Craft Beer: 14 Tips For Your Pub Crawl, Beer Fest, or Brewery Tour

Every year when we get to August, I look forward to the Tour de Shore – Avalon’s biggest pub crawl. The costumes and the shenanigans that ensue make it one of the best days of the year. It got me thinking of the beer-drinking events I have been to in the past, and what I have learned from attending them. These include beer festivals like AC Beer Fest, brewery bus tours, and pub crawls like Tour de Shore. As my articles are usually educational, I figured I would share some tips from my experience on how to have a successful pub crawl, be safe, and avoid a mega hangover the next morning.

1. Have a safe mode of transportation lined up.

Whether it is by boat, by bus, or simply by foot, the No. 1 rule is a no-brainer. Meaning if you don’t follow it you have no brain! Nobody should be operating a vehicle while intoxicated, and after hours of drinking that certainly would be the case. Regardless, worrying about getting home is the biggest buzz kill of them all, and it is way more fun to get chauffeured around in a jitney than it is to get in a car accident. There are several bus companies that operate brewery/winery tours in Cape May County, and they make it easy to find some of the places that are off the beaten path.

2. Eat before you leap, and don’t let the tank get empty

In preparation for a big day of drinking, it is best to start with a hearty meal. I find a bacon, egg and cheese sandwich hits the spot particularly well. I don’t know how much truth there is in the old tale that grease helps settle the stomach, but I do know that greasy food goes great with beer.

Beer can be pretty filling, especially IPAs, stouts and other malt-heavy styles. Snacking is a great way to soak up some of the extra alcohol without getting stuffed. Sure, you and your friends can jump on the bandwagon and get some of those pretzel necklaces that you see at all the beer fests, but most bars do offer food. Local breweries in New Jersey are not allowed to sell food, but most work with other nearby establishments that offer delivery service. Keeping some food in the belly will help you keep charging on.

3. Hydrate

The main cause of hangovers is dehydration. I am usually the one who is guilty of forgetting to drink enough water, and I feel it the next day. Having a glass of water every couple of drinks will help you feel better and is a good way to take a break from drinking while still appearing to have a drink in your hand.

4. Arrive Early

No one has ever said it was cool to show up “fashionably early,” except on a brewery tour or at a beer fest. The lines to get into festivals can be ridiculously long, and every second you waste in line is time you could be spending sampling beers. Most of the time on a pub crawl you are with a group of people anyway, so you are basically bringing the party with you. Why not have easy access to the bar, or get first dibs on the limited releases available at the festival.

5. Avoid Crowds

Local breweries and bars are always crowded on the weekends. When it rains during the day, people cannot go to the beach, so the bars get packed. I know, I work at a bar, and the last place I want to be on my day off is in a crowded bar. To me, it is much more relaxing to have some space to myself, and the servers and bartenders have more time to help you out. Weekdays before 5pm are usually the quietest time for breweries, so it is a good time to go if you are looking for more moderate or slower crowds.

Sometimes it is fun to be in a crow-ded setting. But that is usually not the goal of brew crawling for the purpose of sampling a bunch of beers. In a crowd, give me a Corona Light and a shot of tequila and I’m fine.

6. Try New Things

The goal of a beer fest or brewery pub crawl is not just to slug down as much beer as possible, it is also to learn about new beers and expand your palate. Ask the bartender what their favorite beer is, or see which beer is the most recently brewed. Fresh is best when it comes to beer, and at the brewery all beer tastes better than after it gets put in a keg and shipped to the bar. If there is a style of beer you’ve never tried, give it a whirl – you never know when you’ll find the best beer you’ve ever had!

7. Choose the Path Less Taken

One of my favorite things to do at a beer festival is go to the booths where there is absolutely no line. Everyone in the festival might be lining up to go try some Grapefruit Sculpin, but right next to that is the tent for Unibroue and no one cares or recognizes it – and they make fantastic beers. I have found some great breweries by hitting the booths with no lines. The brewery reps there often have more time to talk to you about the beers and you might even be talking to the guy who actually brewed the beer!

8. Set Time Limits

If you know you only have six hours to hit eight bars or breweries, then try to set a schedule for each place you are stopping. It is easy to get carried away in conversation, or to slow down toward the end of the day, but the show must go on! If you are to complete the full pub crawl, you have to try to stick to the schedule and keep on moving.

9. Don’t Be “That Guy”

There is nothing more annoying than a drunk who is yelling out obscenities at the bar, puking on the ground, or stumbling about the place. Know your limits. Don’t be “that guy.” No one wants to deal with “that guy.”

Also, it is not cool to push others into drinking more than they can handle. The consequences can only be bad, and the only thing worse than one obnoxious drunk is a group of obnoxious drunks. At beer festivals and pub crawls, it is common that you will get a beer sample or a drink that you do not like, or do not want to drink. There is nothing wrong with dumping it out in the trash and moving on. It will probably spare you some agony in the morning.

10. Costumes and Uniforms a Good Thing?

If you are doing Tour de Shore, it is not only acceptable, but mandatory, to dress up the group in theme outfits and costumes. In fact, I once saw a banana running down the street and a pack of six men in full gorilla outfits chasing after him. There is no way you could miss that in a crowded bar! On a pub crawl, wearing like T-shirts is one way to make finding everyone easier. But in other instances, it’s pretty lame.

11. Don’t mix alcohols!

Taste testing a bunch of beer styles in one day is not the easiest thing on the stomach, but adding a few fruity shots or acidic glasses of wine to the mix can only make things much worse. I have found that the more you stick to one type of drink, the better off you are. That goes for beer styles, too!

12. Scavenger Hunt

One way to make a pub crawl even more fun is to add the element of a scavenger hunt. Prompting people to take pictures with you or paying more attention to little details at the bars will make you appreciate where you are and keep you in the moment. It also builds teamwork and induces social interactions, which makes the whole day more fun!

13. Take Pictures

Taking pictures of particular beers or menu boards will help you remember what beers you really liked so you can go back and enjoy them again. And always remember to get a group shot of you and your friends at some point in the day. Pub crawls do not happen very often, and they usually make for pretty memorable days (well, at least foggy memories). So snap away!

14. Spectacles, Testicles, Wallet and Watch!

Before I leave any establishment, I remember the wise words of Austin Powers, but for me it usually is: wallet, phone, keys, glasses. As long as I have those items, I know I will be OK.

Currently at the Whitebrier, I have about 200 credit cards that are waiting to be picked up by customers who left their tab open. As a courtesy to bartenders everywhere, please remember to close out your tabs.