Cellar management checklist for pubs
A good cellar routine covers four things: temperature, cleanliness, stock and gas safety. Cask Marque's guidance is to keep the cellar at a steady 11°C to 13°C, clean beer lines at least every 7 days, rotate stock so the oldest is used first, and order cask sizes you can sell within three days of putting them on. On gas, HSE warns that carbon dioxide is colourless, odourless and heavier than air, and that people have died when it built up in cellars, so cylinders must be secured and leaks taken seriously. Below are daily, weekly and gas checklists you can copy.
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The cellar is where a pub's margin lives or dies. A warm cellar, dirty lines or a cask left on too long means hazy pints, fobbing and beer down the drain. And because cellars hold pressurised gas in a small, low space, it's also one of the few places in a pub where a bad routine can genuinely hurt someone.
Below is a cellar checklist you can copy: daily opening and closing routines, weekly jobs, delivery checks, a line-cleaning record and a gas safety checklist. The beer-quality guidance comes from Cask Marque; the gas safety points from HSE. Always follow your own brewer's or supplier's cellar guide where it's more specific.
Cellar standards at a glance
| Area | Standard | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Cellar temperature | 11°C to 13°C, kept constant | Cask Marque |
| Cask ale in the glass | 11°C to 13°C | Cask Marque |
| Beer line cleaning | At least every 7 days, recommended line cleaner, keep records | Cask Marque |
| Broached cask | Sell within 3 days; order sizes you can empty in 3 days | Cask Marque |
| Delivery | Best before date with at least 14 days left before signing | Cask Marque cellar card |
| Carbon dioxide | Colourless, odourless, heavier than air; asphyxiation risk in cellars | HSE |
Daily cellar checklist
Opening
| Done | Check |
|---|---|
| [ ] | Cellar temperature checked and recorded (target 11°C to 13°C) |
| [ ] | Cellar cooling running, door closed |
| [ ] | No gas smell, hiss or alarm; gas monitor (if fitted) showing normal |
| [ ] | Cask taps turned on |
| [ ] | Hard pegs removed from casks on sale (unless using auto cask breathers) |
| [ ] | Each beer re-tested for taste, clarity and temperature before the session |
| [ ] | Floor clear and dry, no trip hazards on the stairs or hatch |
Closing
| Done | Check |
|---|---|
| [ ] | Cask taps shut off |
| [ ] | Hard pegs in (unless using auto cask breathers) |
| [ ] | Enough beer ready for the next session |
| [ ] | Any tilting and tapping done now, so beer can settle overnight |
| [ ] | No waste beer left in the cellar |
| [ ] | Empty casks sealed |
| [ ] | Cellar door closed, cooling left on |
Weekly cellar checklist
| Done | Task | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| [ ] | Beer lines cleaned (at least every 7 days) | Recommended line cleaner, follow dilution and contact time |
| [ ] | Taps, tap filters and dipsticks cleaned | Before and after use, too |
| [ ] | Cellar floor, walls, stillage and cooler cleaned | Cask Marque: keep the cellar spotlessly clean |
| [ ] | Stock check and rotation | Oldest first; check label numbers and dates |
| [ ] | Gas cylinders checked: secured, valves uppermost, no damage, connections sound | See gas checklist below |
| [ ] | No food stored in the cellar | Cask Marque cellar card |
| [ ] | Cellar temperature log reviewed | Look for drift before it becomes a problem |
Line cleaning record
Cask Marque says to keep records. Copy this:
| Date | Lines cleaned | Cleaner used and dilution | Contact time | Rinsed clear (checked as your supplier advises) | Cleaned by | Signed off |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All | ||||||
| All |
Line cleaner is a hazardous substance. Include it in your COSHH assessment, store it securely, provide gloves and eye protection, and never mix it with other chemicals. HSE's advice is to add concentrate to water, not water to concentrate.
Cask handling checklist
From Cask Marque's cellar card:
On delivery
- Best before date has at least 14 days left before you sign
- Casks stored straight away in the cooled cellar (11°C to 13°C)
- Placed on the stillage immediately, level
Stillaging and venting
- Keystone and shive cleaned
- Soft peg used to vent the cask
- Soft peg replaced with a hard peg when the cask stops working
- Cask tapped within two days of venting
- Checked for leaks around the keystone
Before putting on sale
- Beer tasted, and clarity and aroma checked, before connecting
- Beer has had time to settle after tapping
Stock control
- Container sizes you can empty within three days of going on sale
- At least three days' stock held when a new delivery arrives
- Oldest stock used first
- Nothing sold beyond its date
- Beer never returned to the cask
Manual tilting (if not using self-tilting stillages)
- Only at the end of a session, so any disturbance can settle
- Only when the cask is more than half full
- Back of the cask raised three to five inches, no more
Gas safety in the cellar
HSE's guidance on carbon dioxide is the reason this section matters:
- CO2 is colourless and odourless, so you can't see or smell a dangerous build-up.
- It's heavier than air, so it collects in low spaces.
- Deaths from asphyxiation have occurred when high concentrations entered confined spaces, including cellars.
- Rising levels cause headaches, dizziness, confusion and loss of consciousness.
- CO2 is a substance hazardous to health under COSHH, with workplace exposure limits of 5,000 ppm (8-hour average) and 15,000 ppm (15-minute average).
Gas cylinder checklist
| Done | Check |
|---|---|
| [ ] | Cylinders stored securely, valves uppermost, chained or racked so they can't fall |
| [ ] | Cylinders, valves and regulators undamaged |
| [ ] | No hissing or gas smell at connections (mixed gas may carry other gases; follow supplier advice) |
| [ ] | Spare and empty cylinders stored as your supplier advises, not lying loose |
| [ ] | Cellar ventilation clear and working |
| [ ] | Gas monitor or alarm (if fitted) tested and maintained as the supplier instructs |
| [ ] | Only trained staff change cylinders; training recorded |
| [ ] | Gas supplier's emergency number displayed in the cellar |
If a gas alarm sounds or you suspect a leak
Have a written plan and train staff on it. As a minimum:
- Don't go into the cellar to investigate on your own.
- Get everyone out of the cellar.
- Call your gas supplier's emergency line and follow their instructions.
- Don't re-enter until it's confirmed safe.
- Record what happened.
Moving cylinders is also a manual handling risk. Use a trolley, don't roll or drop them, and keep them upright.
Making the routine stick
Give the cellar an owner. One trained cellar person per site, with a trained back-up. The weekly line clean is the job most likely to slip when the usual person is on holiday.
Put it on the rota. If line cleaning happens Monday morning, rota someone in early on Monday with "line clean" in the day note, rather than hoping it gets squeezed in.
Record the temperature, don't just glance at it. A cellar creeping from 12°C to 15°C over a fortnight is easy to miss without a log, and the first sign is usually customers complaining about warm, lively beer.
Or let ShiftComplete run it for you
ShiftComplete turns your cellar routine into checks on the phone or the tablet behind the bar:
- Temperature logs: set the cellar up as its own point with a range of 11°C to 13°C. Staff log it in seconds, readings are named and timestamped, and anything out of range is flagged on the dashboard.
- Checklists that differ by weekday: opening and closing cellar checks every day, line cleaning on your line-clean day, gas cylinder checks weekly, with photo evidence if you want it.
- Rotas with day notes and staff areas: put the cellar person on the rota for the line clean, with a "Cellar" area on their time block.
- Incidents and maintenance: log a cooler fault, a leaking coupler or a gas alarm with a photo, severity and status, and track it until it's fixed.
- Risk assessments: keep your cellar and COSHH assessments in the app, ready to print.
£1.49 per staff member per month, every feature included, free for 60 days with no card needed.
Frequently asked questions
What temperature should a pub cellar be?
Cask Marque, the cask ale quality scheme, recommends a cellar temperature of 11°C to 13°C, kept constant. That's also the range it recommends for cask ale in the glass. Keep the cellar door shut and the cooling running so the temperature doesn't swing, and check and record it every day.
How often should beer lines be cleaned?
Cask Marque says at least every 7 days, using a recommended line cleaner, and to keep records. Clean taps, tap filters and dipsticks before and after use too. Line cleaner is a hazardous chemical, so it should be in your COSHH assessment, and whoever cleans the lines needs gloves, eye protection and training.
How long does a cask of beer last once it's on?
Cask Marque's tips say beer once broached should be sold within 3 days, and its cellar card advises ordering container sizes you can empty within three days of putting them on sale. That's why fewer, faster-selling cask lines usually beat a long bar of slow ones. Stronger beers can keep a little longer, but quality is what's at stake.
Is CO2 in a pub cellar dangerous?
It can be. HSE says carbon dioxide is colourless and odourless, heavier than air, and has caused deaths by asphyxiation when high concentrations built up in confined spaces including cellars. Symptoms of rising levels include headaches, dizziness and confusion. Secure cylinders, fix leaks straight away, follow your gas supplier's safety advice and never ignore a gas alarm.
Who should change gas cylinders in a pub?
Only staff who've been trained to do it safely by you or your gas supplier. They should know how to check connections for leaks, how to move cylinders without dropping them, how to secure them upright, and what to do if a cylinder is damaged or leaking. Record who has been trained.
Sources
- Cask Marque: Cellar Card (PDF)
- Cask Marque: Top 10 tips to improve beer quality
- Cask Marque: Keeping and serving cask beer
- HSE: General hazards of carbon dioxide
- HSE: Drum and cylinder handling
- HSE: Safe use of cleaning substances in the hospitality industry (CAIS22)
Checked 24 October 2026. This guide is general information, not legal advice.