Draught beer (also known as draft beer or tap beer) has several related though slightly different understandings. The majority of references to draught beer are of filtered beer that has been served from a pressurised container, such as a keg or a widget can[citation needed]. A narrower meaning, beer that is served from a keg (or tap), but not from a can, bottle or cask, is also used.

A more traditional definition is beer that is served from a large container, which could be either a keg or a cask. The different understandings may at times overlap and cause confusion. Some traditionalists object to the more modern use of the word when applied to canned beer.

The slight usage differences of the term are due to the history and development of beer dispensing. Until Joseph Bramah patented the beer engine in 1785, beer was served directly from the cask and carried to the customer. The old English word for carry was dragen, from the German tragen, which developed into a series of related words, including drag, draw, and draught.

By extension, the word for carrying or drawing a beer came to mean the serving of the beer and, in some senses, the act of drinking, or a drink of beer itself, regardless of serving method. By the time Bramah's beer pumps became popular, the use of the word draught to mean the act of serving beer was well established and transferred easily to beer served via the hand pumps. In 1691, an article in the London Gazette mentioned John Lofting, who held a patent for a fire engine: "The said patentee has also projected a very useful engine for starting of beer, and other liquors which will draw from 20 to 30 barrels an hour, which are completely fixed with brass joints and screws at reasonable rates".

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