UPDATED: 2/14/24

Over 2023, challenges in the American economy with inflation directly affected the price of many goods, including beer.

Indeed, the data seems to support that prices for craft beer have increased across major styles and formats.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Consumer Price Index for beer at home rose +2.4% year-over-year (YoY), higher than the +1.9% YoY increase reported in 2023. However, the report did show that the increase has slowed since January 2023, which recorded a +9% YoY increase.

Last year, Untappd reported that across all U.S. retailers from March 2022 to December 2022, the average price of American light lager (per 16oz draft) increased +3.3%, to $4.94, while this style in 12oz bottles, also increased +3.4%, to $3.91.

And if you thought this might just be unique to lagers, Untappd also analyzed price data for American IPAs. On draft, this style’s price increased +1.9%, to $6.88 in 16oz cans. And increased +3.7% in 12oz bottles to $3.97 over that ten-month period in 2022.

“Brewery taprooms have seen solid price increases across three styles we examined,” Smith wrote in the report. “Across all venue types, however, the lower priced American light lager saw the largest price increase on a percentage basis.”

He continues, “I’ve spoken with a number of independent brewers that were unsure about taking price increases in 2022 (some macro producers took two price increases). It appears, based on the pricing data we see from beers coming out of A-B InBev’s craft unit, that there is ample headroom for smaller producers to take more price in 2023.”

Alcohol Delivered gathered data on average case prices for a 24-pack of Bud Light and Miller Lite across the country in 2024. Their data showed the cheapest price at $16.43 in Illinois all the way to the highest at $33.62 in Alaska.

Overall, considering how to price your products this year is going to be one of the most important business decisions you make.

And it’s a tough thing to nail.

If you price too low, you leave money on the table. But if your product is too expensive, it won’t sell.

When it comes to pricing beer or cider, there are several things to consider. But first and foremost, you need to answer one important question: What type of business do you have?

Do you run a bar or restaurant offering on-site consumption? Are you a bottle shop that only offers to-go products? Do you provide on-site consumption and a selection of products to-go? Something else?

Before you can start to understand pricing, you need to think about what you sell. For instance, pouring beer on draft versus serving it in a can or bottle carries a different cost. With the average cost to serve a bottled beer at twenty-five percent and draft beer closer to twenty percent, draft beer might be your highest margin item, but might also come with added expenses for refrigeration and pouring equipment.

It can seem like a lot, but getting the price of your products right can mean more profitability for your establishment and a better bottom line.

And we’re here to help.

UPDATED: 2/9/24

Craft beer is a social community. Whether you’re grabbing pints with friends at a local taproom, traveling to a beer festival with your college pals, or even just making new acquaintances during a brewery tour, breweries (and beer!) facilitate social interaction. Drinking beer with a stranger is like breaking bread with them. We connect over the liquid.

For breweries looking to foster their own communities, starting a mug club program can be a great opportunity. Typically, fans can purchase access to a mug club for a yearly fee, unlocking a host of perks, discounts, exclusive tastings and events, and more. The mugs not only allow brewers to give a little something back to their most devoted fans, but also help create a loyal culture.

Additionally, the idea of an exclusive group like a mug club gives your most passionate consumers the chance to meet one another and geek out over beer while supporting your business.

Plenty of breweries across the country already offer mug club memberships. But, how do you go about starting one? And, what makes one worth it?

UPDATED: 2/2/24

You can brew the best milkshake IPA on the planet. But, if your beer label doesn’t catch the eye of the consumer and meet all the requirements mandated by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB), your beer won’t stand out on the shelf. Or even make it to the shelf.

“A beer label is the number one way consumers will interact with your brand,” says Matt Tanaka, Founder of Stout Collective, a design-driven creative studio rooted in beer that designed over 500 beer labels last year alone. “In a world with 9,000+ craft breweries in the United States alone, you have a fraction of a second to catch a consumer’s eye on the beer shelf. It’s a really competitive space. The way to compete is with label design.”

To say it simply: Your beer label will determine if someone buys your beer.

“You really can’t overstate how important your brand is,” says Tim Corcoran, co-founder of Massachusetts-based Coastal Mass Brewing (nee Channel Marker Brewing), whose distinctive labels have set the tone for the brewery and consistently impress a loyal following. “Your can label designs are the first thing you should think of when it comes to a brewery’s branding, in addition to your logo.”

When considering something as important as designing the perfect beer label, there are several things that need your consideration, starting with legal compliance. From the visual design to why you can’t use the abbreviation IPA to pressure sensitive versus shrink sleeves, we’ll show you how to create the perfect beer label.

When was the last time you went to a restaurant, bar, taproom, or brewery tasting room and didn’t have a menu? That’s probably never happened. Menus are an integral part of the customer experience, telling you what’s available to order. But more than an ordering tool, menus—both digital and print—give an establishment the opportunity to showcase its brand.

An all-encompassing digital beverage platform, Untappd for Business feeds into the over 3,000,000-beer Untappd database, allowing any Verified Venue food/beverage facility to swiftly build a print, digital, or QR code menu to share with craft beer enthusiasts.

Additionally, the robust Untappd for Business tool provides easy access to data on the most popular beers in your region and recent industry trends, guiding decisions on which beer to stock or brew for your customers.

With Untappd for Business, you can access a world-class beer database, receive top-notch analytics, and create digital and print menus that will set your brand up for success.

UPDATED: 1/26/24

In the last five years or so, the way we’ve tipped has changed. Today, many contactless and digital payment apps make it easy to add anywhere from a ten percent to even twenty-five percent tip to an order.

But that doesn’t necessarily mean that more Americans are tipping. Even as business has returned to a new normal.

While tipping at standard American sit-down restaurants has remained around 19.4 percent, Toast reports that an average tip for quick-service restaurants (and places like breweries) on their platform now only reaches 16.1 percent, down from seventeen percent in 2022.

Overall, Toast reports that tipping remained steady over the course of 2023.

According to a Pew Research survey, Americans report leaving a tip on average the most at sit-down restaurants (92%), when ordering food delivery (76%), and when buying a drink at a bar (70%). On the other hand, only 12% of Americans leave a tip at a fast-casual restaurant.

While most people are inclined to tip, others may need a little nod in the right direction. And while the aforementioned payment platforms, such as Toast, offer easy tipping options (66.6 percent of people using that platform will include a tip in their transactions), nothing replaces a good ole’ tip jar on the counter.

Whether you’re starting up a friendly competition, roping them in with cultural references and puns, or incentivizing with freebies, remind your customers to tip their bartenders by making it fun and engaging.

A good tactic to get tips going is to start the shift off with a few bills in the jar to remind guests this is a real need, kind of like an “everybody is doing it” subtle peer pressure. If you’re stuck on how to get the tips rolling in, check out thirty of the best tip jar ideas we came across for an emotional appeal, a little bit of humor, and clearing up local rivalries.

UPDATED: 1/19/24

Brewing great beer is important but if you can’t represent the soul of your brewery through your branding, no one will understand who you are. With over 9,700 breweries operating in the United States, your beer will only set you apart so much from the pack.

“How much better can your Hazy IPA be than the next guy?” says Ben Butler, former co-founder of the now-closed Necromancer Brewing and Top Hat, an award-winning design and marketing agency in Pittsburgh. “If two brands are sitting on a shelf right next to each other, you’re probably going to grab the one you’re more interested in. Branding now has the final say.”

For better or for worse, gone are the days of succeeding based on beer merit alone. In 2024, people want to hear the unique story that brought your company into the business. They want to connect with who you are as a brewery, learn about nuances that make you different, and understand your beliefs and values as a business.

But it can be challenging to answer the questions: Who are you? Who is your brand? And how can you visually represent your brewery in a few short words, colors, and illustrations?

We asked the experts at some of the top beer-focused design agencies around the country to share how they attempt to answer these questions, how to design a brewery logo and what makes the best ones work.

Running any type of hospitality business like a bar, restaurant, or brewery is a challenging ordeal.

With so many moving parts — ordering supplies, creating menus, and the overall operations, managers barely have enough time to make sure things are getting done.

Then, there’s creating a schedule to ensure you have staff on hand to run everything smoothly.

Primitive methods of writing schedules by hand, or even “advanced” ways of putting them together with a computerized spreadsheet, can tack on hours to a manager’s week and, more importantly, take them away from more critical tasks.

Scheduling software tools, like North Carolina-based Schedulefly, have swooped in to solve that issue, saving companies time and money while streamlining operations.

We heard from Schedulefly Co-Founder Wil Brawley, Mad Mole Brewing Taproom and Operations Manager Byron McSweeney, and Big Red F Restaurant Group Owner and Chef Dave Query, who explain how using scheduling software is a win-win for brewery operations—and many other hospitality services—big and small.

Did you always wish your wine, spirits, and food menu edits were as quick and easy as they are for beer on Untappd for Business?

Untappd for Business Premium can accomplish all of this and more. From wine and liquor to unlimited menu items and more, Untappd for Business Premium allows you to craft the perfect menu of your entire catalog to help bring in more traffic and create a unique experience for your guests.

Updated: 3/16/23

Three years ago a global pandemic forced establishments in the hospitality industry to completely rethink, recreate, and reinvent strategies to maintain a revenue stream. And while in 2021 many bars began to return to “business as usual,” the lockdowns from COVID-19 started new bar trends that will keep developing throughout 2023 and beyond.

Above all, keep an eye on these six bar trends, which reflect the inventive ways bar owners have adapted and persevered to keep their businesses alive and their patrons happy.

Untappd is the world’s largest community of beer enthusiasts with over 1o million registered users. At its core, Untappd is an app that invites people to socially share the beers they’re currently enjoying by “checking them in.” Curious about what your friends are drinking or where they’re hanging out? Just check out their Untappd profile.

In April 2021, Untappd hit over 1 billion check-ins worldwide, making it the premier social platform to engage with a community of dedicated craft beer drinkers.

And in 2022, the community registered its one billionth badge earned. What is a badge you ask? Well, for a brewery, beer business, taproom, or bar, one of the best ways to tap into this hyper-engaged community is through Untappd badges.