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Free Beer!

SDPokeFan

SDPokeFan

Well-known member
Maybe a bar in Laramie could do this? The Buck?

http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/13774715/orlando-bar-offering-free-beer-amid-ucf-knights-losing-skid" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
 
Is it any different than penny beer night? They should come out ok selling appetizers/mixed drinks. How much can one guy drink in draft beer? They can't be paying all that much for a keg
 
laxwyo said:
Is it any different than penny beer night? They should come out ok selling appetizers/mixed drinks. How much can one guy drink in draft beer? They can't be paying all that much for a keg
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Let's see...the deal runs during the game. Average college game was 3 hours, 18 minutes (in 2013). Can probably do a pint every 10-15 minutes. However, as it's free I would probably be motivated to up my intake...hmm. Subtract the common denominator, carry the 2...I'm thinking I could take down about 20 pints in that time period, give or take 1 or 2.

That comes out to 320 ounces. Normal keg is 1984 ounces. So I just finished ~16% of the keg. IF the keg is $90 (big if, it's probably more like $50-60), the bar just gave me about $14 of free beer that they would have normally charged ~$60 for.

So in conclusion...I would be drunk and the bar didn't lose too terribly much.
 
So in conclusion...I would be drunk and the bar didn't lose too terribly much.
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But what about the business they'd lose, having to disrupt things to get the paramedics there...after you drank this equivalent of one and a half fifths of 80 proof liquor over that three hours.
 
SnowyRange said:
So in conclusion...I would be drunk and the bar didn't lose too terribly much.
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But what about the business they'd lose, having to disrupt things to get the paramedics there...after you drank this equivalent of one and a half fifths of 80 proof liquor over that three hours.
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I've done it before without dying (or needing EMS), could probably do it again. Actually done a fifth in an hour before...that was a fun night.
 
I once drank a fifth of Smirnoff's Vanilla Vodka (please don't judge) in an hour after a couple of beers and no food since breakfast. It was the beginning of the worst evening I've ever had...
 
We used to tap the keg on game days at 8 a.m. We once had a guy pass out before the 11 a.m. kickoff. Ahhhhhhh, college.
 
SnowyRange said:
Smirnoff's Vanilla Vodka
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Oh, I won't judge, as I'm sure you had a good reason for that.

And about that reason....what was her name?
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Ha, indeed. Though it was my one of my ex's unopened bottles that just happened to be conveniently available. She was probably the reason I drank it all as well. :)
 
WestWYOPoke said:
laxwyo said:
Is it any different than penny beer night? They should come out ok selling appetizers/mixed drinks. How much can one guy drink in draft beer? They can't be paying all that much for a keg
Click to expand...

Let's see...the deal runs during the game. Average college game was 3 hours, 18 minutes (in 2013). Can probably do a pint every 10-15 minutes. However, as it's free I would probably be motivated to up my intake...hmm. Subtract the common denominator, carry the 2...I'm thinking I could take down about 20 pints in that time period, give or take 1 or 2.

That comes out to 320 ounces. Normal keg is 1984 ounces. So I just finished ~16% of the keg. IF the keg is $90 (big if, it's probably more like $50-60), the bar just gave me about $14 of free beer that they would have normally charged ~$60 for.

So in conclusion...I would be drunk and the bar didn't lose too terribly much.
Click to expand...
One problem with your math is even if you down the pint in 10-15 minutes, that doesn't equal service time.

Here's some insight as to how they actually do this without losing too much (yes, they are losing money- ON THE BEER THEY GIVE AWAY). Depending on where you're at, a major label lager (Bud Light, Bud, etc.) runs from about $95-$120.
That is NOT what they're using. First option would be something like PBR at around $80-90. It will certainly lower your losses. But, no smart operator's going to go with that either. They are probably using Oly, Schlitz, or something along those lines. They're also probably using kegs that are up against their code dates. So, they tell the distributor, "We'll take those kegs you're sitting on that you're going to have to return. We'll take six at a drop at $45/ keg."

Now, here's your math- at around $45/ keg, you've got a pint cost of 36.2 cents. I'm sure the rule is one beer per customer at a time, and no refills until the Solo cup is empty. Now, if they're packing that bar the way I'd think they would, there's simply no way someone's going to get refilled very quickly. Probably looking at, if it's super busy, about 5-10 minutes lag time on refills. At best, you're going to get about 4 pints per hour. So, at this point, everyone who's drinking the free beer is costing the bar, at most, about $1.45/ hour. In the meantime- the majority of the free beer drinkers will have shifted their budgets to shots and food. In addition, there's always the higher percentage of women that don't like beer, so a good percentage of the free beer drinkers are buying non-free drinks for the ladies. See where this is going? On average, the "free beer" drinker, while costing the bar up to $1.45/ hour is probably still spending, on average, $10-15/ hour. Most bars' product mix (food+alcohol) runs around 22% cost, so, labor costs (should be around 18%) aside, they're pulling in anywhere from $7.80-11.70/ hour less the $1.45. In other words, even giving away free beer, they're averaging about $6-10.25 per person per hour before labor costs and overhead. Even at $50-65 per keg, the bar's making money.

Now, consider how many people are going to show up early to get into the place when the game starts and the free beer starts flowing. They're spending $15-20 per hour at that point. Now consider after the game. How many people stick around after the free beer ends to watch more games with a big energized, buzzed crowd? Again, $15-20 per hour per person. If the place holds as few as 100 people, they're still generating $1000 an hour in sales with, likely, no more than four bartenders, two cooks, a dishwasher, two cocktail waitresses and a manager that, altogether cost them around $100-150 an hour. Throw in a bouncer or two at another $30 and hour for kicks. They're still running under $200 in labor an hour.

Long and short of it- you'll get free beer, but you'll likely spend just under your average if it wasn't free doing it. Even if you're super-thrifty and disciplined, there's many others who're spending 2-3 times what your average would be if you were paying for the beer.
 
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