Refrigor and
Heineken sponsor
Portuguese Open
Refrigor, Heineken's agent
in Portugal, put in a great
effort at the end of last year
to make a success of Heine-
ken's sponsorship of the Por
tuguese Open Golf Tourna
ment.
I
We're standing in the cellar of a pub near Cork harbour.
Amidst a confusing jumble of pipes and kegs. Noel O'Dona-
van chats away tirelessly as he cleans the beer pipes and dis
pensing installations. After nine years the work has become
routine. "Maintenance may not be the most exciting task, but
it's part of my job" is his laconic reply. For seventeen years
now he's been working for Murphy's Brewery in Cork, for the
past nine years in the technical department.
Little pellet
Fine aim
Odd situation
HEINEKEN INTERNATIONAL MAGAZINE NR23 PAGE 3
Noel ODonavan
to his fingertips
The tournament was held in the
Algarve, in the south of Portugal.
In that area golf is a highly popular
sport, mainly attracting many
British tourists.
During the tournament Heine-
ken and Refrigor set up stalls
alongside the course so that
players, caddies and officials could
enjoy a refreshing drink during the
game. At the pre-match press con
ference Refrigor also put in a lot of
hard work serving drinks. During
the Portuguese Open Heineken
was the only beer that was on sale
in the seven different bars on the
golf course.
At the points where the TV
cameras were set up, Refrigor
arranged for banners to be dis
played. The Portuguese Golf Open
was broadcast not only on local
television but also via Eurosport,
the European satellite station spe
cialising in sports events.
beer man
Noel's address list of customers
is lengthy. He can regularly be
found on licensed premises, either
installing a new dispenser unit or
busy doing maintenance or repair
work. Murphy's Brewery employs
45 people who do the same work
as Noel throughout the length and
breadth of Ireland: keeping the dis
pensing installations in good con
dition to safeguard the optimum
quality of Murphy's products.
Murphy's Brewery attaches
great importance to maintaining
that quality standard. Which is the
reason behind the unusual arrange
ment that the publican does not
have to pay for this service. Not
only is repair and fitting work car
ried out free of charge, but the
cleaning of the pipes and the taps
doesn't cost a penny either.
As soon as Noel shows up at a
pub, the cellar is opened up and he
starts rinsing the pipes clean. To do
this he takes along a device he's
invented himself which he puts
under pressure by coupling it up to
the C02 flask. The device - a cylin
der with various connections - is
filled with water and a cleansing
product. These are then flushed
through the pipe by the pressure of
the carbon dioxide. But first, Noel
inserts a little pellet made of foam
rubber in the pipe and forces it
through with the water to loosen
any beer residues. When the pellet
emerges from the tap, Noel repeats
the procedure, but this time using
plain water. After that the tap is dis
mantled and thoroughly cleaned.
Noel tries to visit each pub on
his address list once every month,
but in practice this proves impossi
ble. "It's a fine aim, but it's just not
possible. Sometimes we cannot get
into the pub because they're
rebuilding or refurbishing." If
everything goes well, Noel can
clean sixteen tap units a day. That
is done within a space of six hours,
as he packs away his cleaning
equipment after 3 o' clock. "After
that time you needn't go to the pubs
wanting to clean the pipes. The
publican's then got his customers
in and the tap can't be closed off."
Noel's remaining hours are spent
on repairs and inspection visits.
Three times a day Noel phones up
the brewery in Cork to find out if
new job orders have come in. His
colleagues who work in the rural
districts all have their own two way
radio link.
Installing new taps is, in Noel's
opinion, one of the nicest aspects
of his work. "In Ireland we have
the odd situation where as many as
fifteen different beer brands may
be on sale in one pub. In the cellar
and behind the bar it's then terribly
difficult to get the tap installation
fitted in the right position. That
sometimes takes up a great deal of
time. A job like that is still a real
challenge."
A completely different aspect of
his work is training newcomers.
He then spends two weeks in front
of the class, telling them every
thing about beer and about the
technical installations needed to
keep that beer in fine fettle and
serve it with its full flavour. Then
Noel takes the newcomers 'iniow'
for four to five weeks to show them
the ropes in daily practice. As he
sees it, this period when they are
under his wing is very important,
because "service to the customers
is of great importance, but the
people providing that service also
have to give it their full support."
The same dedication that Noel
puts into his work is also reflected
in his interest in Murphy's Brew
ery, Heineken and in the wide
range of products. "Do you know
what we ought to have here? Our
own pub selling Heineken products
from all over the world. It would
be an enormous success, I'm con
vinced of it."
Four tap lines at once can be
coupled up to the device that Noel
has designed for cleaning
Noel ODonavan rolls up his
sleeves and then cleans 16
dispenser installations in a day
"It's become routine, but it's very
important.
