Dad and the Duo

If your town is like mine, there are several breweries within your normal weekend driving distance. I can think of 10 off hand close to me and I don’t live in a major metropolitan area.

Breweries are a lot of fun for adults, you have live music, beer flowing, and a lively crowd. However, these settings usually are catered to entertaining your children. This is where a little foresight and planning can turn a 30 minute and done trip into a more extended stay at your favorite watering hole.

I cannot stress this enough, do not drive intoxicated. Never do it by yourself, and that goes quadruple when you have your tiny humans in the car. The best bet is to go with your significant other or friends and take turns with who is going to be throwing them back, vs who will be driving.

Know Thy Brewery

Of the 10 breweries near me, I would say 7 are indoor focused and 3 have more of an outdoor setting. This is valuable to know for a few reasons.

1. Depending on the weather one type of brewery is a much better choice than the other. Cold and rainy? Maybe don’t pick the place who relies on outdoor seating to fit everyone confortably.
2. This will determine what to bring with you to keep those little gremlins entertained.

Also, make sure you know the food and drink policy of breweries that you go to. Some allow outside food so bringing that happy meal with you is welcome. Other have on site restaurants, or more like food trucks, and frown upon your fast food picnic. This will let you know if you can pack snacks, need to eat before hand, or sneak in a pocket full of fruit gummies.

Remember, most of the time your only drink options are beer and water. Bring drinks for your kids either in a refillable bottle, or something non spill like a juice box.

Indoor Centric Brewery Strategy

These types of breweries are going to be your most common, and I tend to think most difficult to entertain your kids at. That being said, there are some activities and strategies than keep them from whining until your local hipster acoustic musicians finishes their set.

Tablets

Don’t worry, I am 100% not that guy that is going to tell you that your kids shouldn’t have screentime while you are out. Let them watch youtube kids until their heart desires and they get bored. You are at a brewery after all, this is the activity for you to have some fun, not an educational outing at the museum. One word of advice, bring headphones! Breweries get loud and unless you want to be constantly reminded that “I can’t hear my iPad” headphones are a must.

Pair With: No activity required by you means you can get something that is enjoyed more slowly. Try it with a Belgian Tripel.

Play-Doh

Some people keep a “go bag” in case of apocalypse, we keep a Play-Doh go bag for when we get the urge to go out. For us, this is the go-to entertainment when we are at an indoor brewery. This is something that keeps the 8 year old enthralled just as much as the 4 year old.

Bring plenty of different colors, and whatever you do, bring the same colors for both. You don’t want to have to break up a street fight over who gets the yellow Play-Doh that neither have ever shown interest in before that moment. While you are at it, don’t forget the accessories, you can get cheap shaping tool kits from any mart or dollar store on your way to drinkytown.

The one downside to Play-Doh is the clean up. Try to get all of your doh crumbs off of the table before you head out, don’t leave them for the next guy.

Pair With: A crisp pilsner, something light that is chuggable when you are challenged to a dinosaur making competition.

Art Supplies

Our 8 year old is pretty artistic and can spend hours at a time drawing. You can grab a pack of paper from Staples and combined with color pencils/crayons you have entertainment. Combine this with “how to draw…” videos on the tablet they can make an afternoon of it.

Avoid markers in this situation, you don’t want them bleeding through onto the table and making a mess.

For the little ones there are always coloring books and activity books as well. I can hold a beer in my left and color Elsa with my right all day if I have to. As long as you give them feedback and attention while they are drawing, they tend to stick with it longer.

Pair With: A hazy IPA, great for taking the edge off of your art critiques.

Outdoor Centric Brewery Strategies

Now these types of breweries are going to be much easier to entertain the kids at, assuming you didn’t show up during a tropical storm. Outdoor breweries can get crowded quickly when the weather is nice, so always make sure you bring your own chairs or a blanket in case all of the seating is full.

While sometimes you can just let your kids free for all at these and they will be fine, it is best to go in with some backup activities as well.

Bubbles

I dare you to let a bubble fly past without either being mesmerized, or trying to pop it. That same reaction is amplified 10x for your kids. Grab a big ol’ jug of bubbles, with plenty of different bubble making toys, and you got at least 1-2 hours of joy.

Make sure that you choose a good bubble solution for this exercise, nothing worse than the frustration of those bubbles not bubbling. Magic Bubble (not a sponsor) is our go to choice, but there are plenty of solutions with ratings on Amazon. One more tip… get a cheap bubble machine for when they get tired of making bubbles themselves but you still have 1/2 an pint to get through.

Pair With: A Heffe, good for the outdoors but not too heavy.

Water Blasters

We have a wide open outdoor brewery/vinyard near us to test this at one summer afternoon. I walked up to the bar and asked “hypothetically if a Dad and 2 kids had a cooler full of water and a bunch of water blasters would a water war be frowned upon?” They were 100% cool with it and soon all the kids had joined in.

Do not do this without first asking the folks behind the bar, and only try if you know the brewery has a side area away from the adults that this can happen at. If it is even slightly questionable don’t take the chance of ruining a brewery day for the other guests.

Pair With: A summer shandy is perfect for this one!

Outdoor Games

Many outdoor breweries come equipped with games such as cornhole, but if it’s nice day good luck getting on the boards. We like to have some compact games to bring along with us just in case.

One example is the beach version of beer pong, 12 little buckets and some tennis balls are all you need. Bonus if the brewery has some rocks or sand to put in the buckets to weigh them down from tipping. We will also bring a few nerf style footballs, or the giant bouncy balls. There are so many of these type games that fade in and out of popularity; slam ball, washers, bocci, and the list goes on.

Pair With: Let’s go with a sour here, something that isn’t heavy but has a little extra punch to it.

Enjoy Those Drinks

Feel free to let me know any of your strategies at the brewery to keep your kids entertained. Try it with my pairing or with something your own taste.