Keg Calculator
Tell us your crowd and we'll figure out exactly how many kegs to tap so nobody runs dry.
📖 How it works & FAQHow many drinks are in a keg?
A keg is measured in gallons, but at a party you care about pours. Working from a standard 12oz serving, a half barrel (15.5 gallons) yields about 165 pours, a quarter barrel (7.75 gallons) about 82 pours, and a sixtel (5.16 gallons) about 55 pours. These are realistic real-world numbers that already shave off a little for foam and the last flat inches at the bottom of the keg, so you don't over-order.
How many kegs do I need?
Multiply your guest count by the number of drinks each person is likely to have, then divide by the pours in your chosen keg size. The calculator rounds up, because you can't tap two-thirds of a keg. A good planning rule is 2 drinks in the first hour and about 1 per hour after that, so for a four-hour party budget roughly 5 drinks per drinking guest and trim for anyone not drinking beer.
How to use it
- Enter your total number of guests.
- Set how many drinks each guest will likely have.
- Pick the keg size you can get from your store or distributor.
- Read the kegs needed, total pours, and how many you'll have to spare.
FAQ
- Are these serving counts exact?
- They're solid estimates, not professional advice. Foam, pour size, warm beer, and an untrained tap can all lower your real count, so treat the spare pours as a buffer.
- What if I use bigger cups?
- The math assumes 12oz pours. If you use 16oz Solo cups filled to the brim, divide the pours-per-keg by about 1.3 to stay realistic.
- Should I round up or down?
- Always up. Running out is worse than a little leftover, and most beer keeps for weeks in a cold, tapped keg with the CO2 still connected.
- Can I mix keg sizes?
- Yes. Run the numbers once, then cover the total pours with any combination of half barrels, quarters, and sixtels that adds up.