Had high hopes for this tour! However, my girlfriend and I were both let down. Our tour guide was unorganized and we felt constantly rushed. While enjoying our food on our third stop we were told we had ten minutes left because the tour guide had to make sure he could make his next tour. At every location we were told we were behind schedule and had to leave soon. I get there is a schedule but maybe if the tour guide didn't show up late to picking everyone up then, we wouldn't have been rushed.
On top of being rushed, the beer selection was just downright poor. The guide more than once picked new beers he never had before, which ended up being not so great. A group of us had to ask for a bucket to dispose of the beer. Why provide a beer we are all paying for when you have no idea how it even is?
The tour guide tried too hard to have a playful attitude and it came off rude and ignorant many times. I told the guide about seven times I didn't want the sour beer that he was pouring for everyone, which I was fine with just skipping out on it, only to have him persistently nag me until finally he ended up just pouring me the beer and pushing it in front of me. I felt like I was being pressured into drinking a sour beer I knew I didn't want or would like.
To top off the experience the tour guide ended up spilling his hot coffee all over me at the last location so I had to sit with wet pants and a stain the rest of the time. In no way shape or form does his spilling of the coffee make my review, it just happened to be the icing on the cake of an already crappy experience. Mistakes happen, I get it, but at least don't try to put the lid of your hot coffee on right on top of the person.
Overall I truly wish I could give a decent review because the people in our group were playful and fun. I think if I had a different tour guide that day with a better beer selection it would be a different review.
Response from Host
Jun 2023
Hi there, thank you for taking the time to leave us the detailed review. I'm sorry to hear you had a poor experience while on your brew tour. I appreciate you understanding that keeping on schedule can be difficult, especially if a guide has back-to-back tours. While it really does show our guide's attentiveness and ability to adapt to any day-of changes, I also understand how it can feel disappointing. All of our guides are trained to maintain the best possible experience, while keeping on time out of respect for our not just our guests, but also our affiliates who go out of their way to reserve space and prepare for our time with them.
We believe that a big draw for our tour experience is the ability to try both familiar and new styles of beer, from a variety of brewers who bring their own uniqueness to the beer scene in their city. While we do encourage our guests to give every beer a try (we find a lot of people are pleasantly surprised!) we don't require all tasters to be consumed, and will gladly empty your glass for you in preparation for the next sample.
The guide will definitely be followed up with regarding the coffee incident you described. I'm very sorry to hear that this happened, but appreciate your understanding of the situation.
While you may not have had the best first experience with our tours, I do highly encourage you to give us another shot, in Boston or another one of our cities, so we can show you what the CBT experience is really all about. Thank you again for taking the time to share with us how can improve our tour experiences going forward, we sincerely value your feedback. Cheers!