Cellar management is the set of practices that keep draught beer in the condition the brewer intended and keep the people working in the cellar safe. Done well it means a cellar held at 11 to 13°C, beer lines cleaned every seven days, casks and kegs handled and stored correctly, and gas systems that are monitored and maintained. Done badly it means wasted beer, bad reviews and, in the worst cases, a fatal accident from carbon dioxide. A Level 2 Award in Cellar Management gives bar managers and cellar staff the knowledge to get it right.
Draught beer is the highest-margin product in most pubs and the one most easily ruined between the delivery bay and the glass. This guide covers what good cellar practice looks like, the safety hazards that are easy to underestimate, and what a cellar management qualification covers.
Temperature: the foundation of everything
Most cask and keg beer should be stored at 11 to 13°C. Too warm and cask beer conditions too fast, keg beer fobs and foams at the tap, and you lose pints to waste on every pour. Too cold and cask beer will not condition at all, leaving it flat and hazy. The cellar cooling unit should be checked daily and serviced regularly, and the thermometer should be somewhere staff actually look at it.
Temperature control does not stop at the cellar door. Python lines, remote coolers and the glass itself all affect what the customer gets. A beer served in a warm glass from a line that has warmed up overnight is a different product from the same beer served properly.
Line cleaning: every seven days, no exceptions
Beer lines grow yeast and bacteria, and the industry standard is to clean them every seven days with an appropriate line cleaning solution. Stretching the interval to save time and beer is one of the most common and most costly mistakes in the trade. Dirty lines cause off flavours, poor head retention and cloudy beer, and customers notice long before staff do.
Line cleaning fluid is caustic. It falls under COSHH, so staff need training on safe handling, the right protective equipment, and what to do if it gets on skin or in eyes. Lines must be thoroughly flushed with water before beer goes back through them.
Cask beer: stillage, venting and tapping
Cask beer is a live product. It needs to be stillaged in the cellar and left to settle, typically for 24 to 72 hours depending on the beer, before it is vented and tapped. Vent too early and the beer will be lively and hazy; leave it too long after tapping and it will go off. Once tapped, most cask beer has a serviceable life of around three days. Stock rotation and a cellar diary that records when each cask was delivered, stillaged, vented and tapped are the tools that make this manageable across a busy week.
Gas safety: the hazard nobody sees
Keg beer is dispensed using carbon dioxide or a mixed gas of CO2 and nitrogen. CO2 is heavier than air, colourless and odourless, and a leak in an enclosed cellar can displace the oxygen without any warning. There have been deaths in UK pub cellars from exactly this. Every cellar with gas dispense should have:
- gas cylinders secured upright and changed by trained staff only
- a CO2 monitor with an audible alarm
- adequate ventilation, and a rule that nobody enters a cellar where the alarm is sounding
- regular checks of regulators, hoses and connections for leaks
Gas cylinders are also a manual handling risk in their own right and can cause serious injury if they fall.
Manual handling: casks, kegs and stairs
A full firkin of cask beer weighs around 45 kilograms. A full 50-litre keg is heavier still. Cellar work involves moving these down drops, across floors and onto stillages, often in tight spaces with wet floors. Back injuries are common and largely avoidable with correct technique, the right equipment such as keg trolleys and drop cushions, and a cellar layout that keeps the heaviest stock closest to where it is used. Our guide to food allergen management is worth reading alongside this if you also serve food.
Stock control and the margin
Good cellar practice is also a financial control. Ullage, the beer lost to waste, fobbing and returns, is where draught margin disappears. A well run cellar records ullage, tracks yield per cask and keg, rotates stock first in first out, and gives the manager the figures to challenge a supplier or a member of staff when the numbers drift.
Level 2 Award in Cellar Management
The BIIAB Level 2 Award in Cellar Management covers beer line cleaning, cask and keg handling, gas safety, stock control and cellar hygiene. Fully online for £95 with a same-day certificate.
Frequently asked questions
Is cellar management training a legal requirement?
There is no specific law requiring a cellar qualification. Health and safety law does require staff to be trained for the risks they face, and COSHH, manual handling and gas safety are all part of cellar work. A recognised qualification is the simplest way to show that training happened.
How often should beer lines be cleaned?
Every seven days is the industry standard. Some brewers specify more frequent cleaning for particular products.
What temperature should a beer cellar be?
11 to 13°C for most cask and keg beer. Some lagers and craft kegs are served colder at the tap using remote coolers, but the cellar itself stays in that range.
Who should take the course?
Bar managers, cellar staff, assistant managers and anyone who changes barrels or cleans lines. Licensees who want to understand where their beer margin goes also benefit.
This article was published in October 2026 by National Compliance Training. Regulations change, so always check the latest guidance from GOV.UK for the current position. This article does not constitute legal advice.