The Challenge of Drinking Well While Travelling
Every city has its hidden craft beer gems — tiny taprooms tucked down side streets, converted warehouses with 20 rotating taps, neighbourhood bars that locals swear by. The problem is finding them before you end up at a tourist trap serving overpriced macro lagers in plastic cups.
Whether you're travelling for work or pleasure, these strategies will help you drink well from day one.
Essential Apps & Tools
Untappd
Untappd is the go-to social network for craft beer drinkers. Its venue search function lets you find nearby bars, see what's currently on tap, and read check-ins from other users. You can filter by venue type and sort by activity level. If a place has hundreds of recent check-ins with quality beers, it's almost certainly worth visiting.
Google Maps (Used Smartly)
Don't just search "bars near me." Search specifically for "craft beer", "taproom", "bottle shop", or "brewery taproom" combined with the neighbourhood name. Sort by rating and read recent reviews carefully — look for mentions of rotating taps, local breweries, and knowledgeable staff rather than generic comments about atmosphere.
RateBeer & BeerAdvocate
Both platforms have venue directories with user ratings. They skew toward serious beer enthusiasts, so places that score well here genuinely earn it. Useful for finding specialist bottle shops too, where you can pick up local cans to take home.
How to Research Before You Arrive
- Search "[City] craft beer guide" on Google. Local publications and food blogs frequently publish annual round-ups that are more useful than generic travel sites.
- Check the city's tourism board website. Many now include brewery trail maps and bar guides as part of their food and drink sections.
- Look for local brewery websites. Most craft breweries list their taproom locations and hours. A taproom visit gives you the freshest possible beer directly from the source.
- Reddit communities. Search "[City] craft beer" on Reddit. The r/beer and city-specific subreddits are full of locals giving honest recommendations.
Signs of a Good Craft Beer Bar
Once you're inside, these are positive indicators you've found somewhere worth your time and money:
- Rotating taps: A venue that changes its selection regularly is actively curating, not just running the same kegs indefinitely.
- Correct glassware: Good bars serve different styles in appropriate glasses — a Tulip for a Belgian, a Weizen glass for a Hefeweizen.
- Staff who can talk about the beer: Ask what's hoppy, what's local, what they'd personally recommend. Knowledgeable staff are a huge green flag.
- Visible tap list with brewery names and styles: Transparency about what you're drinking is a basic standard in good craft beer venues.
- Canned and bottled options: A curated off-menu selection shows the owner cares about range.
The Brewery Taproom Advantage
Whenever possible, visit a brewery's own taproom rather than a bar serving their beer. You'll often find exclusive small-batch releases, experiment beers, and one-offs that never make it into distribution. Staff at taprooms tend to be the most knowledgeable advocates for the beer, and the environment is usually unique and worth experiencing on its own.
A Note on Beer Tourism
Some cities have developed reputations as genuine craft beer destinations — places where the brewing culture is deep enough to warrant planning a trip around it. Exploring the beer scene is one of the most rewarding ways to understand a city's character, economy, and creative culture. Approach it with the same curiosity you'd bring to food tourism and you'll never be disappointed.