Offering a tour of your brewery is a great way to engage with your customers—as well as to expose your brewery to potential lawsuits if a tour-goer gets injured, reports Beall Brewery Insurance.

In 2012, a fermentation tank at one Texas craft brewery exploded during a brewery tour. Tour-goers were showered with beer and the tank crashed through a wall of the brewery. Two members of the tour filed suit against the brewery claiming they suffered injuries and damages including medical expenses, loss of earnings, pain and anguish, and physical impairment and disfigurement.

Does your brewery offer tours? Follow these tips to decrease your risk exposure:

• Limit numbers of tour-goers to ensure the group size is manageable, and no one can wander off unnoticed.
• Assume that tour-goers do not have deep knowledge of brewery safety. Tell them what to do, and what not to do, to stay safe.
• Offer general safety tips before starting the brewery tour. Tell the group:
  1. To stay together
  2. Not to touch any equipment
  3. To walk cautiously if the floor is wet
• If a member of the brewery tour group is intoxicated or disruptive, remove that person from the brewery.
• Keep the group away from slick or hot surfaces, changes in elevation, and stairs.
• Do not offer tour-goers all-they-can-drink beer before, during, or after the brewery tour.

Beall Brewery Insurance has years of experience working with microbreweries, contract breweries, and brewpubs that require specialized insurance packages and knowledge. With offices in California and Indiana, Beall Brewery Insurance serves clients nationwide.