Where do you mostly drink beer on-premise?

I don’t think the bars I go to would be considered “craft beer bars,” but they all have decent beer options. At this point, I’m more interested in the atmosphere than the beer they serve. Just about every place has one or two things on tap that I’ll love. Not every place has an atmosphere I’ll love.

 

If we still had a craft beer bar here in the Cedar Valley it'd be that. My go-to spot closed out of the blue back in January. They had a huge rotating tap list and pretty good pub food. The bar I rely on now has better food and an outstanding whisk(e)y menu, plus about a dozen or so excellent beers on tap. We do have a couple of decent brewery taprooms here, plus several more within a 50-mile radius. However, I voted "Other" because it's mainly restaurants these days and I go primarily for the food. If they offer any beers I haven't ticked yet, so much the better.

 

I voted craft beer bars. Here in Toulouse, there are only a couple of breweries in the city, all the good ones are 15-20 miles outside city limits, and the ones with taprooms close real early.

Thankfully, we have very good craft options, like Delirium Cafe (24 taps), Bear’s House (12 taps), etc.,. with pub bites available.

That said, I always enjoyed sitting at a brewery, looking at the tanks and barrels where my beer was pulled from.,. just something about it.,.

 

Like @zotzot, when I drink outside of home I have 3 great breweries nearby. The farthest is just over 2 miles away and closest under a mile, walking distance for sure. I do support all 3 equally and visit weekly. It does get old eating out week after week the same food, so sometimes I’ll eat lunch at home and have a pour at the brewery. But always an afternoon beer drinker. There is a 4th location nearby, a sandwich shop with a great taplist when there’s something good or interesting, I’ll stop in.

 

Mostly taprooms because there are so many good ones around me. Often my wife and I will check the food truck schedules of the breweries around us and plot our course based on that. I am fortunate to also have a very good beer bar nearby that I'm pretty regular at as well.

 

My answer i go to both equally between breweries and craft beer bars. Both serve good food and serve cocktails (for my wife). Atmosphere is a little different and the breweries. Several craft beer bars sell singles to go and have a nice selection

 

I voted "other."

Long story short, the 15 or so pints I drank in the pubs of Scotland this summer is far and away the most drinking I've done in public places in years. Traditional pubs are neither taprooms nor craft beer bars, so I put others.

I'm not sure how many honest-to-god craft beer bars we have in Houston these days, so brewery taproom would be my second choice.

All of that seems more like a long story longer ...

 

If traditional pubs that serve excellent cask beer are not "craft" beer bars/pubs then the term truly has absolutely no meaning, so I don't give a damn

 

Mainly beer bars. And especially - according to USA Today - America’s best beer bar, O’Brien’s in San Diego, CA. I don’t like drinking the same beer one after the other, so I suppose a beer bar is probably a bit better than a brewery for that. That said, O’Brien’s is still 80% IPA’s with a few Lagers thrown in along a Stout and Sour. Maybe O’Brien’s even has less variety than say, my local brewery - Societe. But changing up breweries inbetween having beers makes things a bit more diverse to me - rather than having beer after beer from the same brewery. Same way when I drink at home too. I can actually do two IPA’s in a row, but generally I’d have to switch up the brewery. On a rare occasion I’ll buy a six pack of lager - Bavik Pilsner being the last one - and crush all of them during a session. But again, I prefer variety.

 

Yep! That sounds like a great session to me. And Live Oak Hefeweizen is a hell of a beer to start with too!

 

Brewery taprooms. Cherry St., Bold Monk, Good Word, and Round Trip are all in my regular rotation. On occasion, there is a beer bar/pub called Summitt's near me that I got occasionally and it actually can have some good taps but you still have to watch what may have been sitting for a while.

 

I was big fan of beer bars that have a smaller selection of taps, a few nice bottles, small menu of cheese, charcuterie, and small plates that are well thought out and delicious. Similar to a wine bar, and a lot of them were wine/beer bars. There was one in Richmond that I can't remember the name of that was affiliated with River City Cellars that I loved, and a couple of the Red Aprons in the DMV fit the bill as well. I recall there being a couple in Philly, too (Alla Spina being the only one I can recall the name of). All closed now, sadly, so I was definitely in the minority on that.

But a well curated list, constant turnover ensuring freshness, and always something new is something I think we can agree on.

 

Accessibility.

Not many options in the way of beer bars our this way. The one that has been our usual hangout tend to be heavy on IPA taps and doesn't have a ton of change over years. Unless you're going to pay to crack a bottle, many of which you can get from the bottle shop down the street. Speaking of which, the bottle shop is attached to a restaurant with a solid tap list, but it's a matter of getting people to go to a different place like the occasional restaurant with a decent tap list.

Not many breweries out this way, either. We end up driving one way or another to one of them when we aren't just opting for the easiest option above. There are good beer bars on the other side of town, but you might as well just go to the source if you're driving that far. Fortunately, there is no shortage of good breweries with good food here.

But the beer bars give you the chance to try something different. If only distance wasn't an issue. Some good experiences with the few fortuitous occasions.

 

Mostly brewery taprooms. Distribution seems to be shrinking, so if I want local craft, I have to go to them. There are also some nice destination breweries around (places in the Hill Country with good outdoor spaces).

 

90% of my on premise beer consumption is at a bar and grill called Tap 22. I'm there every Tuesday I can make it for $2 pints. The rest would be local breweries, on occasion

 

For me, most is day drinking at old man bars. Next would be attending sports events (including pre-game and drinking on the train when applicable). Restaurants and breweries close out the list.

 

Taps are where it's at for me for the most part. Craft beer bar is second, but the logistics/transportation piece is a mess here. Most of those open later in the day & that's not how I roll unless on vacation or special occasions. Most eating joints are alright, but that's usually my Wife's time to cut loose, so I have one at the most.

 

When I travel, I go to what's closest to my hotel relative to how good it is. Fine to go a couple miles (sometimes more) to a highly regarded brewery or beer bar, or even a bar with a great beer selection. What wins mostly is less than a mile and good list, or at least something new and novel. Sometimes just beer wins because I'm tired.

At home, I do 95% of my consumption at home. When I go out, if I look at untappd my most trafficked places are North Park Beer, Pizza Port Ocean Beach and O'Brien's. After that it's mostly a smattering of random breweries, often having more to do with the random time/place I am around the city and I have 30 minutes to kill and grab a pint.

I prefer beer bars, but usually convenience in the form of time and location wins the day.