How Many Beers Are In A Standard Pitcher?

There's a familiar math problem you encounter when hanging out with friends at your local bar: Is it an economically savvier decision to split a pitcher of beer or order your own pints? To know the answer — and remove any such pesky math during future fun Friday nights or Sunday afternoons — you have to understand a couple of things. First and foremost: How many beers are actually in that pitcher? Then, you must be able to roughly compare the cost per beer in the pitcher versus the cost of your own separate pint.

It's a pretty set amount for what you can expect in a pitcher, just like knowing how many beers are in a standard keg. The average pitcher has a capacity of 64 ounces. Now, you can break that down one of two ways, depending on your go-to beer order. If you tend to drink beer at the bar on draft, which comes in a 16-ounce pint glass (unless it's a higher-ABV style, which will be a smaller pour), a pitcher has four of those servings. If you're more of a bottled beer imbiber and used to working with 12 ounces at a time, a pitcher has just a smidge over five beers. As long as everyone in your group can agree on a beer — looking to some of the most popular beers like Samuel Adams or Blue Moon — a pitcher might be the way to go.

The first variables in the beer-pitcher calculation are the number of people in your group and about how many beers everyone anticipates having. This is just like figuring out how many pizzas you need to order when hosting friends. Consider how long you'll be at the bar and what you'll be doing. Are you just catching up for a couple of hours over some burgers? You can probably assume each person will consume two beers. Or, are you hunkering down to watch the game? At that point, you may be looking at more like four beers per person. If there are four of you, a pitcher will cover each round — you'd need two for the former scenario, and four for the latter. If that sounds like a lot, remember that in the case of watching the game, that's compared to 16 individual beers being ordered.

The average cost of a pitcher of cheaper domestic brews from major corporate brewers runs from about $10 to $20, while a pitcher of craft beer might be more like $15 to $30, depending on what region you're in. Compare that to the average price of a pint of macro beer, around $3.50 to $5.50, or craft beer, about $6 to $10, and pitchers are cost-effective. Two pitchers of macro beer could ring in at, say, $30, versus eight separate orders at $4.50, which is $36. After two rounds, you're saving $12.