Pantasy Craft Brewery (85023) Review – A Set That’s Full of Motion and Character

This is my first Pantasy set, so I was really looking forward to building it. I picked the Craft Brewery because it looks very different to the usual modulars you tend to see, but in my opinion would still fit nicely into a city setting. Plus, I like beer and I like things that move. This one has both.

Set Information

Set: Pantasy Craft Brewery (85023)
Piece Count: 3,252
Price: $149.99 USD

Unboxing and First Impressions

The box itself was very nice. Strong, sturdy, with good artwork. Inside were the familiar numbered bags, each one with Pantasy’s logo printed in blue and pink. No wasted space either, everything fit snugly inside.

It also came with a solid baseplate, which was nice to see, but I didn’t use it. I tend to build most modular-style sets on MILS plates, and because this baseplate has no anti-studs underneath, I couldn’t mount it on top, so I set it aside.

I already knew Pantasy use GoBricks, so I expected the quality to feel familiar, and it did. Everything connected well, colour consistency was spot on, and there were a few parts I hadn’t seen from other brands, which was a nice surprise.

The Build and Experience

This set has a lot of Technic gears and mechanical parts, so the early stages were fun. Nothing beats the moment when you turn a cog and watch another part of the machine come to life. There’s something very satisfying about seeing everything line up piece by piece.

This is where the set really shines.

There’s a lot going on mechanically. The beer kegs at the bottom rotate, green bottles travel around as if they’re being filled, and crates of bottles move around on a conveyor belt that’s visible from the front window. All of this is controlled by a single handle on the side of the building. Turn that handle and the whole brewery comes alive, with different sections moving at different speeds.

There are even a few exposed gears at the front that spin as you crank the mechanism, which looks great.

The small tasting bar on the right is another nice touch. Patrons can sample freshly brewed beer, and the pump pouring into the glass is well done. There’s no working shutter though. The shutters are purely decorative and permanently open.

The structure itself feels sturdy, but there were a few moments during the build where I wondered why certain choices were made. One example is the side wall. After finishing the edges using a mix of 1x2s and 1×1 SNOT bricks, connecting everything required a bit of patience. Applying pressure to one area often made another section pop apart. Not a huge issue, but not exactly relaxing either.

The wall that sits between these edges is built as one long piece and then dropped into place, rather than interlocking with the sides. This leaves two small gaps running vertically. It works structurally, but I can’t really see why it was done this way.

One of the standout exterior features is the huge beer bottle on the left-hand side. This is where part of the bottling process happens, and it’s a great visual element. The bottle is mostly clear with a green top. It might seem odd that it isn’t fully green, but keeping it mostly clear lets you see the bottling process properly, which makes sense.

The roof looks great with its green and tan colour scheme and suits the brewery theme well. It is quite fragile though. You really need to hold it by the solid tan arch sections. Grab it elsewhere and it will come apart. Putting it back together isn’t difficult, but it can be a bit fiddly.

Interior and Details

Above the office area is a small lounge-style space. It’s a nice idea and helps the building feel lived in, but the interior detailing here is fairly basic compared to some other sets I’ve built. It’s fine, just not especially memorable.

The tasting bar looks good visually, but it’s very cramped when it comes to placing minifigs. I had to remove part of the front door structure just to get a figure inside properly. Once it’s set up, it looks fine, but getting there is awkward.

Accessibility

Accessibility is a bit of a mixed bag. The right rear section of the building does separate into floors, which exposes some of the Technic structure and internal mechanisms. That’s a nice touch and better than everything being completely sealed away.

That said, there still isn’t a huge amount to actually see once it’s opened up. Most of the more interesting mechanical elements remain fairly hidden, which feels like a missed opportunity considering how much effort goes into building them.

Another small thing worth noting is the swing-out wall near the top of the building. It has a tendency to snag on the roof section above when opening and closing it. It’s minor, but noticeable.

Printed Parts

Everything in this set is printed, and all prints were crisp and well aligned. The only odd detail is on the large brewery cylinders. Half of each cylinder is printed dark grey with the Pantasy logo, while the other half is metallic silver. The colours don’t quite match, but you only really notice it from certain angles.

There are also some really nice printed acrylic signs included. One sits above the keg turntable and another is mounted right at the top of the building. Both are well printed and add a lot of character.

Minifigures

I had mixed feelings here.

The minifigs were bagged individually, which was nice. The large stylised heads are different, and I actually like them. Arms and hands were easy to assemble and the printing is good.

The legs were more of an issue. Each figure comes with standing legs and seated legs. On paper that sounds useful, but in reality it just means whichever pair you don’t use will probably get lost.

More importantly, the standing legs don’t bend. You can’t pose the figures walking or mid-stride. For someone who enjoys storytelling with minifigs, that was disappointing. They mostly just stand there.

My favourite was the “intoxicated” minifig. He clearly enjoys the brewery’s tasting bar.

Instructions

The instructions were fine overall, but a few things did get on my nerves.

The manual is landscape and crams about six steps onto each page. That might be fine for some people, but it didn’t pass my “I can watch Netflix and build” test. I had to concentrate the whole time.

Part highlighting isn’t great either. It highlights large areas rather than individual parts, which forces you to double check everything. I also needed a bright light on the instructions at all times to make things clear.

Special parts are packaged separately, but the instructions don’t tell you when you need to fetch them. A simple icon would fix that.

There are also too many bags per numbered stage. Each number had six or seven bags, which made each stage take much longer and required more table space than I’m used to. None of this ruins the build, but it definitely slows things down.

Lighting

One thing I couldn’t help thinking throughout the build was how much this set would benefit from integrated lighting. The interiors, textures, and layered details are crying out for it. You could retrofit a lighting kit, but it would definitely be a compromise. There aren’t many obvious routes to hide wiring cleanly, and that’s always the downside when lighting isn’t considered from the start.

Pantasy have since mentioned that they’re exploring lighting solutions for some older sets. I’ll be keeping an eye on this and report back if anything materialises for the Craft Brewery.

Pricing and Value

At $149.99 for 3,252 pieces, this looks like decent value. I managed to pick mine up on sale for $120, which was an even better deal.

Everything being printed and the amount of Technic and moving parts included makes this feel worth the price. Once built, it feels like good value rather than something that just looks good on paper.