A beer menu where every beer earns its place

Oct 6

5 min read

A long-standing beer that regulars always ask for. A new addition recommended by a supplier. A local brew you enjoy introducing to customers. Over time, a beer menu grows one addition at a time, without always leaving room to step back and look at the whole range.

For a bar or restaurant, every beer represents a commitment: stock, fridge space, sometimes a draught line, and a product the team needs to know.

How do you decide which beers to keep, which to give more visibility and which to replace? Market trends provide reference points. Your venue’s own sales help you make those decisions.

The classics still have their place

New releases attract attention, but everyday favourites remain essential.

Across FYRE’s French panel, pilsners and other lagers account for 32% of beer and cider revenue, up 0.7 percentage points compared with the equivalent period in 2025.

In the UK, their share reaches 54.8%, an increase of 4.8 percentage points over the period analysed.

These findings cover two different markets and panels. Nevertheless, they highlight the value of paying close attention to the beers you may have started to take for granted.

Is your core lager always available? Are serving sizes and prices easy to understand? What margin does it generate? Do you stock several similar beers, with just one accounting for most of the orders?

Before adding another beer, reviewing the performance of those already driving sales is a good place to start.

A small category can offer an idea worth testing

Alongside established favourites, some shifts deserve a closer look.

In the Netherlands, dark beer volumes grew by 67.9% over the 26 weeks analysed, compared with the same period a year earlier, across FYRE’s panel.

This increase does not mean every venue should add a dark beer. Strong growth can come from a category that remains small, and demand observed in the Netherlands does not automatically translate to a restaurant in France.

It does, however, raise a useful question: is there something your customers would like that your current menu does not really offer?

Requests from guests, sales of similar beers or interest in a temporary recommendation can help you assess this. You can then trial a beer over a defined period, with limited stock and a clear introduction from your team.

The aim is to understand whether it earns its place: is it ordered regularly? Does it need a recommendation to sell? Does it generate additional sales, or mainly replace orders for another beer?

Alcohol-free beer deserves its own review

In France, alcohol-free beers account for 2.8% of beer and cider revenue across FYRE’s panel, an increase of 0.4 percentage points compared with the equivalent period in 2025.

Their share remains modest, but it is growing. For operators, this is a reason to review both sales and how the offer is presented.

Is an alcohol-free beer rarely ordered because demand is low, or because customers do not notice it? Is it clearly listed on the menu? Can customers identify its style and price? Can the team confidently describe it?

Before deciding that a beer is not working, look at the conditions in which it is being sold. Frequent stockouts, a hard-to-find menu listing or an unclear description can make its performance difficult to interpret.

Testing a more prominent position, and tracking results across several comparable services, can help you better understand its potential in your venue.

A fall in market share does not decide a beer’s future

Across the French panel, ales and Belgian-style beers each lost 0.7 percentage points of revenue share within the beer and cider category.

This indicates a decline in their relative share of observed sales. It does not, on its own, establish that their volumes are falling. Nor does it tell you how your own beers are performing.

A beer can lose ground across the panel while retaining loyal customers in your venue. It may also contribute to your menu’s identity, with lower but consistent sales.

Equally, belonging to a growing category does not guarantee that a particular beer will perform well in your venue.

A market trend raises a question. It does not replace an analysis of your own business.

Give every beer a role

To review your menu, start with a sales period long enough to avoid relying on a single weekend. Account for stockouts, promotions and menu changes that may have influenced the results.

For each beer, bring together a few straightforward measures:

Units sold, distinguishing between serving sizes.
Margin per serving and total margin contribution, based on your actual costs.
Stock turnover, to identify beers that tie up stock for long periods.
Consistency of orders, beyond an occasional spike.
Its role in the range, whether as a classic, a discovery, a local beer or an alcohol-free option.

This approach avoids judging a beer solely on its revenue. An expensive beer may generate a healthy sales value without contributing the most to your margin. Another, selling in smaller quantities, may meet a specific need that the rest of the menu does not cover.

You can then make a more informed decision: keep a beer, improve its presentation, adjust purchasing quantities, trial an alternative or consider removing it.

Make changes, then look at what happens on beer menu

Once you have chosen your adjustments, make sure you can measure their effects.

If you replace several beers, change every price and redesign the presentation at the same time, it will be difficult to understand what is driving any change in orders.

Working in stages gives you a clearer picture. After featuring a beer or introducing a new one, track its sales alongside the rest of the range. A new addition can sell well mainly by taking orders from a beer you already stock.

The useful question then becomes: does this change improve the performance of the menu as a whole and how well it meets your customers’ needs?

A beer menu does not need to get longer to evolve. It benefits from regular reviews that bring together your knowledge of your customers, your venue’s performance and market trends.

With FYRE insights, compare trends in your market with what is happening in your own venue, so that every beer earns its place on your menu.

Sources: FYRE analyses of the beer and cider category. France: panel of 1,207 venues, 19 January–20 July 2026, compared with the equivalent period in 2025. United Kingdom: comparable panel of 7,027 venues, 12 January–12 July 2026, compared with the equivalent period in 2025. Netherlands: change in dark beer volumes over 26 weeks compared with the same period a year earlier. Results describe the panels analysed; they do not predict the performance of an individual venue.