Which is Cheaper: Keg or Canned Beer?
My wife and I throw a party every Memorial Day weekend. We supply our guests with choices of soft and alcoholic beverages including beer. During party planning, each year my wife and I discuss whether to buy cases of canned beer or a keg. The perception is getting a keg is similar to buying in bulk, therefore it’s cheaper. But is keg or canned beer cheaper?
I decided to break down the math and compare the cost of a keg of domestic light beer to buying the same beer in cans.
Note: Prices may vary by location.
Keg Beer (16 Gallon)
- 16 Gallons x 128oz per gallon = 2048 ounces of beer
- $252 for the Keg (including deposit, tap and keg cost) / 2048 ounces of beer = about $0.123 per ounce
But, we also have to take into account the stack of 300 cups I purchased ($19 at Sam’s Club), and the ice I purchased to keep the keg cold (4 bags of 20 pounds of ice at $3.09 at Costco = $12.36). After taking these factors into account, the cost of keg beer looks like this:
- $252 for the keg + $19 for cups + $12.36 for Ice = $283.36
- $283.36 / 2048 ounces = $0.138 per ounce
Canned Beer:
- 24 Cans x 12oz per can = 288 ounces of beer
- $20.37 per case (on sale) / 288 ounces of beer = $0.070 per ounce
We also have to take into account that I’d likely put ice into coolers
since I have to keep the cans of beer cold as well. If we assume using the same amount of ice, and that we’d need 7 cases of beer (it’s actually 7.1 cases) to equal the keg, our cost for canned beer looks like this:
- 7 cases of beer x $20.37 per case + $12.36 for Ice = $154.95
- $154.95 / 2016 ounces = $0.076 per ounce
Keg Beer (8 Gallon Keg)
A 16 gallon contains 170 twelve-ounce servings, which may be more than you need for your gathering. An alternative is an 8-gallon keg. Unfortunately, even though an 8-gallon keg is half the size of its 16-gallon counterpart, it is not half the cost. While a 16-gallon keg of domestic light beer costs $252, the 8-gallon version will set you back $181.25. Assuming you’d need to buy the same package of cups, but only half the ice the cost breakdown is as follows:
- $181.25 for the keg + $19 for cups + $12.36 for Ice = $212.61
- $212.61.58 / 1024 ounces = $0.2076 per ounce
Additional Considerations
If you go the route of having a keg, a refundable deposit may be required for the tap as well as the keg which could total $150. If you have leftover beer, it will need to be consumed quickly or you will incur additional costs to keep it cold. Eventually, the beer will also go flat. However, it’s a neat feature to have a party with a keg as a conversation piece adding to the overall party atmosphere.
If you buy canned beer the leftovers can easily be stored for later use. However, you will need coolers or a large container of some sort to fill with ice to keep it cold.
Cost Analysis
The cost of having a 16-gallon keg is actually slightly more than canned beer if you can find it on sale. Buying an 8-gallon keg is much more expensive. Given the perception that buying in bulk is usually cheaper, this was a surprise.
The bottom line is, the cost of having keg beer isn’t the money saver you might have thought. Whether you buy a keg or canned beer for your large gathering will come down to convenience, taste, and personal preference.
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Brock is a software engineer by day and personal finance blogger at night. He is a fitness junkie and enjoys grilling and smoking meat. Married with two children, Brock strives to improve his skills as a husband and father, and is always on the lookout to stretch his family’s budget as far as he can.
Dude,
Great subject here. I haven’t bought a keg in a few years, but I remember getting light beer kegs below the $100 level. Maybe if the keg was discounted by the same percentage as the cans it would be the winner. Was there a significant rental cost for a tub or the tap?
-RBD
I went through this EXACT same analysis a couple of years ago for my daughter’s graduation party. I found the same thing – similar costs for beer cans.
Here’s where the beer cans came out significantly ahead:
– I could purchase more than one kind of beer. (some people drink light beer, some regular)
– It was possible to get more than one brand of beer.
– At the end of the party, I had a couple of cases of beer left over, which I kept for the next few weeks. A keg has to be returned and that additional amount is wasted. This is very much like the spoilage for larger quantities in bulk buying from Sams Club, Costco, etc.
– The beer cans had to be returned (deposit here), but that is still likely easier than transporting the keg. (Not to mention getting a full keg home and set up, with it weighing in excess of 100 pounds.)
Finding beer on sale is the way to go. If you’re planning for a party, this should be able to be accomplished as almost every brand is on sale every few weeks.
UGH – I would rather have beer on tap than a can any day, but all things considered I agree that individual portions is the way to go. I would just buy bottles instead. Some things aren’t subject to frugality IMO. But Joe has an excellent point – the “extra” in the keg is waste, and the “extra” bottles would be mine.
But also – I live in a pretty snobbish little hamlet, and people always show up with some of whatever they like to drink, so I would probably not buy too much of anything anyhow. (We are not snobs 🙂 )
Would you also get money back for recycling the bottles/cans?
@RetireBeforheDad – I don’t remember ever seeing a sale on Kegs…but maybe they’d give us a discount if we asked. 😉 The tap/keg rental was $135, but we got that back. The tub rental would have been $5, but I just walked across the street and bought one at Walmart for the same price!
@Joe – Those are great points, and ones that I thought about bringing up here but decided I’d let the advantages of cans get brought up in the comments – so I’m glad you mentioned them! We did end up with a little bit of beer left in the bottom of the keg. But we just kept it and consumed the rest the next weekend. The fact that you could pick a variety of beers is a HUGE advantage to buying cans or bottles though!
@Cathie – I agree – tap beer is heads and shoulders above cans or bottles. BUT, pouring it out into a nice frosty mug is a close second. 🙂
@Amy – if we kept the cans and recycled there would be a very small kick back….you just don’t get much for recycling aluminum. So, we end up just putting all our cans into our waste management’s recycling bin.
I’ve actually been doing some analysis myself when it comes to our wedding and supplying beer. We have been looking into which is cheaper, and lots of the feedback that I’ve been getting has been that kegs are more expensive since if not all of it was consumed, it has to be thrown out, whereas beer can be brought home.
@Daisy – it certainly seems that way to me too, Daisy……which goes against the common perspective that buying in bulk is cheaper! Definitely something to think about for your wedding, and our next big party too!
So if you can find beer cans at nearly 50% off they work out to be barely cheaper than a keg? Great! /sarcasm.
Also, a keg of domestic beer costs like $75, not $110.
You can get a Heineken keg for $125. When you find a 24 pack of Heineken for $17, you let me know and I’ll come buy you some.
@Bo Knows,
I guess it is location dependent. On St. Patty ‘ s day in 2013 I bought a full keg (half barrel) of budlight. The beer cost 115 with a 50 dollar deposit on the keg, no tap since I have my own. A half keg I bought this year for Patty ‘ s day, again budlight, ran me 65 dollars and a 50 buck deposit. Now the deposits are returned but either way where I live kegs are significantly higher cost than your quoted number of 75 and fall more in line with the authors assessment. For reference I live in Albuquerque NM. So, does this mean you will change your name to Bo Don’t Know?
If the kegs cost more in your area (I have no idea why they would) then the cans of beer probably cost more too. This exercise only actually works when you are getting cans of beer for less than $17 per 24-pack.
If you can’t beat the price per ounce of the keg for the same type of beer, it doesn’t matter. Your example is unhelpful in coming to that conclusion.
If your kegs are overpriced, you might need to shop around a little more.
A keg of Bud light here is regularly $80. A 24 pack of bud light cans is currently “on sale” for $17.
The keg is still cheaper than the sale price by a considerable amount.
Beer geeks have this covered. We just take a few of our empty five gallon kegs to the local brewery and say fill’r up, or just serve home brew.
Well Bo, you must drink a lot of beer alone. You seem like a bit of a jerk.
“This exercise only works when….” Well, that is the point of the exercise….to see when it makes sense and point out it may be a closer call than you would have expected.
Thank you for adding nothing to the conversation Charlie Troll Dog.
They pay $1.20 a pound for recycled cans here in Phoenix i get about $20.00 per month back on the families soda cans (3 of us)
Alright, I know this thread is a bit old, but I have a couple points that haven’t been made. Keg beer means head, which means wasted beer. Also, in some areas you don’t get paid to recycle aluminum at all. So i guess I’m making points for both sides, but I’m just glad the race is close so I can just choose what I want for our wedding without having to defend it.
@Bo Knows – Wow, I wish I hadn’t missed this conversation. Your very first statement about my sale of canned beer being nearly 50% of is completely incorrect. In this case, I’m talking about Bud Light so the comparison is the exact same type of beer in the keg vs can. I’ve never paid $32 for a case of Bud Light. I believe it normally runs about $20, and that weekend it was on sale for $16. Whipping out my calculator, that’s about a 20% discount.
Additionally I don’t know where you live, but I’ve never, ever, ever, ever (I could add a few more if you’d like) seen a 16 gallon keg sell for $75 – $80 of a domestic beer. Never. That’s about the price of an 8 gallon keg where I live – and I live in the Midwest so I would guess that comparatively speaking my prices are going to be lower than most of the country.
Lastly, you’ve completely missed the point of the article. At least to me, the perception has always been that keg beer has always been significantly cheaper. This real world example, with real world prices from a real liquor store 1 mile from my house shows that is not always the case.
The suggestion is that if you’re having a large party, you shouldn’t assume one is cheaper than the other, but to do the comparison and see how it works out in your area.
@Dredge – thanks for your thoughts…sounds like the prices where you’re at are pretty similar to where I live. Thanks for stopping by!
@Charlie T Dog – You’ve hit the nail on the head…my comparison is for the prices I encountered that weekend in the location where I live. Things will vary by location and what sale is going on at the time, or even what discount they’re willing to give you if you just ask. People should do their own comparison and determine the best path for them. Thanks for your comment!
@Mike The Sparky – You can do that??? That’s awesome!
@Gene – That’s a good rate for recycling…..much better than I get in the Midwest!
@Kelli – hey, a thread about beer never gets old, right??? 🙂 You shouldn’t waste too much with the foam after the first pitcher or two (if you do it right)…but more importantly , you should do the price comparison yourself with the resources and prices you have available to you. You may find your results are slightly different. Congrats to you on your wedding – hope everything goes very smoothly on your very special day!