Tap 25 Craft Beer

My rating is based on the great variety of brews on tap — the beer tender was an ass and he gets a zero. He was in a bad mood and not very friendly, at all. We were clearly new to the place and that in itself seemed to sour his attitude right off the bat.
We asked for a few tastings and after our second ask he seemed very annoyed and proceeded to tell us that the whole purpose of the flights was to taste at a cost. Wow, what a way to piss off customers. It’s a tap room with lots of choices and a great variety, however I have never been treated so rudely and how skimpy on the tastes… We would come back again so long as someone else was tending to customers…

We hung out in Blacksmith Square, got some grub, and had some beer. Nice IPA selection– got to try some beer I hadn’t had before! It was just a great spot to chill out. Nice spot to hang out and we didn’t feel rushed.

Always a great selection. People who work there are always nice. Great spot to try out some beer in a cozy spot.

Great Place. First time here, bartender was really nice! He showed me all the different kinds of beer and also gave me a couple of samples. You can’t say no to samples! Haha. The environment is great, people are friendly, the vibe is just right.

Met a friend for drinks at Tap 25 today afternoon — he’s a regular as he lives close by while it was my first time. Must say he chose well.
It was a lovely day and many patrons were sitting outdoors on the tables in Blacksmith Square, but we wanted to watch the Warriors-​Rockets game so we sat inside, watching on one of the two small TVs.
I bought the first round, starting with an excellent Hefeweizen from a microbrewery in San Diego, refreshingly crisp and lemony. The lady at the counter told me to help myself to pizza they’d ordered for patrons watching the game — on the house! My friend had brought peanuts and cashew nuts for us to munch on, and we contentedly ate pizza and nuts and drank our brews (he’s over six-​and-​a-​half feet tall so he drank twice as much as I did).
The day wore on — the game which was tense and close became more fun as our Dubs pulled away to an easy victory, and it was time to order the last round and head home to our wives and kids.
I chose to finish with an imperial stout, the Societe Butcher, from another San Diego microbrewery — thick, dense, velvety smooth dark chocolate goodness, packing quite a wallop at almost 10% ABV — it was lovely way to end the afternoon.

Quaint little location and great to come with a big group of friends or solo. Really enjoyed the bountiful variety of beer on tap & the ciders. I did the paddle flight and it ranged from Stout to light IPA’s. With the vast variety they have it’s hard to find something you don’t like. I really appreciate how they bring in local beer. I absolutely recommend trying this place out if you love a delicious, cold glass of beer.

Beer.
Craft beer.
Good craft beer.
25 good craft beers. (Plus ciders and premium bottles)
I’m never disappointed. Closest place to heaven I’ll ever get.

It’s changed a lot since the owners move to the East coast… no longer the fun place it use to be… Overpriced beer without any decent employees… done.

It was far however very much worth the drive.
It was fun and people were friendly. The beer was good but they ran out of their special beer.

What a great chill spot for a drink with friends! Very low key, unassuming place in a charming little corner in Livermore.
Quite an interesting beer menu. I typically don’t like very hoppy IPAs and that tends to be the standard popular beer genre in the last 10 years. Hence, that section was a bit more robust in the menu. I understand there are guest brews here which sounds quite cool, would love to be around for that.
Expect it to be a bit loud. A good spot with friends, not necessarily a romantic date night. Not too easy to find a table inside, luckily a very chill patio area in front.
The night I was there they had a fantastic local band playing ecclectic classic rock covers. Certainly helped the vibe.
Definitely would be back if in the area and fancied a pint.

My absolute favorite craft beer destination on this side of the Bay Bridge.
With an ever-​evolving list of taps, live music nearly every night of the week and an incredible group of pourers, it’s hard for me to want to go home! Kristin, the manager, really knows her brews as does one of my favorites Elliot. I love reading the descriptive beer list and creating my own tasting flights, the prices are super affordable ($ 5-​$ 9) considering the high quality libations that show up on the list. If you’re hungry, feel free to order from across the garden (Swirl– which has an exceptional antipasti plate) or bring in a snack from elsewhere.
Summer time is my favorite Tap25 time, the beer garden fills up and offers wonderful live music while watching the sun set and enjoying friendly conversations. Great spot to meet fellow craft brew enthusiasts, catch a local game on one of their two tvs and discover new music.

Good beer selection. Friendly staff. Casual beer chic! Courtyard is amazing, just to cold tonight. Love that they have live music 3 nights a week.

Visited with a party of four last night for the first time. I really enjoyed it! I like the cozy feeling of the location. They had a good amount of tables and different seating areas in the place considering it’s not that big of a location, yet it did not feel cramped either. Very nice and tidy, I liked the touch of the little fresh flower arrangements at every table top. They have a good variety of beers on tap which included four local stouts, so I was happy! I didn’t notice if they had any bar snacks, but did see someone else bring in a pizza. I would definitely come back to this location again to have some drinks with family or friends. Next time I will try a beer flight for sure.
Restrooms: The restrooms are located outside of Tap 25. Since it is situated in a complex shared with other businesses, including a wine tasting room I assume that these restrooms are shared between everyone. I have not yet confirmed this because I have not been inside of the other businesses. The bathrooms are separate for men and women. Not sure why they do not have a light outside of the bathrooms, it was a little dark. The women’s restroom had two stalls and it was clean and stocked with tp and seat covers.

My last visit at Tap 25 was a BLOOD BOILING experience and I encourage you to read to the end.
My sister and I visited Tap 25 on a Sunday this Summer, just like we had before. We raved about how much fun we had last time we were here and that it was the only place I’ve seen serve a selection my favorite local beer on tap. However, we filled out a flight slip to try out some new drafts.
10 minutes go by, but we were killing time waiting talking with a few people sitting at the bar also waiting to order their next round. We notice a female bartender speaking to a group at the far end of the bar, while a male bartender took orders elsewhere. The people sitting at the bar kindly got up to let us squeeze in to hopefully get noticed and order.
Finally, after 20 minutes, as the female bartender moves from entertaining the select few in the corner to pour them an exclusive beer, she noticed I had filled out a flight slip and says, «We are not doing that anymore», so I readily respond with an alternative, however, she just walked back to the elite group in the corner.
I stand there in complete awe that after waiting 20 minutes to be acknowledged, I was blatantly ignored. Two men sitting at the bar to my right hold up their empty beer glasses and say «we’ve been able to order one beer in 30 minutes, looks like she’s only serving the group at the end of the bar.» Two women to my left say they’ve also had empty beer glasses for about 20 minutes. Mind you, this is a fairly small bar that serves only beer, so no one who wants another beer should have an empty glass for more than 5 – 10 minutes. Also, had we been acknowledged before, we probably could have ordered the flight, finished it, and been on to a round of pints.
I continue to wait patiently, this time with my ID and credit card in hand. As a bartender myself, I know what it’s like when it’s busy and you can’t get to someone right away, however, that’s when I’m actively mixing cocktails to a large bar not pouring 1 beer every 5 minutes to a special group of about 6 people, ignoring an entire bar full of patiently waiting people actively trying to give you their money. After all, I’ve already ordered, all I need are my beers and to pay. Another unsuccessful 10 minutes go by, still no beers to be seen by the surrounding patrons or us.
My sister decides to strategize and split up hoping it increases our odds of finally getting our first beer. A man waiting sees how we’ve been stood up and calls to the male bartender and allows us to order before him. FINALLY AFTER 30 MINUTES WE GOT OUR FIRST BEER!
AT THIS MOMENT the female bartender walks over gives us a fake smile a thumbs up asks if we got our beer and walks back to her corner. Surrounding customers at this point are beyond agitated that she finally left her corner to only spite us and not acknowledge their empty glasses that they’ve had for the last half hour!
Revenue lost today rejecting an entire bar full thirsty customers on a hot Summer afternoon: A WHOLE LOT $$$
We returned to the same male bartender this time only waiting 10 minutes to order 2 more beers. If you’ve been keeping count, we’ve had 2 beers each in about an hour and a half. Some friends arrived but we were so done with this place that we asked for our check. We were tossed the bill, no eye contact, or crack of a smile. We left with our arriving party of about 10 to the Alehouse.
BUT THAT’S NOT ALL FOLKS! Two days later, the charge cleared, and when I looked at my copy of the receipt I noticed these lovely bartenders decided to undeservedly give themselves an extra buck. Tab was $ 25, I tipped $ 4 a buck for each beer, like I said I’m in the industry but I can’t bring myself to leave $ 0. It’s not the extra buck that drove me to write this, it’s the terrible extremely rude service, the crappy attitude, and audacity to think they deserved more.
Even though the male bartender served us, my receipt read «Kristen» as our server. She had tiny shorts, a tattooed sleeve, I recall a dream catcher, maybe a bird, some feathers? So I called to speak to a manager about my experience where I was told that she was the manager and that the owners are out of state. I’m so completely dumbfounded that not only does she have a job there, she is allowed to run this place while the owners are gone?
To the owner: I manage a restaurant as well as bartend. You have an excellent bar, great selection of beer, fun location, with the potential for incredible sales. Your bar gets busy, however, the management you have left in your absence is causing you to lose countless dollars by neglecting to pour 98% of the bar a simple beer. I spoke highly of this place, but sadly, our friends, all locals to Livermore, and myself will not be returning.
Unilocalers: Get a tasting to wine if you go in this square. Don’t miss out enjoying the live music and beautiful outdoor area by getting irritated and rudely ignored, for no reason at all, as you wait 30 minutes for 1 beer.

A really excellent selection of beers. And great service.
I have been in Livermore for a couple of months now and I had not yet had the chance to come to this place. I’m regretting that, because this place is really a cut above the rest.
First, there is an excellent selection of craft beers, but that’s pretty much par for the area l, so that in itself is not a reason that makes this place stand out.
Also the association with the rest of the vendors in the square is very convenient, because my party was seated in Swirl, but I wanted to drink beer. Outside beverages? No problem! None of these places have any issue with sharing seating space and allowing guests to bring in drinks/​food from the other vendors.
The live music at night is also pretty nice, whoever picks the bands has excellent taste. Also the demographic is nice, slightly older, not rowdy. A place where you can actually just relax under the night sky and enjoy yourself instead of having to shout to have a conversation with the person next to you.
The one thing that really set this place apart for me was that I was able to actually get service quickly. Getting the attention of a bartender on a packed Friday evening is not an easy task, and often leaves one waiting for a long time, feeling socially awkward, not to mention rejected. Not so at this place, the bartenders were super efficient, and super fast, every time I went in to get a drink I was walking out with a beer in my hands within a minute or so. In fact they were so fast that while one bartender was serving me another asked me if I had been helped yet. This means that the 2^nd bartender actually noticed that I didn’t have a drink and approached me! What what what??? A completely unheard of scenario in most bars.
This is how a bar should operate.

Great beer selection. There was live music outside at 2pm on a Saturday.

This place gets that not every person is a beer drinker or a wine connoisseur. I like the fact that they have two separate sections. i love both wine and beer so both sides works for me. I decided to chill out at the beer section and was incredibly surprised by the immense selection of beer they had on tap. this was my first time there so everything was aw-​inspiring. i opted with the beer tasting paddle. the bartenders were super knowledgeable and very helpful with my indecisive nature. they allowed me to taste a bit of the beers i wasn’t sure i wanted to commit to with no charge. i thought this was a nice touch. my favorite beer from the list was the Anderson Valley Summer Solstice. Least favorite, the Thai Chili Beer. Too much Thai Basil and not enough Chili. There might’ve been a hint of lime there too… but the overall flavor profile was a bit overwhelming.
There was live music while we were there, a guitar player. He was singing some cover songs which was cool. He came over and chatted with the crowd during his breaks.
There are tons of sitting room around the bar and outside. It was a bit chilly at night, and the bartender keeps the key for the gas lamps if you need to warm yourself up.

As my friend so eloquently said, «Why is it that a sampler is so much more appealing on a piece of wood?»
My honey and I ventured here on a beautiful Thursday afternoon, during our anniversary staycation. (I feel like we’ve mastered the Livermore wine tasting scene, so beer was obviously up next.) We were greeted promptly, given beer menus, and grabbed seats at the bar.
They have an excellent beer selection, organized by type (i.e., pale ale, IPA, stout, etc.). We both opted for samplers — you grab a card and write down the four beers you’d like to taste and they happily oblige! As we were finishing our samplers, I commented to my honey that I didn’t taste one of his beers and, seconds later, I magically had a sample of that very beer in front of me. The bartender was extremely attentive. Obviously.
Tap 25 is a keeper and will definitely be part of any future Livermore excursions.

I took my daughter out for her first beer here– and they could not have been nicer! Love the fact that they have lots of ciders, since my husband can no longer drink beer (hops allergy). There are very few places that have a strong selection of ciders– but Tap 25 is one of the places that does! You’ll find several in the refrigerated case, and usually they also have one on tap.

My parents insisted on a visit to Tap 25 to celebrate the big 2 – 1 birthday. Considering this is my first time venturing to Blacksmith Square, the first thing that came to mind was «quaint» for lack of a better word. I like it!
Inside is pretty big, they have a lot of seating (at the bar, and at various tables — inside and out).
They have a pretty large list of beers to try (and cider, in case anyone is allergic to hops). My mom and I both tried the Samuel Adams shandy ($ 6), and my dad got an Angry Orchard cider ($ 8?). I love shandys more than the next person, so I was pretty happy that they had one I could try. It’s not very sweet, but it definitely had a nice tart flavor, which I like in a shandy.
Also, they gave me my beer for free since it was my birthday! WHAT :-) you guys at Tap 25 are way too kind. I can’t wait to come back and try more things. This place came with high praise and I now see why! Definitely worth a gander if you’re in the neighborhood.