Craft beer list for a taproom or bar

Usual sections

Beer comes first, but the food has to be easy to find:

1. On draught: your core lines and, if you have one, the guest tap.
2. Bottles and cans: by style or by origin.
3. Gluten-free and alcohol-free: on their own line or in their own section, easy to find.
4. Bar food and plates for sharing.
5. Other drinks: wine, soft drinks, water.

If you have a lot of bottles and cans, group them by style (lager, pale ale, IPA, wheat beer, stout and porter, sour, Belgian) rather than by brand or country. That’s how most people choose: “something light”, “something more bitter”, “a dark one”.

Sizes: third, half, pint

On draught, use price columns with the size as the label:

Example prices in pounds. In the UK, draught beer and cider can only be sold in thirds, halves, two-thirds or multiples of half a pint, so those are your columns; many craft bars add a two-thirds “schooner”. In England and Wales, half pints must be available and the menu should say so. In the US there’s no national rule and a “pint” glass isn’t always 16 oz: put the size in ounces in the column label (10 oz, 16 oz). A tasting flight (four thirds, or four 5 oz pours) works as a row of its own.

For bottles and cans, the size goes next to the name, in the quantity field: “330 ml”, “440 ml”, “500 ml” (or “12 oz” and “16 oz” in the US). If a large bottle is for sharing, say so in the description.

Style, flavour and ABV

Each beer gets a name line and a description line:

• Style and notes: “Citrusy and bitter”, “Caramel and toasted bread”. Two or three words that help people choose.
• ABV, at the end: “6.5%”. For strong styles (tripel, imperial stout) it’s what matters most to the drinker.
• Brewery or origin, if it’s local, independent or imported and that adds something.

Avoid technical jargon (IBU, EBC, hop varieties) unless your crowd asks for it. “Very bitter” is clearer than “65 IBU”.

The guest tap changes every few weeks: a note (“Guest tap: ask at the bar”) or a board beats reprinting the list every time. And if a keg runs out, hide that beer in the editor without deleting it and download again: when it comes back, it’s there with its description.

Gluten and other allergens

Beer is one of the drinks where gluten causes the most confusion:

• Almost all beer contains gluten: it’s brewed from barley and sometimes wheat or oats. Mark it on every line, or add a general note as the template does: “All our beers contain gluten unless marked”.
• Gluten-free, only if the brewer declares it (no more than 20 mg/kg). Give it its tag and a visible spot in the section. In the UK, some barley beers are treated to bring gluten below that level and can be sold as gluten-free; in the US, barley beers treated that way can only say “crafted to remove gluten”.
• Alcohol-free isn’t gluten-free. A 0.0% barley beer contains gluten just like the full-strength version.
• Some beers contain milk: milk stouts and many pastry styles, made with lactose. Others add fruit, spices or nuts.
• If a label declares sulphites, mark them too.

In the US, wheat is one of the nine major allergens but barley isn’t, so “contains gluten” is still worth saying for coeliac guests. With the food, the shared fryer is the usual source of traces: if you fry breaded snacks and chips in the same oil, the chips aren’t gluten-free. And the mustard with the sausages gets marked even if it’s served on the side.

Writing tips

• One ABV format: “5%” everywhere, with or without decimals, but the same throughout.
• From light to strong within each section. People who don’t know what they want start at the top.
• No vague portions on the food: “Eight pieces”, “for sharing”.
• Only one featured beer: the house beer or the seasonal one.

Format and style

• A4 in two columns: draught on one side, bottles and food on the other.
• Slim A4 if the list sits in a narrow holder on the bar.
• Booklet if you have more than twenty bottles and want a page per style.
• 16:9 screen for the taps: it’s what changes most and what people look at from the bar.

The template’s style is Market, with condensed lettering, leader dots and prices on red tags, like a fish-market chalkboard. Pub, Counter, Poster and Constructivist also work for beer bars. More ideas in menu templates.

Make it in MenuDesign

Open the craft beer template, change the beers with their style and ABV, check the size columns and mark the allergens. Download the PDF for the tables and the screen version for above the taps. Free, with no sign-up.