Haven't been for a few years, and kind of skeptical about how it would turn out after the major let down in 2021 however, we wanted to give them another chance. I have to say this is the best one they had yet. We bought early bird tickets for $100 each. Yeah pretty steep but it does benefit the zoo. There were plenty of Drink and Food vendors to choose from. Some were even handing out goodies. All of the food they had was very good this year. We were even given a case of 30 White Castle since they were about to leave, now we have lunch and dinner for next few days. Za's, KFC, Papa John's and more were also on hand. We even had a few favorite drinks, Reggae Wine, Mike's Hard strawberry, Southern Tier, and a few other places. What really made this great was we were not limited to 10-20 tickets like in years past, it was unlimited tastings. Silent disco was even on hand at the islands. When we got there they were out of headsets and there was a line of people waiting. We just as much fun people watching. I have to say this is their best year yet and we haven't been since 2021. We definitely had a great time and intend on coming back next year. We hope they keep this concept up for all future Brew at the Zoo. Thank you Louisville Zoo for your best year yet. And thank you for having plastic mugs this year as well. read more

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Always a great event sponsored by the Zoo! The ticket for the event helps fundraising for the actual Zoo which is awesome. (Went up from $60-70 to $100 this year.) Because of Covid I think they had a hard time with food vendors so the Zoo catered a few food booths... but still had lots of options. The cheesey tots were so good. Only received 10 beer tickets this year but could purchase more. Loved seeing the animals when walking around. read more

I actually love this event in many ways but if I am giving an honest review- it is very middle of the road for the price. This was my 4th time at this event. The price has increased over the years and the event itself has not improved much. The beer selection is nice and I can't really complain about only having 20 tickets (20 samples) but for $60 I feel like there should be more food and maybe a few extra samples. There wasn't much in the way of food at all. The only thing I got to sample was popcorn and dried out mac-n-cheese. Not sure if there aren't enough restaurants willing to be part of this event or what the issue is but every year- there has been a lack of food. The weather was perfect and I love walking around the Zoo and being able to see some of the animals. I also enjoyed the live music and the layout of the event. Maybe next year there will be improvements with food options and extra beer tickets. read more

I had a blast at this event! I had never been before, so I had no expectations, maybe that is why the lines didn't bother me as much as others. We arrived a little after five and the line to get in was moving crazy fast. We didn't have our wristbands yet and it took like 2 seconds for a Zoo volunteer to give them to us. The lines for beer were already long, so we skipped the first few, but decided to stay in one eventually. We then line hopped for a bit. Get a beer, go to the next line. It seemed from other reviews that others didn't care for this, I just assumed that's how it worked. We made friends with our line buddies and had nice conversation with each other. When it got too crowded to move, we set off to find where their wasn't a swarm of people. We found a little pocket of beer by the snakes, hit all of those then headed to the Oasis area. There was a good hour in the Oasis tent that wasn't horribly crowded. We got lots of beer and some food, too. This review turned into a play-by-play, but I want others to know for next year what to hit first on the map. Definitely don't come before 5. Seems like that's what got everyone peeved from the start. We decided for next year we will go Oasis tent, make the rounds though the zoo before they close, then go back to the tent. 'Strategery.' -Will Ferrell Oh, and the beer was great. read more

Brew At The Zoo - Who doesn't love a photo booth? - Festivals Near Me - Louisville, Kentucky

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Great time! I have been a couple of times now, and this year was still a hit. My favorite addition would have to be the silent disco at The Islands. A variety of food choices at no cost/ticket for you. They start you off with ten drink tickets and then you may buy more if needed. Wear comfortable shoes, and perhaps even grab your parasol. Live music was wonderful as well all the different vendors for seltzer's, wine, and of course beer. Bring someone you know you can have fun with, and enjoy the day. read more

I'm so sorry to see that others had a bad time at Brew at the Zoo! Full disclosure, this was my first year attending, and I was working for a distributer, so my experience was probably a lot different from those that purchased general admission tickets or VIP passes. That being said, I had such a great time at this event, and I already want to attend again next year! I arrived at the event early for set up, so I got there at 3:00 p.m. VIP entrance opened at 4:00 p.m. and general admission opened at 5:00 p.m. - I wasn't outside at any point, so I can't offer an opinion on the entrance process. Looking at other reviews it appears many people had to wait a prolonged period of time to get into the event. That definitely seems like an issue. In my opinion tickets to this event are a bit pricey, so easy/quick entrance seems like a given. Hopefully Brew at the Zoo staff will be able to fix the entrance issues next year! I worked in the wine tent, and during the VIP hour we didn't have many people approach our table. It seemed there weren't many VIP's in the zoo at all, but I know those tickets sold out, so I'm not sure where all of those people were. My supervisor let me walk around during this time, because we were so slow, so I got to try several different beers and walk through the food tent and get some delicious bites. I also took that opportunity to do a quick walk through the zoo/tasting path, so that I could see the entire event. Towards the end of my walk things were definitely starting to pick up and lines at the beer tables were getting longer, so I headed back to my post. I stayed in the wine tent most of the night, and things definitely got busy! But, no one in our line ever had to wait more than 10 minutes maximum, and I would say most people waited much less time than that. We ran out of wine around 7:30 p.m. We had previously been told the event actually ended at 9:00, but at that point we had no more product, so we had to pack up. As I was leaving I did another quick walk through the lawn and lines were so long I didn't even attempt to get another beer. Some lines appeared to have 50+ people in them, so I headed out. As I said, my experience was much different than those that bought tickets to attend, but I loved the event. It's so cool to get to walk through the zoo while enjoying some tasty food and drinks. I definitely want to go back next year! read more

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I have long wanted to attend this event and finally did so this year. I was a little overwhelmed by the number of breweries/wineries that were here for our tasting pleasure. I mean, no way you could drink them all and walk out of there. Ha! I liked how they set it up all around the zoo...you had a chance to check out some of the animals while you enjoyed your beer. They gave you a set number or tickets for tasting and you can choose between a regular taste or a double one. I found that because of the long lines for some breweries it made the most sense to get the double pour (if you knew/thought you would like the beer). My sister in law does not drink beer and was worried that there might not be many options for her...but she had plenty to choose from, along with some hard seltzers too. The food choices were pretty solid except some ran out fairly early on and others had massively long lines to wait in. Having live music on one side of the event was great idea and added to the party atmosphere! I love dancing! Ultimately I had a great time at this event and look forward to attending again in 2020. read more

I enjoyed the event! We started at the food area and had several to choose from. White Castle, raffertys, double dogs, eat a pita, pizza. It would be nice to see more food options for the price of admission and more sample tickets. I felt that there were lots of great brewery options. We will definitely be back next year! Very comparable to tailspin in price and options, but has the great addition of food samples! read more

My daughters and I had a good time but nothing improved from last year and the price went up. Still waited in line to get in but it did move and wasn't bad cosseting. Didn't like the ticket thing for 20 tickets to sample beers on if you aren't drunk seems to be alittle expensive considering I could have went to a bar and got drunk on 60 dollars. read more

Brew At The Zoo - Festivals Near Me - Louisville, Kentucky

First The Good: The setting is great. It's fun to walk around the zoo with friends and see the animals and drink a little bit of beer at the same time. Now the unfortunate negative: For those unaccustomed to beerfests, you may not know the difference between a satisfying quality fest and something a bit overpriced for the product received. I've attended 30-40 beerfests for over 25 years and this is the first offering a limited number of tastings based upon raffle-type tickets received entering the gate. A $100 VIP ticket granted access one hour earlier than general admission (plus access to two VIP tents that had some additional free food and some beers not available outside the tents) but I did not receive extra blue raffle tickets to get more beers; 20 tickets for twenty 2 oz pours. If this is the only beerfest you've attended I certainly don't begrudge you your positive experience. However, I am used to a Beerfest vibe/policy of unlimited tastings, encouraging one to sample as many beers as often as one wants. The tickets turned what should have been a very laid-back affair into a mildly tense experience of ticket bookkeeping. One can purchase extra blue tickets at a dollar each or $5 for six tickets once inside the gates, but I felt $100 (more than any VIP ticket I've ever purchased) should suffice. One ultimately ends up not tasting several alluring beers because you run out of tickets. I have tried Googling the answer as to whether the number of tickets or the ticket system is mandated by Kentucky law, but to no avail. This should not dissuade anyone from tasting the excellent beers originating in Kentucky. Every year there are more and better brew pubs in the Louisville area and a wider array of craft beers from which to choose. I'll definitely be supporting the craft industry of Kentucky just not through this event. read more

From what I hear, it was quite different this year than in the past. The gates opened at 5 for brew at the zoo ticket holders. Half the breweries were set up throughout the zoo. The other half were set up in the back of the zoo in a common area. The stations set up in the zoo closed at 7. The ones in the common area closed at 9. The line to get in the zoo literally wrapped around the zoo parking lot. It was over a half mile long, but not a mile long. By the time we got in the zoo it was already 5:35. The lines at the stations in the zoo were already extremely long. We had time for 3 3oz beers before those stations closed down. Between waiting for in line for beer, we were scouting for food stations that had equally long lines and were running out of food continuously. We hurried to the common area where the other brewery stations stayed open until 9. We beat most of the traffic so had a few shorter lines. The basic idea of the night was to stand in line while you drank your beer only to get a refill and go stand in the next line. Lines for a 3oz pour were approximately 20 minutes or so. If half of the brewery stations didnt close down by 7, then the lines would not have been so long and the experience would be much more enjoyable. We were able to get maybe 8 3oz pours or about 24 oz of beer. The tickets were $55. It worked out to about $27.50 for a 12oz beer. The beer was great and everyone was enjoyable.The concert was entertaining as well. Tailspin Alefest and Louisville Brewfest did not have the same sort of lines and were a better overall experience. read more

While this event has always been fun in the past, this year the zoo got greedy and sold tickets that far exceeded the resources they had available. People were left waiting to get in long after the start of the event only to find that vendors were running out of beer and food before they ever got in. Lines were extremely long taking 30 minutes or longer to try a 1-2 ounce sample often running out while I was waiting in line. I managed to try about 12 ounces or less worth of beer samples and 3 very small food samples over the 3hours I attended with all that time being spent standing in lines. I actually brought friends and was quite embarrassed after recommending this. If I hadn't paid for the tickets, $55 plus fees a piece, I would have felt obligated to refund their money. Many paid twice that to get entry an hour earlier but had just as bad of an experience. Obviously the Louisville Zoo doesn't feel the same conviction. They haven't even offered an apology for their very poor planning. Will never attend again! read more