Becoming a draught technician who installs and services taps

What the job covers

A draught technician installs, balances, cleans and repairs the equipment that moves beer from a keg to a glass. That covers couplers and keg connectors, gas cylinders and regulators, beer lines, coolers, fonts and taps. Some work for breweries or distributors, servicing every outlet that pours their beer. Others work for equipment suppliers or run their own service business for bars and restaurants.

A typical week mixes new installations, scheduled line cleans and call-outs to bars where the beer is pouring flat, foamy or warm. The call-outs are the real test. The bar manager says the beer is bad. The technician has to find out whether it is the beer, the gas, the temperature, the lines or the glass.

Balancing is the core skill

A draught system is a balance between the gas pressure pushing beer out and the resistance of the lines and fittings slowing it down. Get it right and beer pours at a steady rate with the right head. Get it wrong and it pours as foam or arrives flat.

Gas pressure is set by the carbonation the beer needs at its serving temperature. As a working rule, a beer carbonated to about 2.5 volumes of CO2 and held at around 3 °C (38 °F) needs roughly 12 psi of gas pressure at sea level to stay at that carbonation. Warmer beer, higher carbonation or a site at altitude all change the figure. The technician then chooses line length, diameter and any restrictors so the line resistance matches that pressure over the run to the tap.

Long runs in big bars bring their own maths. Our guide to balancing a long draw system walks through it.

Cooling decides most problems in India

Temperature is the most common cause of foamy draught in a hot country. Beer that warms by a few degrees in an unchilled section of line releases CO2 and fobs at the tap. Systems in India often rely on flash coolers that chill beer on its way to the tap, or on glycol cooled python lines that keep beer cold all the way from a cold room.

A draught technician needs to understand both, including how to check the glycol temperature, the insulation and the point where the line leaves the cooling. Our guide to python cooling for long draught lines explains why that last unchilled metre matters so much.

Cleaning is where quality is kept

Beer lines grow yeast, bacteria and beer stone if they are not cleaned. Dirty lines give sour, buttery or stale flavours even when the keg is perfect. The Brewers Association's draught quality guidance recommends cleaning lines with a caustic solution at least every two weeks, with an acid clean every few months to remove mineral deposits. Taps, couplers and faucets come apart and get cleaned by hand.

Much of a technician's routine work is these cleans. It is unglamorous but it decides what the drinker tastes. Our guide to draught line cleaning covers the method step by step.

Safety comes with the kit

The trade involves pressurised gas cylinders, caustic cleaning chemicals and work in cramped cellars and cold rooms. Carbon dioxide is heavier than air and collects in low, unventilated spaces, where it can make a person unconscious with little warning. Technicians need to handle cylinders properly, wear eye and hand protection with chemicals and check that cellars have ventilation and CO2 alarms before working in them.

Electrical work on coolers and refrigeration may need a licensed electrician or refrigeration technician, depending on the job and local rules. Know where your own competence ends.

Skills and routes in

There is no single qualification for draught technicians in India. People come in from refrigeration and air conditioning, plumbing, bar work and brewery cellar roles. Breweries and equipment suppliers often train new technicians in-house, pairing them with an experienced hand for months before they work alone.

Useful skills include:

• Basic refrigeration and plumbing.
• Understanding of carbonation, gas laws and temperature.
• Patience with fault finding, one variable at a time.
• Good customer manner, because bar staff under pressure need calm answers.
• A sense of what good beer tastes like, so you can tell a dirty line from a faulty keg.

That last skill is underrated. A technician who can taste diacetyl or acetic sourness in a sample from the tap solves problems faster than one who only reads gauges.

Where the work leads

Experienced technicians move into managing service teams for breweries or distributors, designing draught systems for new venues or training bar staff. Some start their own businesses, since many bars outsource line cleaning and maintenance. Others move inside breweries, into cellar or quality roles, carrying a rare understanding of what happens to beer after it leaves the gate.

Your first step

Next time you are at a bar with draught beer, look at the setup. Is there a flash cooler under the counter or a python running to a cold room? How warm is the cellar? Then read our guide to the draught system audit and see how many faults you could spot.

Common questions

What does a draught beer technician do?

Installs, balances, cleans and repairs the kegs, gas, lines, coolers and taps that move beer to the glass. They also fix faults such as foamy or flat pours.

How often should draught beer lines be cleaned?

Brewers Association guidance is a caustic clean at least every two weeks, plus an acid clean every few months to remove mineral deposits.

Do I need a qualification to become a draught technician?

There is no single required qualification in India. Many come from refrigeration, plumbing or bar work and train on the job with a brewery or supplier.