beer on tap vs no beer on tap

[franwake13]

hey whats up? what does you guys think of tap beer? im pushing for it. i think it would be a money maker. from the research i have done i think that the profit would be around 150-270 after purchase. i dont want to invest the money if its not worth....... thanks for the input!

[RichPugh]

I dunno your location or clientelle but I'm a pizzeria tavern and it's insanely profitable. We have 5 draughts, about 12 different canned and nearly 30 bottled selections. Alcohol is worth the hoops to jump thru to sell it. But, please don't just toss 1-2-3 crummy kegs in there just cause. Put beers on that you really like and explain where theyre from and the styles and the tastes, etc. It's simple to toss a keg of miller lite on and sell 110 pints for $3 or 150 smaller glasses for $2.50 or whatever but also toss on a few selections like some andersen valley beers or Oskar blues or something other than brands from the big 3. It's profitable, it sells itself and it pairs lovely with pizza (probably wanna get a couple table wines too while you're at it).

[c0mpl3x]

redhook long hammer IPA.  about 50 per 1/6keg.  the clients that get hooked..  will clear a keg in one night

[GotRocks]

Any product that you can sell at a decent profit ratio is a good choice to offer.
I currently do not offer beer at my place because I have very limited seating, and I found it more profitable to turn our tables faster than to have a group sitting there ruminating over their beers and taking up valuable table space for a longer period. Since I have a BBQ place, or motto is "Grab your meat and beat it" I am installing my WFO and will have it up and turning out pies by Mid July though. About the same time my dining room expansion happens and I serve beer too.

Tap beer; you will realize unexplained inventory shrinkage, some is unavoidable. But you got to watch out for the freebies from the servers. Bottled beer is way easier to control your inventory and locate your shrinkage problems sooner.

Check your state laws, see if you have what is called 'Dram Shoppe Laws" if so, consult your insurance agent and make sure your butt is covered. You may also want to get your employees into an accredited Serv-Safe alcohol service course to help with lowering your premiums

[Jeep Pizza]

What ever you do Keg or bottles please dear god searve more than lite beer from the big 3. A large group of us will put away large numbers of pies and good beer. I am speeking for a group that I get together with weekly and we end the night with a pizza and beer tab of at least 500 for the 10 of us. We Do Not Drink Lite Beer so this keeps us away from a few places in Charlotte because that is all they have besides Bud and Papst. Don't like those either.

[pizzablogger]

GotRocks said:

"Tap beer; you will realize unexplained inventory shrinkage, some is unavoidable. But you got to watch out for the freebies from the servers. Bottled beer is way easier to control your inventory and locate your shrinkage problems sooner."

As someone who has spent time behind a bar and as a restaurant manager, GotRocks makes a very cogent point.

Inventory shrinkage with draft beer can be a problem is you are not very vigilant. There is inherently some shrinkage due to drips, bad pours, etc. Places that do not dedicate the time to keep their tap lines clean and equipment in good order will loose more beer than those places that do keep their lines and equipment in good order.

A seemingly harmless freebie here and there adds up very quickly to lost money. Any bartender who gives away even one freebie, unless given express discretion from ownership, needs to be reprimanded or fired, period.

That being said, as a beer enthusiast who has been both brewing and drinking good beer for two decades now, draft beer is a good thing...again if the establishment offering the draft beer is serving good draft beer. By good I mean the beer itself is a good product and it is kept at the right temperature and the lines are kept clean and in good order...it is easy to tell if a place slacks on these when drinking the beer. --K

[pizzablogger]

Because I have a big mouth and am opinionated on this topic, let me add:

The big three (Anheuser-Busch, Coors and Miller) are reprehensible businesses that make a poor product full of adjuncts (corn or rice have NO business in beer), which are devoid of passion and that taste like horse piss.

Their products are not representative of an interest in creativity or craftsmanship. In short, an embarrassment to American pride and an affront to me as a consumer. Missleading advertising and aggressive interest in pressuring sellers and distributors adds up to products that have no place in the modern drinking establishment.

There are a growing number of beer drinkers, and I am one of them, that will not frequent an establishment when a large percentage of the tap selection is dedicated to these products...regardless to how friendly the staff is or how good the food served by said place.

I can understand the need to have a tap handle dedicated to a major, but there are simply far too many passionate beer makers in this county offering honest products of integrity and pride...and an ever growing amount of beer drinkers wanting these products. 

[GotRocks]

I am right in line with the previous 2 posters, quality craft-brewed beers are finally getting the recognition and following that they deserve.
I have my brands chosen already for here, they Spotted Cow, Fat Squirrel, and Shiner Bock. no watered down beers brewed from rice and owned by multinational conglomerates based overseas someplace. I was just going to stick with Wisconsin brewed beers, but Shiner is just too darn good to not have.

[gorbachevguy]

Mmmm...New Glarus.  Yummmm....Nice call. 

[Tscarborough]

You better drop the Shiner Bock then.  It is owned by a biggie, and while not bad, it was a better value at 3 bucks a 6 before they tripled the price and began advertising.

[Essen1]

You better drop the Shiner Bock then.  It is owned by a biggie, and while not bad, it was a better value at 3 bucks a 6 before they tripled the price and began advertising.

Really?

I thought it's made by Spoetzl Brewing Co. out of Texas? I didn't know they were a big one with only 66 employees.

In regards to having good beer on Tab, my vote would go to Gordon Biersch, Weihenstephan from Germany and Radeberger as a good Pilsner.

[widespreadpizza]

Mike,  looks like they are owned by someone else now.  http://www.gambrinus.com/brands.html -marc

[Essen1]

Marc,

Their website says that they also acquired Trumer Brewery in Berkeley, CA.

But I know that it's actually more of a partnership with its mother brewery, Sigl, from Salzburg, Austria. I'm wondering if that might be the case with Spoetzl, too, because I can't find any info that it has really been sold to the Gambrinus Group.

[Tscarborough]

Trust me it has been.  I have been to the plant many times.

[GotRocks]

well, that kinda sucks. Argh, it looks like I'll just bring the Sprecher seasonal beer line in then. I already use some of their soda products, so what the heck, why not? But when you put Sprecher up against New Glarus, the new glarus products are going to outsell the sprecher.

Gourmet soft drinks are our thing here right now, all of our soft-drinks are made with cane sugar instead of HFCS, I sell Hanks premium, Sprecher, Souix City, Jelly Belly, I do have coca-cola and Fanta , but they come from Mexico, made with sugar, and in glass. For many months I had "Heritage" Dr. Pepper which was a cane sugar drink, but it was a limited time thing.

I dropped 37 pounds this last summer, and my only lifestyle change was drinking Coke made with sugar instead of the US concoction made with with High-Fructose Corn Syrup, My doctor even did a full blood diagnostic because she was concerned I was ill, or using some sort of amphetamine because the weight fell off so quickly.

[AnnieK]

Hi-

I own a pizzeria in Colorado. We have 8 beers on draft, all from New Belgium brewery (based in Fort Collins, CO). We specifically made the decision to change from a keg cooler with 4 beers on draft (and some bottles to supplement) to a Micromatic draft system that runs lines to our walk-in. It was noted above about inventory loss due to bad pours; yes this can be an issue, but going with a quality draft system reduces that by a huge amount. Keg coolers can produce a ton of wasted beer, they are simply not as efficient as a good line set-up. The plus side; they are cheap. But, that being said, while a good line set-up will cost a pretty penny, you absolutely will make this up with the quality of your pours. Our system paid for itself in about two months with increased bevvy sales and less spillage.

I have to echo the sentiment about having good beers on draft as well. The decision to really get behind a locally based brewery has paid off tremendously with the support they have given us in return. You will not get this from a massive company. Plus, any way to distinguish your biz from the myriad of places that offer generic run of the mill beer is great, imo.

Also, another one of our main reasons for going strictly draft was the environmental impact of glass bottles. You may not care that much about this, but for our concept it really made sense. The amount of waste produced by a restaurant is already staggering, why add to that? Yes, we used to recycle our bottles, but then that adds the time of sorting, taking to the recycle center, etc etc. which always fell upon us owners.

Just some thoughts.