Efficient keg management and clear communication keep your wine-on-tap program profitable. Working with Free Flow to streamline operations lowers costs, boosts margins, and ensures long-term success.
Set your wine-on-tap program up for success with the right systems and support.
Here is an overview of keg management best practices for a successful wine-on-tap program with Free Flow Wines, covering the required contacts for smooth operations and logistics of keg deliveries and returns.
Keg Management Guide
Key Contacts for Program Coordination
Successful keg program management requires a clear set of contacts within the distributor’s team:
- Primary Contact – Serves as the main point of contact for all keg-related matters and escalations.
- Inventory Contact – Provides monthly reporting of full and empty keg inventory to maintain wine quality and throughput.
- Accounting Contact – Receives invoices electronically; parent-company or generic addresses are acceptable.
- Warehouse Contact – Coordinates keg pickups and deliveries with Free Flow.
- Sales Contact – Represents the on-premise sales team and supports collaboration on opportunities to grow keg movement.
Maximizing Efficiency
Margins and efficiency improve when distributors combine their efforts with Free Flow’s support. Key resources include:
- Sales and Technical Training – Designed to stimulate demand and strengthen program performance.
- Product Quality Support – Access to a network of draft system installation and maintenance professionals who ensure best dispensing practices.
Full Keg Logistics
Free Flow partners with a primary location for full keg order fulfillment:
Biagi Brothers
770 Skyway Ct.
Napa, CA 94558
📦 Pallet & Keg Shipping Specs
Keg Configuration
- 20 kegs per pallet
- 40 kegs = 1 pallet spot (stacked 2 high)
Dimensions & Weights
- Pallet dimensions: 40” x 48” x 30” high (with kegs)
- Pallet weight: ~1,190 lbs
- Keg weight: 58 lbs full / 14 lbs empty
- Keg size: 24” tall x 9.25” wide (27” tall when tapped)
🍷 Keg Capacity
Each keg holds:
- 16 Gallons
- 5 Liters
- 660 Ounces
- ~132 pours (5 oz glasses)
Empty Keg Logistics
🔁 Reverse Logistics Best Practices
Sharing details on the kegs’ route to market helps Free Flow ensure smooth returns. Free Flow works with suppliers to cover reverse logistics costs from distribution locations. Collaborating with Free Flow on empty keg collections regularly creates efficiencies that reduce supply chain expenses. This boosts profit margins in the wine-on-tap program. The best practices follow this sequence:
- Deliver full kegs to accounts.
- Pick up empty kegs during each delivery*.
- Consolidate empty kegs at the warehouse.
- Report empty keg inventory to Free Flow monthly.
- Coordinate the return shipment with Free Flow.
- Each standard pallet (40" x 48") holds 20 empty kegs.
- Three pallets (60 empty kegs) can be stacked in one pallet spot (40” x 48” x 90”).
- Free Flow organizes shipping based on 60 empty kegs per pallet spot.
- All kegs must be shrink-wrapped to pallets before collection.
*Free Flow offers empty keg pickup services directly from accounts in California, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania. Contact Emptykegs@freeflowwines.com to learn more.
*In control states where alcohol distribution is government-managed, additional empty keg return options are available through Free Flow upon request.
Deposits & Credits
- A $30 deposit is applied to each keg shipped from Free Flow facilities.
- Deposit invoices remain payable in full until empty kegs are returned.
- Upon receipt of empty kegs, Free Flow issues a credit memo for the deposit amount of each keg that can be applied to future keg deposit invoices. (See Deposit Credits/Refunds for details.)
- Each keg has a unique serial number that Free Flow tracks. Distributors are encouraged to maintain the same system for accurate reconciliation.
- When kegs are transferred between warehouses or distributors, the serial numbers of the transferred kegs are required to transfer deposits properly.
Ongoing Support
At any stage of development—whether launching, scaling, or refining a wine-on-tap program—support from Free Flow is available.
📧 info@freeflowwines.com
📞 (415) 626-1215