What do you look for in a brewery experience?

A tour with a good mix of facts about
- the history of the brewery
- the brewery's mission statement
- some lighthearted fun facts about beer and/or the beer industry
- an overview of the brewing process
- some technical specs about the equipment and proce used

Great Beer
- served in several sizes (especially including small pours that I can purchase or be given)
- beer to go

Ability to speak to a Brewer
- Understandably not common, but there are breweries who see the value in this and do purposely staff a brewer during tasting hours who is encouraged to interact with customers. I give those breweries brownie points for doing so.

Knowledgeable Servers
- who know how to serve properly
- who know the product line / can speak about the products descriptively
- who understand beer styles
- who are craft beer fans themselves
- who know how to politely interact with patrons

A comfortable atmosphere (which is subjective of course)

 

Customer service -- I know that sounds cheap and cliche, but the breweries need to have good people skills as well as tasty beer. I've had such good "people experiences" with certain breweries that make me follow them for life, and others turn me off completely. Seriously -- just treat people good and you will reap rewards.

 

IMO, there's so many differeny breweries of so many different sizes, that it's hard to give one answer that will cover all eventualities. However, the one thing I do want to see, if I'm taking a tour, is someone who is actually familiar with the equipment and procedures, instead of just reading a script (or reciting one) so that if I have questions, they can answer them intelligently.
I've been to big ones, that you have to walk all over the place, and small ones, that you can stand in one spot and see all the equipment, and the tiny ones that you can't even fit into the brew area... I've seen ones I;ve enjoyed for each size and ones that have left me lacking.

 

Main thing for me is availability of beer not available elsewhere. Knowledgeable staff. Good vibe. Good prices.

 

I love that Troegs has a "self guided" tour that you can do. Grab a beer, and go take a look at the brewery operation. Of course they have an actual tour as well.


There needs to be some limited release or experimental beers options. I don't want to go in to find the standard stuff I can find at any beer store or bar. Give me something that's harder to find, or a brewery exclusive.


Food is important too. I'm not always looking to get food, but I want good food available should I choose to eat.

 

2nd vote for customer service. i could care less about a tour.

CT has multiple nanos. The best ones have sometimes significant wait times to get growlers filled. Hire a 2nd pourer. Show some appreciation for your rabid fanbase.

 

I look for the qualities that BA uses for grading a place when writing a review: Vibe, Quality, Selection and Service. Optional is Food, but that one is no longer used in the scoring process. I have my own definitions as to what score to assign to each category, subjective (Vive and Service) as well as definitive (Quality and Selection).

 

Same here, I like to learn about the brewery. Get an opportunity to taste experimental beers and buy rare ones. I also like some good food to go with the good beer, from the brewery or local recommended food establishment. Good service, knowledgeable workers. Good vibe.

 

My favorite tours have involved (free) samples, enthusiasm of employees, and appreciation for customers. Anything less is a letdown. The experience can certainly influence buying habits either way.

 

For me what makes or breaks a brewery experience is the quality of the beers and the selections of beers on tap. I do not want to go to a brewery in which everything on tap I can just as easily get in stores, I want to try something I have not had before. I also want a wide selection if you only have 5-6 or beers on tap it is going to only take a very brief amount of time to sample the brews. If I am going out of my way to visit your brewery I want a tap list big enough that it leaves me wanting to visit again b/c I was not able to try everything I wanted to.

The last factor for me is customer service it makes a huge difference and leaves me wanting to come back. With that said, if a place has great beer and a great selection and has mediocre or crappy service I will at least be back once more because the beer is good and every server has an off day. Plus it is ultimately the beer that I am there for not the service.

My best brewery experience were at Short's, Wicked Weed and Cigar City because all three of them have awesome beer, an awesome selection and great customer service.

 

What I'm looking for when visiting a brewery is access to non-shelf or one-off beers, knowledgeable staff and reasonable price points.

 

Best ones are when you are given free reign, unlimited free beer and tables groanng with food.And of course, at no charge.I've had this experience at a lot of breweries.I've also had it all except for paying a small charge like $10.........all my brewery visits except one have been enjoyable. The exception was the old Bass Brewery in Burton on Trent which was a waste of a day out.No food, nothing to see except shiny pipework and a massive control console, nothing to smell except lavender floor polish.And just one pint of Bass.

 

Thumbs Up! If this is traditional then we need to start doing this in the US too.

Thumbs Down!

 

I have enjoyed going to Luminous in Sheridan Wyoming as the beer is getting better, the service amazing, and the owner/brewmaster offering me free brew lessons and such. You cannot bet that!

 

Like a few have said above, I want to be rewarded for going to the brewery. I don't need their rarest beer, or anything like that, just something good and unknown that I can't find anywhere else.

For example, I love it when breweries are doing small batches of stuff that is actually really good. The majority of the breweries I have been to have small batches of bizarre concoctions that are "brewery only" but are just not worth the trek. But every once and a while, a brewery is actually doing some really interesting and delicious experiments.

 

I like friendly and knowledgeable tour guides, no signs of elitism or snobbery. One offs and rarites to sample are a must or else I've felt I've wasted my time if I'm only sampling the usual lineup stuff off the store shelves. Its really fun when you get to sample unreleased or soon to be released beers. Feel like you got the first try before the rest of the world on something new.

Too crowded is a turnoff as are marked up prices on site (because tourists will pay premium or just don't know any better what the normal prices are). Or like the disappointment at Troegs I experienced a few years ago...no Nugget Nectar on site to buy despite being released a week earlier. And the crowd in the sampling room was so crowded I would have waited 20+ min. to get a beer. Kids and wife weren't going to put up with that. My whole experience there was disappointing.

 

I just started giving tours as a volunteer at the Lucky Town brewery in Jackson, MS. They opened last November. Having taken other tours, I learned what I liked and what was lacking. And I listened to visitors' comments.

Enthusiasm is the main ingredient. Make your guests feel welcome; after all, they'll be drinking beer for a couple hours. I know the staff at LT, so I took a lot of notes on their history and fun facts like where some of the beer names came from.

That's the first half of my tour. We take a break for refills, then I talk about how beer is made. I show everyone samples of grains (before and after grains are cracked for wort) and let them smell a pint of fresh hops. Then we go through the brewing process and finish with the canning line.

I love giving brewery tours and seeing all the satisfied faces. It's one of most fun things I've done in quite a while. My attitude is that I can learn something new every time I tour. And I'm waiting for those small batches, too.

 

I wish breweries would focus more on their history/what makes them unique than on the brewing process. Sure, for the non-beer geek the brewing process is probably a good thing to cover but maybe only as a quick piece at the beginning or a handout prior to the tour - but for the most part, once you have seen one brewery you get the idea as to how things work.

I do love breweries who mix tastings in during the tour so that you can enjoy their creations while learning about their brewery.

A recent tour I went on, Half Acre, was different than most other tours I have been on and was actually quite refreshing - for those who haven't been - you basically enter their small brewery and are given a pint glass. You get a first fill, a brewery rep gives a 10-15 minute chat about the brewery, then they play some music while you enjoy the beer, you get another refill, another quick chat, more music...- this continues on for four beers and about 2 hours time. It was kind of a mix between a party and a brewery tour which was pretty cool.

 

I don't look for anything really. Whatever happens happens and I will try to enjoy myself no matter what.