With a beer crawl, people unite, discover new beers and learn about the local culture surrounding brewing, making it much more than simply a night away from home. When you explore your area or discover a new one, a planned beer crawl helps you try many beers, meet others and check out the most memorable pubs, taprooms and breweries. In this guide, you’ll learn how to pick great bars, drink safely and enjoy a good beer crawl.

What Exactly Is a Beer Crawl?

Really, a beer crawl involves going from one pub or bar to another close by, paying attention to each for a while. A beer crawl lets you taste different kinds of beer, meet fresh faces and enjoy several distinct atmospheres during your night out.

Wine tastings and brewery tours are usually planned and serious, whereas beer crawls are usually more casual and flexible and a lot of fun. If you want to sample new beers, drink your favorites or just meet and talk with others, the event is flexible and enjoyable.

How to Organize Your Beer Crawl

While you don’t need to do much to enjoy a beer crawl, some preparation makes it more enjoyable. Let’s dive into some useful strategies to organize a memorable pub crawl.

1. Select Where You Want to Live

If you want to have the best beer crawl, you should choose a place with lots of nearby bars, pubs or breweries you can reach on foot. You’ll often find interesting jogging trails in urban areas, on college campuses and around cultural centers. Don’t miss Portland, Prague, Munich or Budapest, as they stand out for how lively their beer scenes are.

Look for:

Small local breweries and their taprooms

Food and drinks at these places are best when enjoyed in a historic pub or a local favorite.

The local bars or beer gardens

Bars that focus on a style of beer such as Belgium, Germany or India Pale Ales

2. Keep the number of stops as few as possible.

It can be tempting to stop at 10 bars at once, but making a list of 4 to 6 places is more likely to help you enjoy the night. This helps us pause and enjoy our drink as well as the environment at every new place.

Mark the route on a map and decide the sequence for your stops. Pay attention to places with a different selection of beers and remarkable surroundings.

3. Select The Right Time

Have your first beer in the afternoon or evening so you can take your time at every location. If you can, stay clear of the busiest hours and always know when last calls are.

Remember to look at the schedules and maybe book ahead if you plan to visit breweries or bars that have limited hours with a group.

What Foods to Eat

One of the best things about a beer crawl is the diversity. Try the following tips while you taste:

For a beginning, have a cold, light lager or pilsner. These drinks will help you warm up, so they won’t leave your mouth full and weighed-down.

Try out pale ales, red ales and hoppy IPAs as you reach this part of your journey. They add strong flavor without adding a lot of weight.

Try the Beers Brewed Nearby: Local or seasonal choices at some establishments can be the best thing to order.

Complete your beer tasting with some porters, stouts or exciting sour and aged beers.

You can sample various beers by having half-pints or ordering beer flights when possible. Most of the time, breweries will happily serve a sample of your drink choice.

Remembering to both eat and drink enough water

Many people forget, but eating and drinking water is very important on a beer crawl. A drink before a meal becomes unsafe, especially while hopping from bar to bar.

Fuel up in advance and make sure you have snacks while you’re out. At pubs, you will often find pretzels, sausages or cheese platters served as traditional pairings for beer.

Drink every time you have a break along the hike. Following this advice will ensure you drink enough but do not overdo it with alcohol.

Certain individuals make beer crawls all about matching local snacks with their drinks at different breweries. By matching drinks with different foods, you can stay alert and total calories don’t skyrocket.

Tips To Avoid Trouble on a Beer Crawl

Enjoying beer crawls is great, but you have to keep yourself safe and drink sensibly. To make sure everyone has fun, refer to the following rules:

Take the bus, hail a rideshare or walk—but don’t drive after drinking.

Together in your group, pay attention to and help each other.

Have your battery charged and remember where you are going before leaving.

Go slowly—you’re not in a competition, this is a walk.

Have a sense of your limits and pay attention to your body.

A group coordinator should be appointed, charged with keeping track of the route and making decisions if the trip’s plans are affected.

Experiencing Beer Crawls Around Themes

If you’re looking for more excitement, choose a theme for your beer crawl. These ideas might help you out:

Try beers brewed in various countries such as Germany, Belgium and the Czech Republic, at every bar you visit.

If you’re hungry for history, seek out bars that have stories, special interiors or have been around a long time.

Visit only places that offer independent or micros as part of your Craft Beer Crawl.

If you can see the city skyline, you should try the rooftop or patio for great open-air views.

A themed crawl gives you something special, helps you talk and gives all members a unifying activity.

Final Thoughts

You can see what the city’s beer culture is like, spend time with friends and sample new beers at the same time on a beer crawl. If you plan, drink safely and have an open mind, your beer crawl could become a story to remember. Regardless of whether you are traveling to a new area or marking a special event, there’s something timeless about pub-hopping.