How to Write a Tap List Guests Can Read Fast

A tap list reads fast when every line carries the same 6 fields in fixed columns and the taps sit in 3 to 6 style sections, each running from lighter to stronger. This guide covers what goes on each line and what stays off it, how to order and name the sections, and a 16 tap list rewritten from the order its kegs went on.

What goes on every tap line?

Every tap line carries 6 fields, always in the same order: tap number, brewery, beer name, style, ABV, and pour size with price. Written out with placeholder names, one line looks like this:

1 | Brewery | Beer name | Helles Lager | 4.9% | 16 oz $7 / 10 oz $5

Each field does a different job for the guest:

A taproom that pours only its own beer can drop the brewery field, since every line would repeat it. That leaves 5 fields. Wording each field the same way on every line (decimal places, whether IBU appears, how to mark a strong beer that only pours small) has its own guide: how to show ABV, IBU, style and pour size on a draft menu.

Why do ABV and pour size belong side by side?

ABV and pour size belong next to each other because together they tell a guest how much alcohol is in the glass, and neither number does that alone. The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism defines a US standard drink as any drink with 0.6 fl oz, or 14 grams, of pure alcohol. NIAAA's beer example is a 12 oz can at 5% ABV.

To put your own lines on that scale, multiply the pour in ounces by the ABV, then divide by 0.6:

The math uses the full listed size, so a pour with a head on it holds a little less. The 8 oz barleywine lands below a 16 oz West Coast IPA, while a 16 oz pour of it would be close to 3 standard drinks. With the size next to the ABV, a guest can see why strong beers pour small without asking.

What should stay off the line?

Anything that doesn't help a guest pick a beer stays off the line. That covers:

• Full tasting notes. Put them on a table card, or let the bartender tell the story.
• Hop lists and grain bills. The guests who care will ask.
• Brewery city, unless you run a guest-heavy beer bar where "from 3 states over" is part of the pitch. If you use it, use it on every line.
• Medals and ratings.

A short descriptor can work if it runs 6 words or fewer and appears on every line or on none. When 4 beers get a description and 12 don't, the board reads like those 4 are on special.

1 | Brewery | Beer name | Helles Lager | 4.9% | 16 oz $7 / 10 oz $5
    bready, crisp, easy

How do you keep the fields in columns?

Give every field a fixed position and keep it there on every line, so a guest looking for one thing can run an eye straight down one column. A guest after something under 5% reads down the ABV column; a stout drinker reads down the style column.

On a chalkboard, snap faint guide lines for each column before you write. On a printed or on-screen list, use real columns or a table. Spaces typed by eye drift as soon as one name runs long. If a long beer name pushes the ABV out of line, shorten the name before you break the column.

Which order should the taps go in?

For most boards over 12 taps, group the taps by style family, then order each group from lighter and lower ABV to heavier and stronger. The 3 common ways to order a list each suit a different bar:

One long light-to-dark list with no sections fails the same way: a guest who wants an IPA has to find where the pale ales end. Whatever order you choose, keep the tap number on every line so staff can still find the handle. On a wall where the handle numbers and the board numbers have drifted apart, number the handles to match the board before you reorder anything.

What should the sections be called?

Name each section in words a guest would say, and stop at 3 to 6 sections. These 6 names fit most beer lists:

• Crisp and Light: lagers, pilsners, wheat beers, blondes
• Hoppy: pale ales, IPAs, double IPAs
• Sour and Fruited: goses, fruited sours, wild ales
• Malty and Dark: ambers, browns, porters, stouts
• Big and Strong: barleywines, imperial stouts, the strongest beers on the list
• Cider: dry and fruited ciders

Keep the sections useful with 2 rules. A section with only one beer folds into its nearest neighbor. No section should grow until it is most of the list: if 8 of your 16 taps are IPAs, split them into "Pale and West Coast" and "Hazy."

Seltzer, wine and NA drinks get their own sections after the beer. The post on where cider, seltzer, wine and NA go on a beer list covers the placement.

What does a 16 tap list look like before and after?

Before grouping, a guest at a 16 tap beer bar has to read all 16 lines to find the light beers; after grouping, the same guest reads 3. Here are the first 4 lines of an example list in the order its kegs went on. The brewery and beer name columns are left out to keep the table narrow, but they stay on the real board.

Nothing in that order tells a guest where to look. Here are all 16 taps, grouped and ordered:

Every line reads exactly as it did before. Only the order and the section names are new. A guest who wants something light now reads 3 lines instead of 16, a stout drinker reads 4 (Malty and Dark, then Big and Strong), and a cider drinker reads the last 2.

In this example the handles already run in board order. When yours don't, keep each beer's real tap number on its line anyway, because that number is how the bartender finds the handle.

How should prices and pour sizes be written?

Write each price as a whole dollar amount right next to its pour size. "$7" reads faster than "$7.00" from across a room, and "$7" on its own means nothing until the guest knows whether it buys 16 oz or 10 oz.

If every beer on the board pours the same 2 sizes, you can move the sizes into a column header and keep only prices on each line:

The header layout is cleaner, with one catch: a guest who reads one line without looking up sees 2 numbers and no sizes. It also fails once any beer breaks the pattern. In the 16 tap example, taps 7 and 12 to 14 pour one small size and the ciders pour 12 oz, so that board keeps sizes on every line.

A line with 3 or 4 pours needs its own layout, which the ABV, IBU, style and pour size guide covers. When one list runs across several TVs, what each screen should carry covers how to split it.

What goes at the top and bottom of the board?

The top of the board carries your name or house header and one line that explains anything the lines don't, such as "Pours: 16 oz / 10 oz unless noted." Keep slogans off it, since the top is where a guest starts reading.

The bottom is the place for an on deck list, if you run one. It is the last thing a guest reads, which suits "what's coming next." The guide to what belongs in the on deck section covers how to word it.

What changes when the list runs on a TV?

Very little changes on a TV: the fields, columns, sections and order all carry over, and the type has to be big enough to read from where guests stand. The across-the-room test sets that size.

On a TapDisplay tap list board on the TV, each tap shows its name, brewery, style, ABV and a price per pour, with 2 pours per item by default and up to 4. A long list adjusts its type to fit, then turns pages. One list can run across several screens, or each screen can show its own sections.

You change the board from a phone, a tablet or a computer, and every connected screen checks for changes every 30 seconds. A kicked keg stays on the board struck through and labeled KICKED. The business type sets that word: KICKED on bar and brewery menus, SOLD OUT on menus like coffee or wine.

What should you check before the list goes up?

Run these 8 checks whenever you write the list from scratch, or when nobody has looked at it with fresh eyes in a while:

• Every line has all 6 fields (5 for a single-brewery taproom).
• Fields sit in the same columns on every line.
• Every price has a size next to it, or a header that covers it.
• Sections use guest words, number 3 to 6, and none holds only one beer.
• Within each section, lighter and lower ABV comes first.
• Any descriptor is 6 words or fewer and appears on every line or on none.
• Tap numbers match the handles, checked by walking the rail.
• Someone who hasn't seen the list reads it from where guests order and picks a beer without asking a question. If they have to ask, fix the part that stopped them.

The bottom line

A tap list reads fast when every line carries the same 6 fields in the same columns and the taps sit in 3 to 6 style sections that run from lighter to stronger. Put the pour size next to every price and the ABV, keep tasting notes off the line, and keep the tap number on every line even after the order changes.