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Bar & cellar · pints · loss
How many pints should a keg give, and where did the rest go?
What a keg should pour against what the till says it sold — the gap in pints, as a share of the keg, and what it is worth at your price. Line cleaning and the foam on a new keg are real losses; the allowance is yours to set.
Measure it
Every box has its own unit next to it.
Change the unit beside any box and the number converts. The (i) beside each question says what the box wants and where the figure usually comes from. Anything marked per cent is a percentage of the quantity above it.
Check the rates
Rates and assumptions used
These are the figures the calculator works to. Change any of them and the order list updates — your merchant’s pack sizes and your own waste allowances beat the defaults every time.
Order list
The orange figure is the one you order to. Highlighted rows are the other numbers you order to. The small print under each row is the sum that produced it, so you can check it against your own take-off. Amber rows are warnings, not quantities.
How this one works
- Pints in the keg =
keg litres ÷ 0.568 L(the imperial pint, 568.26 mL) - Expected to sell =
pints in the keg × (1 − allowance %) - Unaccounted for =
expected − sold through the till, as a share of the keg and in money at your price
The figures the calculator works to. Every one can be changed in step 2, and your merchant’s pack sizes and your own waste allowances beat these defaults every time.
| Rate | Default | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Allowance for line cleaning and foam | 2 % | Beer you expect to lose: the line flush and the fobbing on a new keg. Set your own. |
| A pint | 0.56826 L | The imperial pint is 568.26 mL. |
A worked example
With the defaults the page opens on:
- What size is the keg? 50 litres (11 gallons)
- How many pints did the till sell from it? 80 pints
- What do you charge for a pint? £5.20
The keg
- Pints in the keg: 88 pints — 50 L ÷ 0.568 L
- Expected to sell: 86.2 pints — less 2% for cleaning and foam
- Sold through the till: 80 pints
The gap
- Unaccounted for: 6.2 pints — 86.2 − 80
- As a share of the keg: 7 % — 6.2 ÷ 88 pints
- Worth at your price: £32.24 — 6.2 pints × £5.20
Change any figure above and every line recalculates; the small print under each row is the sum that produced it.
Questions people ask
How many pints are in a keg?
The keg’s litres divided by 0.568, the imperial pint: a 50-litre (11-gallon) keg holds 88 pints and a 30-litre keg 52.8.
How do I work out keg wastage?
Take off the allowance you expect to lose to line cleaning and foam, then compare what is left with the pints the till sold from that keg. The gap is shown in pints, as a share of the keg and at your price.
What if the till sold more than the keg should give?
The page says so rather than showing a negative loss. Check the till line, the keg size and the date the keg went on.
More tools beyond the site
Running the bar as well as the cellar? PBS Bar, in development, keeps the till, the floor, the bookings and the books in one place.
Read before you rely on this. These do the sum with the figures you give them and nothing more. A dose, the product and its withdrawal period come from the label and your vet; a keg’s yield from your own lines and till; a delivery’s real costs from your own books.