Draft beer update: Taps open and rate of sale continue to tick up in BeerBoard data

It’s been a while since we’ve checked in on BeerBoard’s On-Premise Status Report. BeerBoard is a technology company managing over $1 billion in retail draft beer sales and 60,000 products through its digital platform. Through that platform they analyze and report real-time data related to bar performance, brand insights and inventory. It’s a neat tool, and as the country continues its half-baked reopening during the pandemic, these reports are a handy snapshot into how it’s all going.

Here’s where things stand as of the Sept. 25 – 27 weekend.

Taps

The Average Number of Taps continues to tick up, this weekend adding one more to the count and coming in at 18 per location nationally. Michigan, Tennessee and Texas all added one (1) tap per location, while seven of the states tracked held firm with their tap count.

Coming off a sizable bump in the previous period, the Percentage of Taps Pouring saw nominal growth nationally (+1.5%) on the weekend. Among states tracked, Georgia saw a +8.1% bump, climbing to 68% of taps pouring. Nevada held steady at 75% of taps pouring, leading the way among states tracked in this report.

Volume

On-Premise Volume (per location) grew for a second straight period, climbing +13.5% nationally from September 11-13. This follows a +6.5% bump in the previous period. Florida saw significant growth again, this time checking in at +21.4% (the state was +25.6% in the previous report). Tennessee (+21.0%), Georgia (+19.1%), New York (+13.1%) and Texas (+12.2%) all realized double-digit growth per location.

Rate of Sale realized +8.2% growth for the weekend, following a +7.1% climb Sept 11-13. Nine of the 10 states tracked saw growth in ROS, led by Georgia (+12.5%) and Florida (+11.2%). Tracking YOY data for the same weekend in 2019, Georgia was +133.8%, while South Carolina (+130.7%) and Tennessee (+106.1%) were also up significantly.

Category performance

Things were relatively flat in both Volume and Tap Share. Domestics dropped a point of Volume Share, falling to 53.5%, while seeing a slight dip in Tap Share (-0.5%).

After seeing no movement in the Top 5 Styles for three consecutive periods, Euro Lagers pushed out Wheat/Hefeweizen, checking in at #5. Wheat/Hefe actually dropped to #7 overall, with Euro Ales holding the #6 position on the weekend. The top four styles remain unchanged.