Maine Line Cleaning Lets Draft Beer Sparkle

There's a new beer business in town, but it's not another brewery. Maine Line Cleaning, brainchild of Alex Stevens, will simply make every other beer producer in town look (and taste) better. The name says it all: Stevens is cleaning draft lines at local bars.

Charging a per-draft-line fee, Stevens anticipates regular two-week cleanings (recommended by the Brewers Association, among others) at such accounts as Salvage BBQ, The Thirsty Pig, and Shays Grill Pub. Many beer drinkers don't realize how filthy a draft system can become in a short amount of time, with mold, bacteria, and even yeast building up in the beer-carrying lines and faucets, causing foaminess at best and off-flavors at worst. Those beer drinkers who do realize the extent of the problem often don't rock the boat, choosing to avoid or tolerate bars and restaurants with sub-par cleaning habits.

Beer distributors, the middlemen between brewers and retailers, are generally expected to clean the draft lines carrying their breweries' beer, but this often doesn't happen; some bars clean their own lines, and some breweries clean lines connected to their own kegs. Stevens, through his work as Brewery Ambassador for Atlantic Brewing Company, saw an opportunity in the logistical challenges these various entities faced.

Follow along on Maine Line Cleaning's new Facebook page to find out with refreshing transparency where the one-man-operation has most recently worked its sanitary magic, because it's not only the freshness of the beer that matters, but also the freshness of the draft system. Or because, as Stevens puts it, "Life is too short to drink dirty beer!"
· Maine Line Cleaning [Facebook]
· Draught Beer Quality Manual [Brewers Association]
· All Beer Here! Coverage [-EME-]