As craft beer and its corresponding culture continue to gain
steam in the US, “beer tourism” has not only become a thing, but a big thing. There
was a time where a brewery would open primarily to distribute beer in the
local, regional, or even larger markets. These breweries would frequently
squeeze in a tasting room for anyone who wanted to see where their beer is made,
and maybe get a growler filled. In that business model, the taproom was far
from an integral piece of the profit stream.
Today, it is common for breweries to open with taproom as
the lynchpin of their business plan. These places are geared heavily or
exclusively to sell their product on premise, making them basically a bar that
makes what they serve in house. This model is far less financially prohibitive
than jumping right into a production brewery, and as such they, along with the
bigger upstarts, continue to pop up all around the country.
What does all of this mean? It means that no matter where
you are, you’re probably within a short drive of a brewery hotbed. This in turn
means that you can and should dive in to the beer tourism world head first with
an epic beer-venture!
Hacksaw and I loosely define a beer-venture as visiting a crap-ton
of breweries in a small amount of time. Much like the 2012 beer-venture,
any others (either planned or executed) have involved at least five visits in
an afternoon/evening. But you could talk me in to cramming a bunch in over a
couple of days too. Nevertheless, whatever you decide, here are a few tips of
the trade to keep in mind during the planning process.
DO ignore all
reason and limitations of silly things like “number of hours in a day” when
deciding how many and which breweries to visit. The goal here is maximum real
estate coverage.
DON’T worry if
you can’t end up making it to them all. Go big and then enjoy the journey,
wherever it takes you.
DO have a
designated driver, unless you can walk to all of your targets and back. Might seem obvious, but you don’t
want to be worrying about your BAC after your 5th sample
flight of the day. Plus drinking beer is fun but not worth endangering anyone.
DO try to squeeze
in some tours. You probably don’t need to get 8 brewery tours in a day, but if
you can find a few with specific times that will give you some fixed points to
plan around.
DON’T make the
really long treks between breweries later in the day. The 20-30 minute car
rides are easier when you’re awake, more sober, and still excited about the
prospect of the beer-venture at hand. Later on it’s easier to rally if you’re
only a few minutes between stops. Just my two cents.
DO bring a
notebook and a camera. Wait, your phone does both? Well there you go, now no
one will laugh at you for scribbling notes at a bar. But if you’re like me,
just embrace the laughter and scribble away!
DO try to be
strategic about your route. Some cities have basically one road that has plenty
of breweries, so why not just make your way straight down the line?
DO tell all of
your friends about it. You may only have a handful of folks in it for the long
haul, but that doesn't mean people can’t join you for a stop or two!
DON’T lose your wallet or phone at one of the stops. You’ll be the least popular person in your group if you have to turn around and sacrifice one of the stops to retrieve something.
DO log everything
on Untappd. Yeah, you’ll get the passive-aggressive badges that stop just short
of calling you an alcoholic, but they’re just samples, right?
DON’T feel like
you have to get a full pint at every stop. You will probably not make it to the
end if you take this route.
DON’T force your
spouse to go along for the whole journey if they really don’t want to. They could always drop you off and/or pick you up.
DO try to create
the most elaborate beer flights possible, even if it’s not “available”. It’s
funny how some places won’t include their fancy/rare/high ABV beers in any sort
of flight. Sometimes all it takes is a little charm to get the bartender to
slip one or two samples in. Sometimes you get stonewalled and you’re stuck with
your twelfth brown ale of the day. You win some, you lose some.
DO have fun with
it all and share the best routes with others!
As the landscape continues to change, the opportunities for
new beer-ventures and twists on old ones are limitless. Hacksaw and I have
started planning a repeat of the Raleigh area, but there are so many new
breweries it’s bound to look completely different. Stay tuned for the tale of
that quest and others to come.
Cheers,
Jacob
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