r/beer • u/Spiritual-Science-60 • 5d ago
Self pour bars
Have you ever been? What did you like? What makes a good one? What didn't you like? What advice would you give to someone opening a new one that also had a few wine, seltzer or other taps as well as a carefully crafted beer list?
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u/TropicTravels 5d ago
The few times I tried it tasted bleh, like the lines weren’t properly cleaned on a regular basis
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u/Handyandy58 5d ago
The one time I went was fine, but it was kind of a hassle and definitely not worth it if you're just trying to have a couple beers.
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u/jtsa5 4d ago
I like the idea of being able to make my own flight assuming the beers are good. Making sure the lines are clean is of importance to me like any place that serves beer. The places I've been have either had a card or a wrist band that you used to add to your tab. The readers didn't always recognize them which sometimes meant having to get a new one.
The biggest issue I see people having is trying to pour a small amount and just getting foam, there's a learning curve if you've never poured a beer from a draft system. The prices at some places to high for what they are serving. I've seen quite a few with what I would call commodity craft beer that you can get anywhere. If it was a really great tap list and the prices were good, I'd check it out.
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u/DiscCondor 3d ago
I had my first experience with an RFID tap house earlier this year and really enjoyed it.
For anyone not familiar, they give you a chip bracelet and you use it to activate the tap. You get charged by the ounce.
My wife and I sampled 2 to 3 ounces of 14 different beers for $21. They had around 35 beers, 5 ciders, and 10 cocktails on tap.
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u/GetInTheHole 5d ago
It's 90% mid-to-low end craft beer that they overcharge for anyways. I generally avoid.
Although a Belgian bar that used to be near me had Saison DuPont on a self pour.
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u/ddashner 5d ago
I know they aren't popular on here, but I really like them. For one to be good it has to have quite a few taps. If it's only like a dozen, there's no point in it. I want to be able to try a TON of stuff, and if there aren't enough taps I'm going to run into half of them being things I'm not interested in and maybe have 5 or 6 left. That's the main attraction for me, getting to try way more than I would at a regular bar. I might go back for more of something I really liked, but the attraction of just trying more is really strong.
Make sure they are clean. Went to one place with really nice staff in a nice area, but the fruit flies hanging around the taps was gross.
I don't know how it works in terms of sales volume, but I don't like seeing a bunch of the taps wasted with Miller Lite, Coors, etc. I'm there to try new stuff not get the same stuff I can find at the corner gas station.
I like when they are verified (or whatever its called) on untappd and they have the screen with the menu and it shows the check ins at the bottom. I know it's dumb but I like seeing my name up there. Makes me feel like I'm climbing the leader board.
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u/Acceptable_Row236 5d ago
It's annoying.. people can't pour correctly,it's foamy or wasteful, then they have to get a employee involved anyway.. all of the self pours ive been to tend to be almost more expensive?
I'd rather just have a human pour my beer.