Beer wall taps (£850 - £1250)

With a beer wall, any customer in the bar can walk up to the wall, insert their “beer card” and pour a beer. The main variables impacting the cost of a beer wall tap are the size of the screen and the number of taps per screen. 

Having one screen for every 2 taps is the most cost-effective option at £850 per tap. However, this limits the number of customers who can use the beer wall at the same time, as each time a beer card is inserted, 2 taps will be activated for the customer to choose from. If your goal is to provide more choice, but you are not expecting particularly high volume through the wall then this can be a good option. If you are expecting high volume on the beer wall and want each tap to be able to be used independently then you would need to have one screen for every tap.

For a one tap per screen set up a small screen (iPod) is the most popular and costs £1000 per tap. For a larger screen (iPad or iPad mini) the cost increases to £1250 per tap.

Administration iPad / full EPOS (£275 - £1000)

For any self-serve beer set up, you will need a screen to administer the system. This can range from an iPad with a basic consumer stand or case for around £275 to a full bar EPOS system, with printer, cash drawer, and card reader (to create beer cards) for up to £1000 (+ license and support fees of £39 per month.)

Trading Standards verification (£75 - £1000)

Any self-service beer system used for trade in the UK will need to be verified by the local Trading Standards office to ensure it is dispensing accurate measures (see Self Serve Beer - Is it Legal?). 

Trading Standards charge for this by the hour. Both the time taken and the hourly fee varies so this is the hardest cost to estimate, but in our experience, it will usually fall between £75 and £1000 depending on the number of taps.

Network cabling and power sockets (£0 - £1000)

A self-serve beer system requires power and data sockets at the location of each tap. In some instances these may be in place already or be very easy to add. In others this could involve extensive cabling work. This makes it another very hard cost to estimate, but in our experience it will usually be less than £1000.

Running beer lines (£0 - £2000+)

It is very common for a brewery to agree to run new lines and install new cellar equipment in exchange for an agreement to offer their beers on some or all of the self-service taps. 

If you prefer to have complete freedom as to the products you serve on the taps you might want to pay for a company to run new lines and possibly provide new coolers.

This could cost from a few hundred pounds to run some new lines to a single location for a beer wall, to over £2000 to run lines around a large venue to individual tables.

License & support fees (£19 per month per tap)

Monthly or annual license & support fees cover the use of the technology, including any updates and enhancements, and any support needed in relation to the system. The fees for PourTab are £19 per month per tap.