Beer and Busch Gardens just seem to go together. We’ve written in the past about the history of the parks, their onsite breweries and ties to Busch Beer. The one sentence summary is there used to be a big Busch brewery near where Iron Gwazi is today and the park was originally started to help market the beer. Today, however, we will focus more on the modern connections with the locations and types of beer you can find around the park.

The park sports a good mix of craft and domestic beers in some great locations. Also, during certain times of the year you may even be able to land a free beer, what could be better? It’s fair to question consuming large numbers of alcoholic beverages while enjoying spinning, looping and potentially nausea inducing rides. However, in moderation or for the guests going more for atmosphere than thrills, having unique and high quality options can really enhance the day.

The first locale is the newly remodeled Springs Taproom. This place is essentially dedicated to getting an ice cold beverage. There are soft drinks and a handful of snack options available, but basically think of this place as a Busch Gardens Bar. It’s in a quiet corner of the park just after Iron Gwazi, but before Sesame Street and is slightly set back from the main path. On a hot summer day stepping into the AC here can be a great relief too. There’s some outdoor seating here as well along with some really pretty water features and landscaping surrounding it.

Working your way around the park clockwise you will find beers available with BBQ at Zambia Smokehouse and at an occasional cart along the path (great one near Stanley Falls where you can grab a drink and watch some boats splash down). However, you aren’t going to hit anything major until you get to Pantopia, so be sure to grab something in the Springs Taproom as it may be a bit of a walk to your next opportunity for a cold beer.

The final major permanent beer spot is the Giraffe Bar near to the Serengeti Overlook and Cheetah Hunt. We wrote a whole blog about the Giraffe Bar, so this will be light on details. In summary though, great views like the one below along with a good selection of craft beers on tap that you can get as part of a couple of beer flights and some great appetizer style eats to enjoy with it. Having a great craft beer while on a patio watching either giraffes on the Serengeti one direction or a roller coaster the other direction is pretty tough to top.

Of course there are some other temporary beer finding opportunities of note. First, on nights when they have fireworks where the festival area near Iron Gwazi and walkway to it typically have bars setup. The area opens up about an hour before the show and typically has a few performers, dancers and a DJ to keep things fun. This same area is often utilized for extended periods during the park’s festivals that include special food/drink options. These typically include stands with tapas style foods and unique craft brews not typically found in the park’s standard food and beverage locations. Some of the most beer heavy festivals include Mardi Gras and of course the park’s Bier Fest held this year from July 21st until September 4th!

Finally, there’s FREE BEER! You can stop the presses right there! Usually once a year (and sometimes more often) you’ll see the park offering free beer. The beers are about 8oz and there are usually at least 2 choices and they can be pretty random sometimes. If I had to guess it’s probably what the bar manager wants/needs to get rid of more than anything, but I’ve seen everything including ciders, Yuengling, Dos Equis, Asahi and numerous craft beers.

The offer has shifted and morphed through the years too. When I first visited the free beer was available in the location that’s now the Springs Taproom and they used old school hand stamps (that easily rubbed off) to count your two free beers. For a short bit it was in the Serengeti Overlook and now it’s at Twisted Tails Pretzels (or sometimes a cart outside) and thy scan your ticket or pass to see if you have taken advantage of the benefit that day or not. I have also heard that scanning your child’s ticket (but don’t give them the beer) may also work 🙂 This year the offer changed a bit more in that regular ticket holders get one beer and season pass holders get two. On my last visit the bartenders put my two in one big pint glass which was nice. Even though the beer is free please don’t forget to tip your bartenders, they’re still working hard!

Busch Gardens is a great place for a beer lover to feel at home and they certainly have more beer offerings than most theme parks, especially compared to Disney. Their mix of scenic locations and some local craft brews can help accent your day at this park founded on beer, by beer and for beer. Note that Busch Garden’s sister parks like SeaWorld also have similar offerings (like free beer) and don’t miss out on Busch Gardens Williamsburg as it even has a proper German Biergarten, but that’s another blog for another day. Cheers!