I was never one to purchase beer online before Covid-19. Once I started buying from breweries for shipping/delivery at the beginning of the pandemic, I began exploring other options. Though there are several services out there, Tavour caught my attention, and I now order from them every once in a while. Finding humble beer can be a bit of a challenge though.

Though better known for their Farmhouse and Wild Ales, Jester King Brewery makes humble beer too, including this Italian-style Pilsner. The brewery periodically sells through Tavour.

Tavour’s offerings generally reflect hype in the current beer market. That’s the antithesis of what this blog seeks to promote, but periodically there are some real gems for humble beer customers. For me, this has largely meant lager from the Pacific Northwest. Though the company is based there, they sell brands from all over the country. However, the app restricts what you can purchase based on geography to promote purchases from outside your region.

When deciding what to sell, Tavour assesses the market to determine what is popular among consumers. Part of this assessment includes analysis of beer review sites. They frequently note these ratings in the listing for a beer.

How it Works

For the customer, Tavour is incredibly simple to use, which can also make things expensive if you’re not careful. It starts by signing up and downloading their app. Once it has your information (including the address and credit card info used for orders) you simply scroll through the current offerings. These are limited and updated almost daily. You’ll typically find about twelve beers available at a time.

The app provides information about each beer to help inform your decision and has specific options about how many you can order. The information includes when the product was packaged. The limit per beer will vary, but there’s never the possibility to hoard a release.

Once you make a purchase, your card will be charged, and your “crate” will be created with a shipping date. This date is usually in about four to six weeks, but that can be adjusted. You can continue to add items until that date. Regardless of how much you order per crate, there is a flat fee for shipping.

The breweries I spoke with all said it’s quite easy on their end as well. Essentially, they pack a pallet, and Tavour handles the rest. The company pays the breweries a fair price and charges the customer a fair price.

Heater Allen’s Head Brewer Lisa Allen was most concerned about storage and transportation when the brewery was thinking about selling through Tavour. However, she has heard zero complaints from customers. Other breweries have the same sentiments.

Jake Atkinson of Human Robot Brewery likes the distribution model. Instead of going to a distributor and then a retailer, the product generally gets into the customer’s hands faster, and likely in better condition.

Covid struck shortly after Philadelphia’s Human Robot Brewery opened. Tavour has proven to be a a great resource to help get them through the pandemic.

Humble Beer on Tavour

The greatest success I’ve had with humble beer on Tavour has been with lager. While I lump lager styles together with other unhip, humble beers, there’s no denying it has been having a bit of a moment the last few years. Tavour’s offerings would appear to be a validation of that point.

Generally speaking, as a customer located in New York, the greatest availability of these beers has been from the Northwest, in part due to the geographic restrictions noted above. Wayfinder, Heater Allen and pFriem, among others, can occasionally be found. This would not be the case for someone on the west coast.

Wayfinder regularly sells through Tavour, and this collaboration with Modern Times and Heater Allen is a welcomed treat.

Ms. Allen notes “people that tend to buy from Tavour are looking for the next cool beer so they may try Pils once and never buy it again. I also have seen that Tavour tends to want our hoppier styles.” That said, Tavour sees some market demand for humble beer and is happy to meet the desires of those customers.

Covid and Tavour

Covid has had a major impact on the breweries that have contemplated using Tavour. Heater Allen had been contacted by them before March 2020, but they simply did not have enough inventory to use the service. Covid changed all that, and now people like me on the east coast have access to some really enjoyable beers, like Heater Allen’s Export Lager, Pils, Harvest Lager, and Coastal (a “Northwest Amber Lager”.)

Atkinson said, “we weren't even planning on canning until year three. We started canning month three instead.”

Not too far from Heater Allen, Wayfinder has also found Tavour to be a valuable partner while on-premise business is down. I’ve been lucky enough to get their Export, Czech Dark Lager, Terrifica, CZAF and their Hell. So, so lucky.

California’s Brouwerij West periodically sells through Tavour, including this recent collaboration with the legendary skateboarder Daewon Song. Their popular Pilsner Popfuji has also been available in the past.

Wayfinder and Heater Allen have been satisfied, and would like to continue selling through Tavour when the market gets back to, or closer to, “normal”. Though satisfied with the service, Human Robot are still getting their feet on the ground, and at most would anticipate selling a small amount of their beer through Tavour post-Covid as most of their liquid will be sold through draft accounts.

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If you haven’t already, Tavour is worth trying out. Just don’t forget about your local breweries and retailers.