Selling kegs to other bars in your own state
Selling kegs to other bars can double a brewery's volume without a second taproom. It also brings licensing questions, keg logistics and a quality risk in a cellar you do not control. Here is how we would approach it.
Check what your licence actually allows
Start with the licence, not the sales pitch. In many Indian states a brewpub or microbrewery licence allows sale only on the premises where the beer is brewed. Some states permit sales to other licensed outlets, sometimes through a wholesale licence, a state beverages corporation or a separate permission. The rules vary by state and change, so check the current excise notification or ask a licensing consultant before you promise any bar a keg.
Each movement of beer to another outlet usually needs an excise transport pass. The buying bar also needs the right licence to sell your beer. Our guide on selling beer across state borders covers what changes once you leave your state.
Pick bars that suit your beer
Not every bar is a good home for craft beer. Look for venues with a draught system they maintain, staff who will talk about the beer and guests who already pay for something better than standard lager. A busy sports bar that pours one lager at speed may move volume. It may also leave your IPA on a dirty line for three weeks.
Start with a few accounts close to the brewery. Short delivery routes make it easier to keep beer fresh and to visit often while you learn what each bar needs.
Price for the bar's margin as well as yours
A bar has to make money on your keg or it will not reorder. Work backwards from the price a guest will pay for a pint at that bar, then take off the bar's margin and any taxes to see what keg price works. Then check whether that price covers your cost per litre, delivery and keg costs with a margin left over.
If it does not, you are subsidising another bar's profit. Our guide on setting a wholesale keg price takes you through the sum.
The draught system decides how your beer tastes
Once a keg leaves your brewery, its quality depends on the bar's cellar. Warm cold rooms, dirty lines and wrong gas pressure turn good beer into flat, cloudy or sour beer. The guest blames the brewery, not the bar.
Check each bar's system before the first delivery. Ask how often lines are cleaned. Many industry guides, including the Brewers Association's draught quality manual, recommend cleaning beer lines at least every two weeks. Check that the cold room or keg fridge holds beer around 2 to 4 °C and that the gas is set for your beer's carbonation. If the bar has no line cleaning routine, offer to set one up or think twice about supplying them.
Plan keg logistics before the first order
Selling to other bars means kegs leave and must come back. Decide your keg deposit, return terms and collection routine before you start. Track every keg by number. A small brewery with 100 kegs can lose a meaningful share of its fleet in its first year of trade sales if nobody is counting.
Decide too whether you deliver yourself or use a distributor. Our guide on running your own delivery van compares the costs.
Support the account after the sale
A first order is easy. The second and third orders depend on what happens after the keg goes on. Visit new accounts within the first week. Taste the beer from their tap, check the glassware and spend ten minutes with the bar staff. Give them three simple lines to describe each beer.
Watch the rate of sale. If a 50 litre keg takes more than two or three weeks to empty in a warm city, the beer will be past its best before the last pint. Either move to smaller kegs for that account or help the bar sell it faster.
Freshness is your problem even in their cellar
Craft beer in India is mostly unpasteurised and unfiltered or lightly filtered. It does not keep like an industrial lager. Hop aroma in a pale ale fades within weeks, faster if the keg sits warm. Put a fill date on every keg collar and tell each bar how long you want the beer poured within.
Rotate stock for them on your visits. A bar with two kegs of the same beer should always tap the older one first. If a keg goes past your freshness limit, take it back and replace it. That costs you a keg of beer. Leaving it on tap costs you the account and every guest who tasted a tired IPA with your name on the badge.
Paperwork, payments and a small start
Trade sales add invoices, excise records, keg records and receivables. Set up the paperwork before the first delivery: a supply agreement covering price, payment terms, keg deposits and returns. Add minimum quality standards for the draught system.
Agree credit terms in writing and chase on a fixed rhythm. A brewery that grows trade sales without collecting the money can run out of cash while its order book looks healthy.
Pick three accounts for the first two months. Track litres per account per week, days per keg, payment days and any quality complaints. Those numbers tell you whether trade sales are a good business for you before you commit more beer, kegs and staff time to them.
Common questions
Can an Indian brewpub sell kegs to other bars?
It depends on the state and the licence. Many brewpub licences allow sale only on the premises. Check the current excise rules or ask a licensing consultant.
How often should a bar clean its beer lines?
Industry guidance commonly recommends at least every two weeks. Dirty lines cause off flavours that guests blame on the brewery.
How many bars should a new brewery start with?
A small number, close to the brewery. Three to ten nearby accounts let you keep beer fresh and visit often while you learn.
