Most venue owners decide on a tap count by looking at the venue down the road. You will not get a good result specifying your beer system that way.
The right number comes from four things: what you pour, how fast you pour it at peak, how much bar space you have, and how far the beer travels from the cellar. Get those right and the tap count follows.
Here is what that looks like in practice, using tap counts from WA venues Barons has worked with, grouped by venue size.
Tap counts at WA venues, by type and area
- Family venue (Baldivis, Perth metro): 88 taps
- Hotel (Como, Perth metro): 56 taps
- New tavern (Brabham, Perth metro): 48 taps
- Brewery (Port Kennedy, Perth metro): 40 taps (8 direct from brew tanks)
- Venue with two beer stations (Fremantle, Perth metro): 36 taps
- Regional venue (Chittering, Regional WA): 32 taps
- Smokehouse (Bindoon, Regional WA): 4 taps
That is a spread from 4 to 88. None of those numbers is wrong. Each one fits the venue it was built for.
How many taps does a restaurant or small bar need?
Fewer than you think. A smokehouse in Bindoon runs 4.
A food-led venue is selling the meal. The taps need to cover the styles that suit the menu and keep moving. Four taps that turn over every night will pour better than eight that do not.
Space matters more here too. A restaurant bar is usually shorter, the fonts sit in full view of diners, and the beer is competing with wine and cocktails for the same stretch of bench.
How many taps does a mid-size pub need?
A venue in Chittering runs 32.
This is the size where menu breadth starts doing the deciding. A core range the regulars expect, a few taps for something different, and enough cover that one popular beer running out does not empty the bar. Whether you are installing beer taps in Perth or regional WA, the test is simple: every tap on the list should earn its line. If you cannot say what a tap is for, it probably should not be there.
How many taps does a large venue need?
A new tavern in Brabham runs 48. A hotel in Como runs 56. A family venue in Baldivis runs 88.
At this size the question is less about the menu and more about throughput. How many people need a beer at the same moment on a busy Saturday, and where are they standing when they order?
A large count is usually the same core beers repeated across several points of service, so no one queues past a bar to get to the one pouring their drink. The menu itself might not be much wider than a mid-size pub’s.
How many taps across multiple bars or a precinct?
A Fremantle venue runs 36 across two beer stations.
Once a venue has more than one bar, some duplication is deliberate. Each station needs the beers that sell, or customers end up walking the length of the venue for a pint.
Across a precinct or a multi-bar site, cellar distance starts to drive the design as much as the tap count. Beer that has to travel a long way needs cooling that holds temperature the whole way to the glass. That is a system decision, not a tap decision, and it is worth settling before anyone draws the bar.
How many taps does a brewery taproom need?
A brewery in Port Kennedy runs 40, with 8 of them pouring direct from the brew tanks.
Tank-to-tap changes the maths. The beer is as fresh as it gets, but those taps depend on what is in the tanks, not what is in the cellar. A taproom has to decide how much of the bar runs off its own brewing schedule and how much runs like any other venue.
What actually decides the number of taps?
Menu breadth: Start with what you plan to sell, not how many handles look good on your bench. Count the beers, then count the ones that genuinely need their own tap.
Peak throughput Design for your busiest hour, not your average one. A tap count that copes on a Tuesday and fails on a Saturday is the wrong count.
Bar length Fonts need space, and so do the people pouring from them. A long bar with too few taps creates a queue at one end. A short bar with too many creates staff standing in each other’s way.
Cellar distance The farther the beer travels, the more the cooling has to do. Distance does not always change the tap count, but it can change what those taps cost to run and maintain.
Are more taps always better?
No. A slow tap is a quality problem.
Beer that sits still in a line is beer that is ageing where no one can see it. The tap that pours a handful of times a day is the one most likely to taste wrong. Every extra tap is also another line to clean, another coupler, and another font to keep right.
The better question is not how many taps you can fit. It is how many you can keep moving.
Getting the number right for your venue
Barons has four generations of family experience in draught beer and designs systems for venues across metro and regional WA, from a single restaurant bar to multi-bar sites. Talk to the team about commercial beer taps and beer dispensing equipment for your venue.