress sleep, gently caress 1099s, and gently caress death. This is what I live for. I don't know if I'm jealous or "there but for the Grace of God..."
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Apr 20, 2013 21:39
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Can any of you gents point me to an honest, good cocktail venue in Vegas? My company is sending me to a conference on the strip, and if I recall bars can be hit and miss especially near the touristy areas. I heard the secret level in the Chandelier in the Cosmo has some interesting stuff, but even that makes me scratch my head. I don't think the crowd I am with wants a club experience but a good bar with real drinks would be a godsend and put some hurt on our corporate cards...
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Apr 20, 2013 23:45
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I was a fan of Herbs and Rye when I was last in Vegas. http://www.yelp.com/biz/herbs-and-rye-las-vegas Also, you may want to try the Vegas thread and/or PM JaySB, as he works in Vegas and is solid with his recommendations. http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?noseen=0&threadid=3419635
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Apr 21, 2013 00:01
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Jump in a cab and tell them to take you to the double down
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Apr 21, 2013 09:26
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I've been following this thread and its predecessor for a while now, but just recently I've been able to apply some of the stuff I've learnt in the real world. I started working as FOH/Bar staff at a theatre in Melbourne a couple weeks ago, and I'm really enjoying working behind the bar. For most shifts I'm just on a door booping tickets, but the 20 mins I get to help out at the bar during interval is usually the high point of my night. We do a small selection of wines and beers by the bottle, and the very occasional simple sprit and mixer sort of thing. While I'm still getting the hang of it, it's great fun, and I'd like to have a go at working in a proper bar some time down the track. I also just did a friend's father's 50th/sister's 21st, which was a real learning experience. We had four beers in bottles, a couple ciders, and a great big bunch of bargain bin wines We were in a Slovenian club, and the bar I had would have usually seen maybe twenty people in for a normal night. We had 160 guests, ranging from 11 to 90, and just me tending the bar for the most part. An uncle of the family or something stepped in to help me when the bar was 12 deep, but that was about it. I was on my feet for five and a half hours, on a sopping wet tile floor, sliding from fridge to bar to esky to huge bucket full of ice and wine, and it was some of the best fun I've had in years. It was the first time I've had to deal with people drinking to get drunk, and people trying to drink too much. One girl was able to fool me with her cunning world tricks, 'Nah. these are for a mate, not me', but I cut her off as soon as people told me how drunk she was. It was a really weird gig, but I learned a lot, and it also showed me how much more I have to learn. Are there any Melbourne bartenders/people familiar with Melbourne's bar scene around? I'd like to find a place I can have a quiet drink and chat to the bartender about bar stuff. I'm awful at finding bars, and I could really use some advice. I'd like to pick up some shifts barbacking probably in a couple months, but I like my theatre gig and the people are good. Is it likely that I'd be able to find a place that only wants me two or three shifts a week? And is the event/party bartending scene worth looking into?
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Apr 21, 2013 11:47
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Ultimate Mango posted:Can any of you gents point me to an honest, good cocktail venue in Vegas? My company is sending me to a conference on the strip, and if I recall bars can be hit and miss especially near the touristy areas. I heard the secret level in the Chandelier in the Cosmo has some interesting stuff, but even that makes me scratch my head. Downtown Cocktail Room, ftw. Check their happy hour times, the prices are absurdly cheap for pretty well made drinks.
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Apr 21, 2013 21:05
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I've been hearing some rather strange stories from a former bartender I met today, so I thought I'd ask here: do bars really see strange poo poo like guys trying to come in with live ferrets in their pants with any regularity, or is the Miami area just special?
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Apr 22, 2013 03:27
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| # ? Jun 1, 2024 22:37 |
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If its Florida you can believe it.
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Apr 22, 2013 04:15
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