On Deck Tap List: What to List and How to Word It

An on deck tap list should carry a beer only when you can name the tap it goes on and the keg is in the building or on a confirmed delivery. That works out to 1 on deck beer, at most, for each tap you plan to change, worded like a tap line with "Next on 6" where the tap number goes.

Below are the 2 checks, the staff card you build the list from, how to word each line, what to do when a listed beer doesn't arrive, and how to list a limited keg.

What belongs in the on deck section of a tap list?

A beer belongs on deck when it passes 2 checks. Ask both before it goes up:

1. Can you name the tap it goes on? If you can't say "this replaces tap 6," the beer is a maybe, and maybes stay off the board.
2. Is the keg in the building, or on a delivery the distributor has confirmed? "Ordered" doesn't count, and neither does "should be on the next truck."

If both answers are yes, the beer goes up. Anything else stays on your order sheet.

Every on deck line is a promise about a pour that hasn't happened yet. Regulars read the bottom of the board to decide when to come back. If a listed beer never shows, they learn to skip that part of the board, and the list stops doing its job.

The guide on how to write a tap list guests can read fast puts the on deck list at the bottom of the board, the last thing a guest reads, which suits a list about what's coming next.

How far ahead should the on deck list reach?

The list reaches as far as the next keg for each tap you plan to change, and no further, so that's 1 on deck beer per tap at most. If you already know what follows the hazy IPA going on tap 6, keep it on your own sheet until the hazy is pouring.

How far you can see depends on where the beer comes from. A taproom pouring its own beer knows what's in its cellar and can list further out. A beer bar that lives on distributor deliveries usually does better with a short list: what's in the walk-in plus the next confirmed truck. Deciding what each handle pours next, so the list has something to show, is the job of tap rotation planning.

Is a keg that came in today ready to list?

A keg that came in today passes the 2 checks, but it may not be cold enough to pour tonight. The Brewers Association's Draught Beer Quality Manual says every keg must be at or below 38°F when served. It also says a keg can warm from 38°F to 44°F after only 4 or 5 hours during delivery or storage at ambient temperature.

The same manual's chill table gives a 44°F keg 18 hours in the cooler to get back to 38°F, and a 50°F keg 25 hours. Take a keg checked in at 3 PM Thursday at 44°F: 3 PM plus 18 hours is 9 AM Friday. "Next on 8" can go up Thursday, because it promises the next keg on that tap and nothing more. A day promise like "Tapping Friday" is safe for that keg only if Friday's service starts after 9 AM. Write the cold time in the status column of the staff card so nobody taps it early.

What goes on the staff on deck card?

The staff card is the full on deck list plus 1 column the board doesn't have: status. Keep it behind the bar and build the board from it instead of from memory. A filled example for a made-up week at a 16 tap beer bar:

The last column is the 2 checks written down. A backup keg of the same beer stays off the board because nothing changes for the guest when it goes on. The Vienna lager fails the first check, since tap 1 isn't promised to it yet.

Update the status column every time a delivery is checked in, then rebuild the board from the "Yes" rows only.

How do you word an on deck line?

Word an on deck line with the same fields as the tap lines above it, in the same order, and put a timing phrase where the tap number goes. A guest then reads it like every other line on the board. In the placeholder style of the tap list guide:

ON DECK
Next on 6  | Brewery | Beer name | Hazy IPA       | 6.5% | 16 oz $8 / 10 oz $6
Next on 8  | Brewery | Beer name | Saison         | 6.2% | 16 oz $8 / 10 oz $6
Next on 16 | Brewery | Beer name | Semi-Dry Cider | 5.8% | 12 oz $8

Which timing phrase should you use?

Use "Next on" plus the tap number unless you control the tapping day. "Next on 6" ties the beer to the kick of the keg in front of it, which is the only date a beer bar really knows, and it tells a regular which line to watch. A taproom tapping its own beer can use a day, like "Tapping Friday," once the keg will be cold by then.

Never write "Coming soon." It promises nothing a guest can plan around, and since it can never be proven wrong, nobody takes it down.

Should an on deck line show a price?

Show the price only if it's already set from your cost sheet. If it isn't, leave the pours off the line rather than write a guess or "TBD." When an on deck price changes on tap day, you end up arguing with the 1 guest who came in for that beer. The guide to draft beer cost per ounce shows how to price each pour from the invoice before the keg goes on.

What order should on deck lines go in?

List on deck lines soonest first, in the order you expect them to go on. If tap 6 looks likely to kick before tap 8, the hazy IPA leads. Leave hype off the line: "Can't miss" tells a guest less than "Saison, 6.2%."

What happens to the line when a listed beer isn't coming?

The on deck line changes the day you learn a beer isn't coming, and what it becomes depends on what you know. The post on how often to update a tap list counts this as one of the changes that can't wait for a weekly redo.

Don't leave the line up with a hedge on it:

Next on 16 | Brewery | Beer name | Semi-Dry Cider | 5.8% | Delayed, TBD

Regulars tend to read "Delayed, TBD" as "soon" and come back for it.

What does a short delivery look like on the card and the board?

A short delivery changes 2 rows on the card and takes 1 line off the board. Say the Thursday truck from the staff card brings the saison but not the cider, and nothing else is confirmed for tap 16. On the card, the saison moves to "In the walk-in" and the cider moves to "Not coming, nothing confirmed," with a "No" in the last column. The board drops from 3 on deck lines to 2:

ON DECK
Next on 6 | Brewery | Beer name | Hazy IPA | 6.5% | 16 oz $8 / 10 oz $6
Next on 8 | Brewery | Beer name | Saison   | 6.2% | 16 oz $8 / 10 oz $6

The dry cider keeps pouring on tap 16 until it kicks. Staff get 1 sentence for the regulars who asked: "The cider didn't come in this week. Nothing's confirmed for 16 yet, and it goes back on the list when it is." Leave the date out, because a guess is 1 more promise the list can break.

How do you list a limited release on deck?

List a limited keg with its buying rules already on the line: the pour size, the to-go rule and any per-guest limit. Guests should learn the limits from the board before they order, instead of hearing them from the bartender afterward.

ON DECK
Next on 12 | Brewery | Beer name | Barleywine | 10.5% | 8 oz only $9
             Limited keg. No growler or crowler fills.

If you set a per-guest limit, it goes on that second line too ("Limit 2 per guest," or your own number). Write the limits once, on the board, and have staff use the same words.

How many pours does a limited keg hold?

A sixth barrel holds at most 82 pours of 8 oz and a half barrel at most 248, so count the pours before you pick the limits. The Brewers Association's Draught Beer Quality Manual lists a sixth barrel at 660 fluid ounces and a half barrel at 1,984 fluid ounces, and puts growlers at 32 to 64 fluid ounces. For a barleywine poured only at 8 oz:

Those counts come before foam and waste, so the real numbers run lower. On a sixth barrel, each 64 oz growler fill uses the beer of 8 pours, and 10 fills would leave about 20 oz in the keg. If you want the limited keg to reach as many guests as it can, pours only is the rule that does it.

The per-guest limit comes out of the same math. At 2 pours per guest, 82 pours covers 41 guests at most. At 1 per guest, it covers 82. Pick the limit from how many guests you expect on release night.

The same manual notes that local and state laws often dictate growler filling and selling practices and can vary greatly, so check your own before you write a fill rule. For the fills you do sell, growler and crowler fill pricing covers the math.

What happens to the limits on tap day?

On tap day the line moves out of on deck and into its section (Big and Strong, in the example lineup), and the limit line moves with it. Keep the limits up while it pours, because that's when guests ask about them.

BIG AND STRONG
12 | Brewery | Beer name | Barleywine | 10.5% | 8 oz only $9
     Limited keg. No growler or crowler fills.

How should a limited keg read once it's gone?

A limited keg reads like any other kicked line once it's gone, with no special banner for the release. With 1 signal for every empty line, staff and regulars read it without stopping to think. The kick routine, including who fixes the line and whether it stays up or comes down, is in what to do when a keg kicks mid-shift.

Who keeps the on deck list true during the week?

The person who owns the board for the shift keeps the on deck list true, working from the staff card. Check it at 3 points:

• At pre-open, confirm every on deck line still passes both checks before the first guest reads it.
• When a delivery is checked in, update the status column first, then the board.
• At shift change, write any on deck change on the shift handoff card, so the next crew doesn't promise a beer that was cancelled at noon.

If your website shows the on deck list too, it needs the same change on the same day. A website list that runs behind the board promises the missing beer in a second place; keeping a website tap list current covers how to tie the two together.

How does an on deck section work on TapDisplay?

On the TapDisplay board, the on deck beers can sit in a section of their own, and each line shows the beer's name, brewery, style, ABV and a price per pour, the same as a tap line. Start typing a beer name and pick a match from the catalog, and it fills in the brewery, style and ABV you haven't entered yet.

A long list adjusts its type to fit, then turns pages, so count on deck lines as rows when you plan a screen. The guide to putting a beer menu on a TV does that count for 3 common layouts. If you run more than 1 screen, each screen can show its own sections, so you choose which screen carries on deck.

Owners, managers and staff can all edit the menu from a phone, a tablet or a computer. Each connected screen checks for changes every 30 seconds, so moving a beer from on deck into its section shows on every connected screen within about 30 seconds.

When the limited keg kicks, mark it kicked and the line stays on the board, struck through. Your business type sets the label: KICKED on keg menus such as a brewery or bar, and SOLD OUT on other menus such as coffee or wine. You can't type your own word. The activity log shows who changed what, and undo reverses a change made to the wrong line.

The bottom line

Put a beer on deck only when you can name its tap and the keg is in the building or on a confirmed truck, which caps the list at 1 beer per tap you plan to change. Word each line like a tap line with "Next on" and the tap number in front, take a line down the day its beer stops coming, and put a limited keg's pour size and fill rules on the line before it pours.