Planning a Brewery Weekend? Here’s How to Keep It Fun Instead of Exhausting

By the end of the weekend, a quiet day of enjoying beers, talking, and atmosphere can feel like an endurance event by Saturday evening, and the time has passed to enjoy all the themed elements of the day. With the best brewery tours, there’s still plenty of time to enjoy each stop. Some attention to timing, food, transport, and relaxation can make the difference between a wonderful day and a positive experience and needing another weekend to recuperate.

Don’t Turn Every Available Hour Into Another Brewery Stop

There are six breweries within a few miles to see, and it’s easy to get caught up in a list of all the breweries. Where this typically sounds great on Friday afternoon is on Saturday night. Allow time for the development of skills as soon as possible in the course. With 2 or 3 strategic stops in a day, there will be more to do and fun to have without the need for everyone to constantly review the clock. This additional time allows you to linger at lunchtime, explore in the neighborhood, or return to the hotel after dinner.

Choose Breweries for Variety, Not Just Quantity

It’s easy to get bored by visiting the same five identical-looking taprooms in one afternoon. The best travel is a blend of experiences. Consider picking one brewery that has a large kitchen, one neighborhood brewery that has some unusual releases for the season, or one brewery that has one cool spot or a really cool outdoor area. If it has tours or allows guests to see part of the brewing process, then this can be a value-added part of the day as well. Review menus before ordering, rather than clicking on the first one that comes up on a search map.

Beer geeks may love to swirl around mikes, even avid craft beer enthusiasts will value more time to be filled up enjoying something else. It’s also great to pose the question to the group about what they really are interested in. An individual might seek to sample local IPAs, while another individual will be more concerned with the ambiance, the food, and/or the outdoor seating amenities. With respect to the locations, feel free to go where you can get a little of everything, as it makes the weekend more enjoyable for all of you.

Make Proper Meals Part of the Plan

One of the easiest ways to turn a fun afternoon into an exhausting one is to treat food as something you will figure out later. Plan at least one proper meal in the middle of each day, especially on a road trip where long stretches between stops can make everyone more tired than expected. This can be easy at a brewery that has a decent kitchen, but stopping at an independent restaurant actually works out pretty well, because it automatically leaves you with a break in between. But breakfast should be given some thought as well! If everyone wants to get up and running as soon as possible, the first thing on most people’s breakfast menus is a slice of toast with coffee.

People seem to feel better when they catch up on ground coffee when they first get up in the morning, particularly when thinking about their other meals for the day. With a loose breakfast, the group can determine their mood and if the original timetable is still suitable. Bring a handful of simple foods to eat as well. They’re helpful when that takes longer than anticipated, a kitchen opens earlier than you planned on being there, or all of a sudden, it’s still time for dinner. The idea isn’t to make sure everything has a well-defined, specific plan. Striving to never make everyone hungry, tired, and asking themselves about the next place they want to go at the same time is easy to do.

Solve the Transportation Question Before the Weekend Starts

Don’t let the group pick transportation after they get to the first brewery; rather, this should be one of the initial things you do when planning a trip. If you have a brewery district to walk around, then it can make it so much easier. Carrying on the flow of moving from place to place isn’t a worry,y and there’s no need to bother about the car, parking lot, or designating someone to drive. When traveling to outlying areas, consider options such as local cabs, rideshare, nearby transit options, hotel shuttles, brew tours, or other services.

Hiring a driver also makes sense in case they are a larger group, especially when multiple stops are in the city outside the center. Follow the precautionary approach: Decide before you do it! Anyone doesn’t want to stand for two hours outside the brewery, trying to figure out who is driving or if there will be a ride coming or not. An important attribute on this list is comfortable shoes, too. Brewery weekends tend to be a lot more walking than usual, unless the restaurants, hotels, and taprooms are located throughout a downtown area.

Permit Yourself to Change the Plan

A good itinerary should help the weekend, not control it. Maybe everyone loves the second brewery and wants to stay another hour. Perhaps the weather is perfect and sitting outside suddenly sounds better than rushing across town for another reservation. When planning a free weekend, it’s possible they are just tired and want to go out for dinner but also at an early hour. These are not blown-out doors.

These tend to be good indicators that the trip is successful. Don’t give yourself a bunch of tight stops, back-to-back, at which it is hard not to miss one. Have at least one alternate location or two as backup in case you aren’t able to find an actual location. Otherwise, if there’s a lot of energy, you’ll have somewhere else to go. It can’t hurt if it isn’t. Especially useful with groups is this, since energy levels do not tend to remain constant throughout the weekend.

Plan Sunday Differently From Saturday

Saturday is usually the natural centerpiece of a brewery weekend, so there is no reason to make Sunday equally ambitious. Having a leisurely breakfast, visiting one more brewery for lunch, and having some free time to get to know a new area can be far preferable than crammed visits before returning home. Remember also that there is more to take into account beyond your return home. In case you have a lot to do on your way back, an early end will give you time to grab something to eat and drink, pack the luggage, etc.

Even if an oldest brewery is on the itinerary, there is little value in squeezing it into an exhausting schedule that leaves everyone drained. The best brewery weekends are not necessarily the ones where you visit the most places. They are the ones where everyone still feels good enough on Sunday to talk about doing it again. A few memorable breweries, good meals, sensible transportation, and enough downtime usually make a better trip than trying to experience everything at once.