Breweries & Bars with Live Webcams

I think the webcam idea is a neat one but it's kind of hard to read. I think the way more breweries do it, via their websites or Twitter are good for now.

Now, what I will say, is it would be interesting to see a webcam that was up for a while when things are happening at the brewpub. Say the brewers are doing an unusual IPA, it'd be cool to drop in for like 20 minutes, watch them at their work and then come back later when they do a short Q&A session, talking about the beer, that individual brewing process and any other changes or developments in the brewery. That concept could be a lot of fun.

 

Thoughts? Never seen it.

Webcam in the bar, webcam most anywhere, doesn't matter, if the webcam makes in possible for someone to identify and watch me or to video tape, or otherwise monitor me without my conscent it is potentially of questionable ethics and may be a violation of my privacy so it leaves the person who set up the camera a target for a law suit. In the situation you describe, at a minimum I'd walk out and not be going back to that bar, regardless of whether or not I had anything to hide from anyone.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/10/11/lower-merion-school-distr_n_758882.ht

 

You can use it to see if there are any dogs at the bar.

 

If it's focused on something, fine. If it can be focused on someone ,other than yourself, then it's creepy. ;0

 

At the place in Charlotte what was the logic of having it? Security? Shits and giggles? Both? Something else? Sorry wasn't really clear

Regardless - like @drtth i'm not a fan

 

http://northbrewery.com/dogs.php

 

I know a couple bars/bottleshops that use cams for their taplists, one is live all the time during business hours, another just takes periodic (I think every 30mins or so) picture to put on the website. I think it's a good idea and is one less thing to manage during the day or a busy rush of patrons. I would just make sure the image only has the taplist and no customers visible as much as possible.

 

Nope. This has no appeal to me in any way. With smartphones you can just take a quic picture to show your updated tap list.

 

You can watch your friends checking out Facebook.

 

Alpine did this with a cam on thier current list bc I used it on a trip to San Diego to see what they had on before we drove up there. Not sure if they still use it.

 

I don't have a problem with it for tap lists or showcasing the vibe at the bar at that particular time. I might use it to check crowd levels, available seating, prior to deciding to show up. If it can be used as a tool to identify someone and monitor their activities, then that's not cool. I'd say the bar, size of the community, and intent would be variables to think about.

 

I can understand a bar having a webcam for security reasons. The public should not be allowed to view it.

 

I used to frequent the Library Alehouse in Santa Monica quite regularly when I lived in LA (Beachwood BBQ also does a similar thing). I think the cam on the tap list is a cool and useful idea (especially when it's constantly changing), however many of the times I would try and check the cam I would have a loading error, so I ended up not really looking at it much. That never stopped me from going , I'd just make sure it was working all the time if I were you. Definitely more up to date and brand-building than having someone check beermenus.

As for a cam facing the bar itself, no way. I think thats a terribly intrusive idea.

 

I think it wouldn't hurt to use a web cam to show your tap list. Something like this would be nice

http://44stonepub.com/tap-cams/

This is a bar that rotates through a lot of kegs. If you are not going to do that, I don't think it would really be necessary.

If it is a tap list you want to make sure people can find, I'd suggest taplister.

 

Bell's has a tapcam and it is especially notable today on All Stouts Day. https://www.bellsbeer.com/eccentric-cafe (scroll to the bottom left)

As for the camera in the OP's post, cameras aimed at an area where an 'incident' might occur that could be illegal or potential liability to the bar may exist and the video is recorded can be very helpful in fighting crime or personal injury cases, but to put it out on a webcam is an intrusion of privacy.

 

I like to visit a pub not knowing all that is on tap. I like surprises and often discover gems I never thought about before.With samples as the norm it's a good way to drink beer.
So live webcams, no. Live beer yes.Beer which is developing all the time in a way which intrigues.

 

A couple bars around here have cams, but they're not viewable to the public. If there's some sort of incident (a kid bites somebody or knocks over another patrons beer) a privately viewable record will solve lots of issues. If a place had a webcam that the public could see, I would not be a patron at that place.