Dueling Barrels Brewery & Distillery, Pikeville

So while the beer and spirits are tasty, the ambiance is weird. The door to enter is labeled gift shop so we walked in and were wondering where the bar was but it was pretty much attached to the gift shop and was completely empty. It's in a sense like they would rather you just buy their bottled stuff and their soft goods instead of actually have you hangout and drink. That is even more evident by the lack of seating they have. There are a handful of two seater tables and then a few more tables that are standing only and there are zero seats at the bar so it's also standing only. Not sure what their end game is with that but it isn't very inviting. The tour is the only way to drink anything other than beer so you have to pay the tour fee of $12 for four very small samples of their bourbon and moonshine but you can "skip" the tour to just drink their liquor which is likely a city or county ordinance for some arbitrary reason. It's a nice place and everything but the layout is weird. Do they want you there, do they not? I couldn't really tell. The employees were very friendly and knowledgeable but I hope they make a good hourly wage because the bar/tasting room needs to do something different to attract business. It reminded me of a tourist trap type place in Cancun but without the tourists.

We had a wonderful time on the tour, it was very informative. The tastings were all very different with unique tastes and qualities. I appreciate that kids can go on the tour and can sample rootbeer so they don't feel left out.