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[US] Beer prices

Median Beer Prices Jump to $6.60 in May 2026

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Key takeaways

What Affects Pricing

Whether it's a craft brew from a local brewery or a mass-produced domestic beer, the majority of beers contain four ingredients: water, hops, yeast, and grains, with barley being the most common. Beer can also be made from other grains, such as wheat, rice, corn, oats, rye, and more. 

Aside from raw ingredients, other factors that affect the price of beer include taxes, distribution costs, packaging costs (such as aluminum cans and kegs or glass bottles), labor, demand, and production expenses. While there are countless American beers served in restaurants in the U.S., there are also plenty of imported beers from around the world, which can face additional costs, from tariffs to shipping costs. 

At restaurants, refrigeration — from walk-in coolers filled with kegs to keep draft beers cold to lowboy fridges behind the bar for bottles and cans — staffing, and maintaining draft beer lines can also have an effect on pricing.

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About the Toast Menu Price Monitor

The Menu Price Monitor, powered by Toast, uncovers key menu pricing trends across the restaurant industry through aggregated sales data from restaurants on the Toast platform, which has approximately 171,000 locations as of March 31, 2026. This information is provided for general informational purposes only, and publication does not constitute an endorsement. Toast does not warrant the accuracy or completeness of any information, text, graphics, links, or other items contained within this content. Individual results may vary. Toast does not guarantee you will achieve any specific results if you follow any advice herein. It may be advisable for you to consult with a professional such as a lawyer, accountant, or business advisor for advice specific to your situation. The Toast Menu Item Price Tracker does not indicate Toast's operational performance or its reported financial metrics.

FAQs

Data in the Menu Price Monitor is a snapshot view of all applicable Toast platform restaurant locations in a given month. Previous pricing data released by Toast included filtering, such as same-store sales, and further breakdowns by restaurant type and other categories. 

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