Best brewery tours?

Sam Adams - 1993 was my favorite (although not repeatable). Roomate from college worked there and ran the Saturday tours. And 4 of us friends got a special "VIP" tour with the bald/bearded brewmaster dude from the commercial and he showed us "secret" beers from Europe that weren't imported to US at that time that they were trying to backwards engineer to make SA varieties. One of my friends got to guzzle either double or triple bock straight from the vat (wanted to repeat strange brew movie) and ended up sick as a dog the next day. Jim Kouck even came into the taproom and sat with us for a few minutes. All in all a pretty awesome beer tour day.

 

Not impressed with Troegs brewery tour at all. Did the tour last February. It was self guided like a museum tour. Then you come out to a gift shop where they sell overpriced stuff and poor selection of their beers. Nugget Nectar was released just a week before (that was the whole reason I drove 2 hrs to go to the brewery...get some Nugget Nectar from the source) and they were sold out (sold out at the brewery..WTF???). Then I wanted to get samples from the taproom, but it was ridiculously crowded like an Oktoberfest celebration, probably 200+ people in therewith long lines at the taps. Didn't even get to sample anything. Drove 2 hrs home empty handed and no fresh beer to taste all day.

 

not super exciting, but super informative and you really get to see the entire brewery inside and out, and it's a cool brewery. tap room is super nice and (the times i've been there) not too crowded.

 

Whether you like Guiness or not...that had to be great experience!!! One of the 7 wonders of the world brewery tours!....oh no, I'm feeling a hijack thread forthcoming!

 

Sierra Nevada puts on a great tour, so does Deschutes as pointed out above. Can't really beat Sierra's price per drink ratio, but the gift shop placement is a bit suspect... right outside the end. Get's me everytime...

 

Amen.
Lakefront's tour is EPIC fun.
Always laughter, fun people, and great conversations.

For a bonus, as you head into Milwaukee, stop at Kopp's Frozen Custard to ensure you have the PERFECT day!

 

So far, I have toured these breweries:

1. Sweetwater in Atlanta, GA
2. Troegs in Hershey, PA
3. Appalachian in Harrisburg, PA
4. Flying Dog in Frederick, MD
5. Monocacy in Frederick MD

Each was different, with its own character, and each was informative and fun. When I toured Flying Dog, our tour guide was Jim Caruso, the CEO, and that was particularly fun because he is very enthusiastic about his brewery. Appalachian is a small brewery and the tour was intimate, with tastings of many of their beers.

I also have been to many events at Heavy Seas in Baltimore, MD, although I have not done a formal tour there.

If you have not toured a brewery - Stop. Do Not Pass Go. Proceed immediately to the closest brewery.

 

This tour actually got me into craft. My wife and I took a trip to the hof, had nothing else to do so we went to ommegang. After a few samples I never looked back.

 

Ben on the tour of Boston Beer a few times, most memorable was when the intern had been giving tours all day and was quite intoxicated. He made it one to remember.

 

nothing like opening a barnyard door to maybe the most hyped brewery. talkin beer with some crazy belgian brewmaster, going for a self tour, and then sippin lambic. best vacation ever.

 

Cantillon.
Spezial with Herr Merz
Bells with Larry Bell leading the group.
Sierra Nevada (beer camp).
Fullers and Youngs Ram Brewery in London.
FW chatting with a guy named Matt.

 

I toured elevator brewery here in columbus, the guy hooked a tap hose up to a tank and poured us dark horse right into our glasses, it was so much fun

 

I was at Fässla in Bamberg and asked to see the brewery. We were told to go in to the brewery and take a look around on our own. I asked one of the brewery workers if I could buy a bottle of beer, he grabbed one off the bottling line and gave it to me at no charge. It was the freshest bottle of beer I have ever enjoyed....

 

Saranac in Utica NY. Mainly because they didn't take our beer tickets and we got pretty drunk before the Dropkick Murphy's show AT the brewery.

 

Harpoon was 10x better than Sam Adams.....Sam Adams gave 3 pitchers for a room of about 20 people for 3 different beers (summer, boston lager and some dubbel or doppelbock...obviously wasnt good) and Harpoon gave you a 5oz glass and poured a sample talked for 5 minutes then had an open bar of like 15 taps for 15 min, then talked for 5 more and then had a 30 min open bar again....and they gave you suggestions for mixing certain beers too. Granted they dont make the best beer in the world, their tour will require you use a hand rail on the staircase on the way out for safety purposes.....feelin' good

 

Oddly enough I really enjoyed Saint Arnold's (Houston) and Cigar City's (Tampa) tours. Both are very relaxed and get to the point. The Saint Arnold tours are essentially just an excuse to let everyone come in, try two free pints and start a party. Cigar City's was kind of the same.

 

It's hard to say what the best brewery tour I've been on is... they've all been so great.

Cantillon in Brussels is awesome, because you can walk through the brewery at your own pace, and then you get two beers at the end. And additional beers don't cost much.

Fuller's in London is really cool, they show you pretty much everything in the entire brewery, and you're right there in the action, wearing a hardhat and everything. Then at the end of the tour, the tasting is in a little museum room, and you get to taste all of their beers, and you get like half an hour.

Dogfish Head is cool because they always have some really good beers to taste at the end.

And Tuckahoe in NJ was great because it was the smallest brewery I've been to. I got a private tour, and they even gave me extra beer at the tasting. Great place!

 

+1

 

The self-tour is pretty cheesy. The brothers used to do guided tours through the old brewery in Harrisburg and those were pretty good. I thought I heard that they still do them occasionally in the new place but I'm not sure.

 

De Halve Maan in Bruges, Belgium. Very cool space, up old stairs, visit the rooftop, you see an old coolship, and the tour guide was pretty funny. It's a short walk from the main plaza in Bruges, so the scenery is amazing. Only like 5-6 euros and you get a beer at the end. Worth it if you are in Bruges.