8 Best Brewery and Restaurant POS Systems for 2026, Ranked

If you manage a brewery, taproom, or brewpub, your POS has to do more than ring in pints. It must handle rotating SKUs, multiple pour sizes, events, merchandise, and hybrid service that blends bar, counter, table, and QR ordering. Industry analyses project the global POS market to exceed 40 billion dollars in 2026, which reflects growing investment in platforms that connect front-of-house, production, and guest experience. According to Eat App and BrewPlanner, brewery operations create unique demands like volumetric inventory and flexible workflows that traditional restaurant POS systems often struggle to support.

This guide ranks and compares the eight best POS systems for breweries, taprooms, and brewpubs in 2026, with a focus on the realities of hybrid service, rotating inventory, and high-volume guest flows. It explains why traditional restaurant POS tools often fall short for breweries—especially when it comes to volumetric inventory, multi-zone service, events, and self-pour integrations—and outlines the specialized capabilities modern operators now require.

The article breaks down each platform’s strengths, ideal use cases, and tradeoffs, with a deeper look at how GoTab, Arryved, Toast, Square, Lightspeed, SpotOn, and Clover perform in real-world taproom environments. It also includes a feature comparison table, a practical buying checklist, and key questions to ask vendors. The goal is to help brewery operators confidently choose a POS that supports hybrid service, protects revenue, scales with growth, and delivers a better guest experience in 2026 and beyond.

Key Takeaways

The global POS market is projected to exceed 40 billion dollars in 2026, signaling rapid innovation and investment in hospitality tech (Eat App).
Running a brewpub or taproom introduces operational complexity that traditional restaurant tools aren’t built to handle. Tracking orders, inventory, and taxes—especially as volume and variety grow—quickly becomes chaotic when managed with spreadsheets or generic systems, making brewery-specific software essential for scaling with control and accuracy. (Beer30)
Contactless and QR ordering have become operational standards; platforms like GoTab and Arryved offer native mobile ordering options (GoTab; Arryved).

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Why Your Brewery or Restaurant Needs a Specialized POS in 2026

Brewery and taproom operations blend bar service, packaged retail, events, and sometimes full-service food. That mix requires a POS that can flex without forcing a single service model. Industry sources emphasize that breweries face unique inventory and workflow challenges. For example, Beer30 highlights the need to track inventory by volume since different pour sizes create complexity that standard restaurant systems do not always address. Eat App notes the broader trend: modern venues adopt software designed to connect ordering, payment, reporting, and integrations.

Specialized brewery POS platforms solve four recurring pain points:

Hybrid service execution: Run counter service, bartender-entered orders, and guest-initiated QR at the same time, which helps during peak hours and special events.
Volumetric and rotating inventory: Manage kegs, package sizes, and seasonal or limited-time releases while keeping counts accurate across zones like the bar, patio, and merch.
Integrated experiences: Sync with production tools, loyalty, online ordering, and self-pour systems to reduce manual work and improve billing accuracy.
Flexible payments and tabs: Support open tabs, pre-authorization, easy splitting, and multi-card payments for groups.

We’ve seen hybrid models become the default for high-volume taprooms and brewpubs. Guests want to order at the bar or from their phones, then move between areas without friction. A brewery-first POS also supports special events, festivals, and buyouts, where quick setup, roaming tabs, and clear routing to prep stations prevent bottlenecks. In short, a specialized POS turns operational complexity into consistent execution, and it does so while improving the guest experience.

How We Chose the Best Brewery POS Systems

For nearly a decade, we’ve focused exclusively on the brewery and taproom problem set. In evaluating systems for 2026, we applied brewery-specific criteria shaped by years of real-world execution in taprooms, brewpubs, and hybrid venues. Our analysis draws on firsthand industry experience, operator feedback, and case studies—weighting only the features that have consistently proven to matter in day-to-day brewery operations.

Core Criteria:

Hybrid service support: Ability to run bar, counter, and QR ordering simultaneously without forcing a single model.
Volumetric inventory and beer workflows: Native handling or reliable integrations for keg and pour-size tracking, plus rotating SKUs.
Mobile tools: Handhelds, guest-facing QR ordering, and checkout-anywhere to reduce lines and speed turns.
Integrations and open architecture: Production and inventory tools, loyalty, self-pour, accounting, and event systems.
Reporting and controls: Real-time analytics by zone, tab behavior, peak times, and product performance.
Payments and revenue protection: Pre-authorization for open tabs, flexible splitting, and smart tip prompts.
Scalability and reliability: Multi-location support, strong uptime, and responsive support teams.

We also considered service and support. Operators often cite responsiveness as a deciding factor when dealing with peak-hour issues. Feedback from brewery teams, and roundups of essential features for success, shaped our perspective on the systems that fit taproom realities best.

Top 8 Brewery and Restaurant POS Systems Compared

The options below reflect what we see working in the field for breweries, taprooms, brewpubs, and hybrid food-beverage venues. Each profile includes standout features, an example use case or real-world quote when available, and a concise pros and cons table.

GoTab

Product summary: GoTab is a guest-centric, hospitality platform purpose-built for hybrid service. It goes beyond basic POS by offering unique, brewery-focused capabilities that streamline operations, improve guest experience, and drive revenue. GoTab stands apart from the competition with its flexible tab-based approach, advanced integrations, and robust event features.

GoTab Unique Differentiators for Breweries:

Tab vs Table-Based System: Tabs are guest-centric and follow guests anywhere in the venue, enabling unlimited open tabs at a single table. This eliminates confusion and prevents guests from accidentally charging the wrong card.
Flexible Tab Opening: Open tabs with chip, tap, or mobile wallet for true PCI compliance and reduced chargeback risk (unlike swipe-only competitors that require card holds).
Auto-Close with Default Tip: Tabs can auto-close at the end of the night, applying a default tip for seamless service.
Insufficient Funds Protection: Real-time authorization before orders are added to open tabs ensures funds are available and reduces unpaid tabs.
Menu and Zone Flexibility: Effortless menu scheduling and customized ordering experiences by zone. Automate fulfillment texts to guests based on their ordering zone. Activate your full space without overstaffing on slow days.
Guest Recognition: Guests are recognized automatically if they've ever used GoTab, anywhere. This creates a frictionless, personalized ordering experience, unlocks richer guest data, and enables automatic enrollment in customizable segments and personalized offerings.
Memberships: Build recurring revenue with memberships. Automate discounts, special availability, and loyalty perks to keep guests coming back.
Easy Tab: Guests can order at the bar or with a server, then have their tab texted to them with their card on file and name recognized. This "line killer" flow makes reordering and closing out from the phone easy, boosts revenue (up to 100% tab average increase), and creates lasting guest profiles for future visits.
Tripleseat Integration: GoTab is Tripleseat's only POS integration, allowing you to pull products directly into BEOs, manage event deposits and tabs on the POS, and treat deposits as deferred revenue until the event.
Advanced KDS: Industry-leading KDS with guest texting, 86ing items/modifiers, smart prep coordination, recipe/plating guides, auto-batching, and more. Streamline back-of-house and keep guests informed.
Brewery Software Integrations: Directly connect Ekos, Beer30, and other brewery management systems to sync taproom sales with production and inventory.
Advanced Event Features: Built-in menu availability, multi-party tracking across zones, RFID or event card ordering, and robust offline mode.
Station Overrides: Instantly reroute where products print based on order zone with a single toggle—no device-by-device setup.
Rules Engine: Create granular discounts or coupons to promote repeat business.
Spot Assignment: Assign sections to servers, ensuring they receive credit for sales/tips—even when guests order via QR.
Open API: Full, unrestricted access to your data for custom integrations. GoTab is committed to open architecture and will integrate with best-of-breed partners.
Support: 24/7, non-outsourced live support, onsite installation, and training.
Flexible Hardware: Lower upfront costs by reusing existing hardware, or run GoTab POS and Manager App from your own phone—including accepting tap payments, fully PCI compliant.

Real-World Proof:

“Our hybrid service model using GoTab and iPourIt has completely transformed our operations. Guests love the freedom to pour and order at their own pace.” — Brad Hansen, Owner, The Phoenix Taproom.
“We’ve noticed onboarding employees is super easy and fast with GoTab. It’s really reduced training times.” — Scott & Cindy Hoffman, Owners, Ono Brewing.
“Hoppin' has grown from Uptown Charlotte to five locations across the country... With GoTab, we are well prepared to keep growing.” — Rich Moyer, Founder and CEO, Hoppin’ Brands.

Ideal for: Taprooms and brewpubs with hybrid service, self-pour programs, events, and multi-zone operations.