Bottled beer or draft beer: which is worth it more?

Customers, friends who already work in the beer market or who are planning to enter it by opening a bar or another establishment that sells beer, all have this question: is it better to work with bottled beer or draft beer?

As always, when we talk about beer, the answer is: it depends!

It depends on what audience you want to attract, what service you intend to offer and which beers you will sell. And if it's in kegs, which type of draft beer you want to offer and what equipment you are willing to buy.

Quality and quantity

As a general rule, except for cellaring beers (those made to age and be drunk years later) and, nowadays, some cans from craft breweries (because they are actually filled with draft beer), beer served as draft beer is always better than bottled beer.

One reason is that draft beer is “alive”: it is not pasteurized.

So if you want to offer your customers the best product, and you are torn between draft and bottles, draft wins.

But what makes it better is also what makes it more delicate: the shelf life of the product in the two formats can't even be compared. While a bottled beer easily lasts six months, kegs of draft beer with 30 days of shelf life are common in the market.

When sealed! Because once tapped, the time the product has before it spoils is 5 to 10 days.

For that reason, I suggest carrying draft beer only in the highest-selling styles, to make sure that what is in your customers' glasses is always fresh and that you don't have waste from having to throw out kegs of soured draft beer that didn't turn over enough and were left over.

And for customers who would like to pair with a house dish and/or who are already regulars looking for something new, that is where the beer list shines, and it doesn't need to be huge.

On it, I suggest having a more unusual and bold label or two. Nowadays breweries are innovating and experimenting with many ingredients and processes. Cover at least the famous styles that don't turn over that quickly, such as Stout, Porter, Tripel, Quadrupel, Fruit Beer, Sours, among others.

Equipment and service

The mixed model lets you take advantage of everything beer offers in terms of visuals to please the customer: they can admire a beautiful draft beer dispenser decorating your counter, or be delighted by an innovative self-pour draft beer system called myTapp. How about that?

At the same time, they can get lost looking at the refrigerator glass decorated with the labels of the beers they can choose from.

And the glasses... Have you thought about it? You can have a standard glass, with your establishment's logo, to serve the draft beers, and specific glasses for each beer when the customer opts for a bottle.

Profitability

Draft beer, if well managed, avoiding waste, with efficient equipment and cleaning always up to date, is a much more profitable product than bottled beer. It allows a higher markup on the sale (or a lower COGS, depending on how you calculate it), and negotiations with breweries and distributors are also more flexible.

But the beer list is also important for generating revenue, because it can include the trendy beer that will attract the geek crowd, a non-alcoholic beer for the designated driver, and also that quadrupel with vanilla that pairs with the chocolate cake on your menu.

We could cover several points of comparison between bottled beer and draft beer; however, we believe that at this moment, as Brazil discovers beer culture more every day, these three basic points can be very relevant for anyone with this question.

There is no magic recipe, and don't trust anyone who points to a miracle path without knowing your business and your audience. Who will you serve? What kind of convenience do you want to offer? What profitability do you expect? It all depends on a clear analysis of who you are, your business and your team.

And of course, if you need consulting, myTapp is here to help. How about talking to our team? Leave your contact details and we will get in touch with you!

Let's talk so you can learn more about myTapp and self-pour draft beer!

I want it!