How the calculator works
- Choose the drink type. Draught, spirits, wine, bottles and cans, or cocktails.
- Enter what you pay, ex VAT. That's the price per keg, bottle or case from your supplier. Duty is already in that price.
- Pick the serve. Pint, half or third for draught. 25ml or 35ml for spirits. 125ml, 175ml or 250ml for wine.
- Add extras. Tonic, mixer, garnish, and an allowance for ullage and wastage.
- Get your answer. Either your GP at your current price, or the price you need to hit a target GP, rounded to a tidy figure like £5.95.
Add several drinks to the price list table to see your overall wet GP and download it for your next price review.
Serves per container: the cheat sheet
| Container | Serve | Serves per container |
|---|---|---|
| 50-litre keg (or 11-gallon) | Pint (568ml) | 88 |
| 30-litre keg | Pint | 52.8 |
| 20-litre bag-in-box cider | Pint | 35.2 |
| 9-gallon cask (firkin) | Pint | 72 (fewer once sediment is left behind) |
| 70cl spirit bottle | 25ml | 28 |
| 70cl spirit bottle | 35ml | 20 |
| 1-litre spirit bottle | 25ml / 35ml | 40 / 28.6 |
| 75cl wine bottle | 125ml / 175ml / 250ml | 6 / 4.3 / 3 |
| 75cl port or sherry | 50ml / 70ml | 15 / 10.7 |
A UK pint is 568ml. These are full theoretical yields. Real yields are lower once you allow for line cleaning, fobbing and over-pours. That's what the ullage box is for.
UK legal measures to use
UK weights and measures law sets the serve sizes for some drinks. The calculator's defaults follow them:
- Draught beer and cider: ⅓ pint, ½ pint, ⅔ pint, or multiples of ½ pint.
- Gin, rum, vodka and whisky: 25ml or 35ml (or multiples). Pick one for your premises, not both.
- Still wine by the glass: 125ml or 175ml, or multiples of either. So 250ml is fine.
- Port, sherry and other fortified wine: 50ml or 70ml, or multiples.
Other spirits, such as tequila or brandy, and sparkling wine have no set measure. Most bars use their house spirit measure anyway. Licensed premises in England and Wales must also make the small measures available (½ pint of beer or cider, 25ml or 35ml of gin, rum, vodka or whisky, and a 125ml glass of still wine), show them on a menu or price list, and tell customers about them if they don't ask for a size.
Worked examples
All prices include 20% VAT. All costs are ex VAT. These costs are examples, not supplier quotes.
Pint of lager
- 50-litre keg at £150 → 88 pints → £1.70 a pint
- Sell at £5.20 → £4.33 ex VAT → GP £2.63 → 60.7%
- With a 4% ullage allowance, cost rises to £1.77 and GP drops to 59.1%
- For 65% GP, price at £5.84, so £5.85
Gin and tonic (25ml house measure)
- 70cl gin at £18 → 28 measures → £0.64
- Tonic £0.45 + lemon £0.05 → cost per serve £1.14
- Sell at £6.50 → £5.42 ex VAT → GP £4.27 → 78.9%
Glass of house wine
- 75cl bottle at £7.50
- 175ml: cost £1.75. Sell at £7.00 → 70.0% GP
- 125ml: cost £1.25. Sell at £5.20 → 71.2%
- 250ml: cost £2.50. Sell at £9.50 → 68.4%
- Whole bottle at £24 → 62.5%
Espresso martini
- Vodka 50ml (70cl at £16) £1.14 + coffee liqueur 25ml (70cl at £14) £0.50 + espresso £0.20 + sugar syrup £0.03 + garnish £0.05 = £1.92
- Sell at £10.50 → £8.75 ex VAT → 78.0%
Bottles and soft drinks
- 330ml bottled beer: cost £1.10, sell £4.80 → 72.5%
- 200ml glass bottle of cola: cost £0.55, sell £3.00 → 78.0%
What's a good drinks GP?
There's no official target and no single published UK benchmark. These are rough rules of thumb to start from. Your own costs, prices and trade matter more, so use them as a guide, not a rule.
| Drink | Typical GP | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Draught beer and cider | 55%–65% | Lowest %, but your biggest seller in most pubs |
| Bottled beer and cans | 65%–75% | |
| Wine by the glass | 65%–75% | Bottles often run lower |
| Spirits with mixer | 70%–80% | |
| Cocktails | 75%–80% | Labour heavy, so watch speed |
| Soft drinks | 75%–85% | Post-mix usually beats bottles |
GP vs pour cost
"Pour cost" is the US term. It's the cost of the drink as a share of the ex-VAT price, so it's the flip side of GP. A pour cost of 21% is a GP of 79%. The calculator shows both.
Ullage and wastage: the hidden GP leak
Your stock-take GP is usually lower than your calculated GP. The gap comes from:
- Line cleaning. Beer pulled through and thrown away when you clean the lines.
- Fobbing and spills. Especially on busy nights or with warm cellars.
- Over-pours of free-poured spirits and wine.
- Staff drinks and "on the house" rounds that never go through the till.
- Sediment in cask ale, which is why a 72-pint firkin rarely sells 72 pints.
Set an ullage % on each drink in the calculator, then compare the result with your stock-take. If the gap is still big, check your cellar, your optics and your till.
5 ways to improve your wet GP
- Re-cost after every price rise. Alcohol duty has changed on 1 February in recent years, and suppliers often move prices then. Re-run your price list whenever a supplier puts prices up.
- Push the drinks with the best cash GP, not just the best %: a premium spirit, a large wine, or a cocktail of the week.
- Use optics or jiggers. A 30ml free-pour on a 25ml measure costs you 20% of the spirit.
- Price in tidy steps and round up. £5.85 rather than £5.80 on a pint adds 4p of GP on every pint.
- Make ordering faster. Table ordering by QR code means more rounds on busy nights without more staff at the bar.
For a deeper look at drinks margins, read our drinks menu strategy for 2026. Then work out your break-even point with the break-even calculator.
Let guests order the next round from the table
Once your prices are right, put your drinks list online. With Menuthere, guests scan a QR code on the table and order from their phone, with no app to download. Drinks orders can print at the bar and food orders in the kitchen, and you pay 0% commission. Card payments through your own Stripe account come with a paid plan. See table ordering for pubs and bars, order and pay at the table and online ordering for bars, or print a matching drinks menu from our menu templates.
For food, use our GP calculator.