Keg float

Definition

The brewery's kegs out in the trade, which are its property and rarely counted.

Why It Matters

Kegs cost real money and live in other people's coolers. A brewery selling through distribution has hundreds of them in the field at any moment, and the deposit system that is supposed to return them leaks a predictable percentage every year. The float is an asset on the buyer's books that nobody can see from the doorway, and it is one of the few places in a brewery deal where a physical count is genuinely impossible. Ask for the keg purchase history, the deposit balance, and what the seller believes the annual loss rate is.