Cost & pricing
Draft Beer & Keg Calculator
How many pints do I actually get out of this keg, and what does each one cost me?
Kegs are sold by volume but poured by glass, and foam eats the difference. Enter what the keg costs and what you pour, and this gives you real pints and real cost per pint.
Your numbers
A worked example is already loaded. Replace any field with the figures from the source named beside it.
The answer
Cost per pour
$1.58
117 sellable pours from this keg
- Sellable pours per keg117
- Gross profit per keg$751.00
- Pour cost19.8%
- Gross profit per pour$6.42
- Revenue per keg$936.00
- Total ounces in keg1,984 oz
- Ounces lost to foam and lines99.2 oz
- Menu-value of beer lostLost ounces divided by the glass pour, valued at menu price. Partial pours are retained in this estimate.$49.60
Draught beer cost, % of sales
Industry standards body- Draught beer programme (implied by a published gross margin of 80% or more)0–20%
Published by a trade body that sets technical standards for the category.
The manual states draught beer should return a gross margin of 80% or more, which is a pour cost at or below 20%. It also documents a worked example at 22% serving cost, so treat 20% as the target rather than a floor.
Source: Brewers Association, Draught Beer Quality Manual for Retailers (2nd edition), Profitability, p.27 (2022)
03 Show the arithmetic
04 What the answer leaves out
- Keg volumes are exact conversions of the nominal barrel and metric sizes. Actual fill can vary slightly by brewery.
- Enter the beer that reaches the glass, not the glass capacity. A 16 oz shaker glass poured with a proper head delivers closer to 14 oz.