How to Price Draft vs Bottled Beer

If you’re brand new to running a restaurant or bar, then you know pricing is one of the most challenging aspects of getting started. You want to make a profit while offering quality products at prices appropriate for your area and customer base. It sounds easy at first, but there’s actually a lot involved, especially if you want to maintain a balance that allows you to thrive. So, let’s look at how to price draft vs bottled beer.

How to Price Draft vs Bottled Beer

For many restaurants and bars, this means that you have different profit margins for different products. There will likely be just a few items on your menu that really up your businesses profits. While you might experience a slight loss on one or two other items to stay competitive. Fortunately, if you have a beer and wine license, it can be really easy to make up for those small deficits.

The Profit in Beer

One of the restaurant industry’s best-kept secrets is the absolutely ridiculous profit margin on draft beer. With the right set up, draft beer in particular can rake in up to an 80% profit margin. Bottled beer can bring in a pretty profit as well, but it typically costs 40-45% more per ounce, so it isn’t the most cost-effective option if you’re planning to own your business for more than a few years.

With that said, most savvy bar and restaurant owners do serve both. Having draft and bottled beer available allows you to serve a wide variety of preferences even if you’re only able to sustain a three or six-handle draft beer system. However, in order to make that work, you’re going to need to know how to price both appropriately.

Pricing Draft VS. Bottled

Draft and bottled beer are priced differently according to their pour costs. The pour cost is the initial cost of the beverage divided by its sale price. On average, you can expect a draft beer’s pour cost to be about 20%. A bottled or canned beer’s pour cost will be about 25%. This is a result of the fact that draft beer is substantially cheaper per ounce and also tends to fetch a higher price point. However, you might wonder why the difference in pour cost isn’t greater.

The truth is that there is a lot of overhead associated with purchasing and properly maintaining Los Angeles Beer Dispensing Equipment. You need the space, the pipes, the handles, the nitrogen, the CO2, the refrigeration. And a whole host of other smaller pieces necessary to serve a quality, safe draft beer. All of that overhead brings your pour cost higher. But even with all of that draft beer remains more profitable than bottled or canned beer.

Putting Together Your Final Prices

When you’re first getting started, you can certainly look at other businesses in your area for an idea of what your prices should be. You just need to be careful that you don’t assume their costs are the same. If you want to be certain that your prices are right for your business, you need to take all of your overhead into account and budget it to get an accurate pour cost.

For newer businesses with higher overhead, you can start by pricing your beers individually according to precise pour costs. Over time, as you get more comfortable with your business, you can embrace a grouped price point model. By that we mean you can start charging a standard rate for domestics, internationals, and specialty beers. This model can make your life much easier if you’re planning to consistently exchange what you have on tap.

Getting Started

Running a bar or restaurant is hard, and it takes an exceptional level of dedication. Fortunately, with the people of Southern California Beverage Company in your corner you can be sure that you’ll have the right equipment to make your business everything you hope it will be.

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Top Beer Cocktails to Make Now

Beer is all the rage at the moment. However, that means that your run-of-the-mill craft beer is just enough to make you pretentious without actually standing out in a positive way. If you’re looking to enjoy your favorite brew while making a statement, then look no further than these classic beer cocktails.

Top Beer Cocktails to Make Now

Many of these drinks are nearing two hundred years old, but they taste as fresh today as they did back then. This contrast brings them into perfect play with many of the popular aesthetics we see today.

The Black Velvet

This delicate drink is a personal favorite, and it surely deserves to top the list. The black velvet was supposedly invented by a bartender in London in the year 1861. As legend has it, the drink was created in tribute to Prince Albert, who had recently passed.

Today, the black velvet is still made by creating a layered beer cocktail composed of stout and champagne. Guinness is the typical stout of choice, but there is a variation of the black velvet that has gained popularity. Commonly known as the “poor man’s black velvet,” this variation replaces champagne with a cider. Either way, the black velvet is a classic that will always be welcome.

The Snake Bite

For those who prefer a lighter option to stout, there’s the snake bite. This drink became popular in 1980s Britain, and it’s made from layering a lager with a cider. As with a black velvet the two liquids are layered creating an appealing visual effect. In fact, if you see a rather flat spoon hanging from beer equipment in the Inland Empire, then they’re likely used to creating some of these exact layered drinks.

The Michelada

The classic Mexican Michelada dates back to the 1940s. The cocktail resembles a Bloody Mary with some clear differences. A light lager replaces the vodka, and the drink usually includes stronger spices. Hot sauce, teriyaki sauce, and tajin all frequently find themselves mixed into the Michelada. As a result, you’ll generally find that Micheladas vary across regions, but you will always find that perfect balance between heat and refreshment.

The Shandy

A shandy could refer to a wide variety of different beer cocktails, but the general term originates in 1850s Britain. Essentially, a shandy is a mix of beer and ginger ale. However, modern renditions of the classic shandy may feature lemonade, orange juice, or any other number of fruit-based liquids. The important thing for a shandy is that it’s well-balanced, a bit tart, and completely delicious.

Corrido Prohibido

If you’re looking for something with a stronger alcohol content, then it’s back to Mexico. The corrido prohibido is a twist on the classic margarita, except in this case the drink is a simple blend of a light Mexican lager and tequila. With all of the flavors and variations available among Mexican tequilas, the options for flavor combinations are endless.

A Reflection on Beer Cocktails

Thanks to beer-loving cultures like the British and the peoples of Mexico, there are literally hundreds of well-known beer cocktails that you could promote at your establishment. These are just five of the most common and most loved, but once you get the hang of mixing beer flavors with other juices and liquors, you are sure to add your own.

To help you get started, have your own draft beer service in Los Angeles installed to better serve your customers. Between your creativity and their wiliness to explore, you will help to push beer cocktails to new heights.

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The Draft Beer System Explained

SC Beverage makes use of extensive draft beer systems to deliver the highest quality and most flavorful beer products to our clients far and wide. Today, we are going to highlight our draft beer system and talk about how our dispensing system is used to deliver great beer to restaurants and facilities.

Below, we’ll talk about how the draft beer system works. If you are interested in learning more about the best beer equipment in Los Angeles, or if you want to learn more about what we do, follow us for important updates and check out how you can get more involved!

The Tanks

The first part of the draft beer system is the tanks. They can either be CO2 or a mix of CO2 and nitrogen, which are pressurized gas systems. This is the system that will push your beer into the faucet through the keg. Otherwise, there would be nothing to get the beer out other than gravity. This is what lets you pour your tap on demand any time you want!

The Regulators

The next step to completing your beer equipment in Los Angeles is to install a primary regulator. This regulator is what keeps the gases inside your tanks balanced so that they don’t contain too much pressure. If the regulators aren’t properly adjusted, then they will cause your beer to come out too foamy. Nobody wants to drink beer that is all foam and no substance!

Most regulators can control both high and low pressure, so you can quickly fix and readjust any issues with the pressure.

Then there is the secondary regulator. This regulator is what helps each keg dispense beer at exactly the right pressure. This is a great attachment to have alongside the primary regulator as it can control each individual keg, while the primary regulator controls the pressures overall. They go hand in hand, and they can save you some space, too!

Gas Blender

This important device helps you to dispense several different types of beers at once. If you love offering your customers a variety of beers and brews, you’ll definitely want a gas blender. This is what makes it possible to dispense drinks that have different gas requirements, such as just CO2 or a CO2/Nitrogen blend. This is a nice break from having to maintain different gas tanks all at once.

Air Lines

Every draft beer system has air lines, but what do the different colors mean? You typically will have a green air-line and a purple air-line. They are made of vinyl and they get your gas from the tank to the other parts of the system. They can attach to the regulator with a clamp to deliver directly into your system.

While they are often green and purple, many companies will make them red to distinguish between air and beer.

Faucets and Tap Handles

Now comes the fun part! Your draft beer faucets and tap handles are the systems that you use to directly dispense the beer. This is the most fun part of the whole system, as you get the satisfaction of pulling the tap and having that pressurized beer pour directly into a fresh pint glass.

Also keep in mind that there is a drip tray to catch any spills, as well as some extra features and components of your beer system that can be invested in to prevent extra cleanup chores.

Beer Equipment in Los Angeles

Our SC Beverage professionals are passionate about the ways we dispense beer. Using our beer equipment in Los Angeles, we can provide restaurants and clients with the ability to deliver a fully functional array of draft beers to their customers. If you are interested in building a draft beer system for your own business, you can contact us online or give us a call at (562) 463-8918.

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