Best Brewrey Tours

I really enjoyed the tour at Weyerbacher. The facility is pretty straight forward but the tour guide was awesome.

Worst by far is Shipyard. You watch a video then they show you the bottling line, done.

 

New Glarus (WI) - The tour is self guided, so my recommendation is based more on a visit to the brewery. The new site is built in a Bavarian castle style overlooking the town of New Glarus. It's a great way to spend the afternoon - hanging out with the family, playing cornhole with GREAT beer, and loading up the truck with cases of Spotted Cow, Moon Man, Two Women, etc.
Minhas (WI) - Mostly known as a contract brewer, the tour is actually fantastic. The rathskeller is very intimate & the beertenders are very generous with the amount of pours. There is a beer museum that is FILLED with tons of vintage beer items.
Harpoon (Boston) - I celebrated my 35th birthday with a Harpoon Brewery tour & a Red Sox game. It doesn't get much better than that. The guides are great, knowledgeable and fun. The tasting at the end of the tour is awesome - and allows you access to the 100 barrel series.

 

Add me to the Lakefront Brewery Tour; hands down the best I've done!!!

 

Someone's gotta throw New Belgium in. Guides have always been funny, and the beers you sample along the tour are picked by them and what they're into at the time. They open bottles that just came off the line. Overall, just a really good time. Having to get reservations in a month or so in advance is about the only downside, but you're right around the corner from Odell and a couple other options.

 

I thought that Sam Adams tour was pretty good very informative and then the samples.
Also regardless of what what you think of their beers, Magic Hat's tour was pretty entertaining.

 

I've been to Dogfish in Deleware and to a small Brewery in Ocean City MD called Burley Oak this past summer which inspired me to start home brewing. Both tours were free and pretty good. Dogfish is only allowed to give you 12oz of beer so they give you 4 3oz samples. I went during Ancient Ale season so we tried Theobroma, Sah Tea, Ta Henket & Chateau Jihau and learned about those particular beers as well as DFH history and brewing process. DFH brewpub is 30 minutes away from the brewery where you can get lots of interesting beers and some decent food. Burley Oak has a taproom where you can hang out and drink as much as you want. They have some great brews and ambitious ideas as well as a great atmosphere. Really enjoyed both and good place to vacation on the East Coast.

 

Guinness in Ireland was probably the most impressive tour I've been on. My favorite place to visit was probably Stone.

 

The private tours Ive had of Top of the Hill Brewery in Chapel Hill and Bull City Burger & Brewery were amazing.

As for public tours, Triangle Brewery in Durham is alot of fun. Low key, lots of jokes, everyones drinking alot. Small warehouse setting, but the workers are what make it. Theyre salt of the earth guys.

 

Cantillon was awesome. New Glarus is always a good time. Orion was cool, mostly because they had all of their cans on display from decades ago....and then a cool video at the end. Well, it looked cool....since I couldn't understand a word of it. The Great Divide was a fun little place to walk around as well.

 

Dixie in New Orleans...though a lot of that trip is still kinda fuzzy. Shitty beer but plenty of it and very informative! Hope it reopens so I can take my son one day, was flooded out in Katrina.

 

whys is it a joke?

 

I really enjoyed Anchor Brewing. Beer was great, good atmosphere, tour guide rocked.

Also, i went with Road Dog's in Seattle. We went to three different breweries : Georgetown, Pyramid(booo), and Hales. Pyramid sucked but the other 2 were great. Plus the van ride was really fun to considering everyone was hammered excluding the driver haha.

 

August Schell in New Ulm, MN was a great tour. A really cool 19th century brewery with tour guides that were incredibly passionate and knowledgeable about the product and brand. Very cool museum and tap room with plenty of samples as well.

Lakefront is also pretty cool in Milwaukee.

 

DC Brau!!! Great place, killer vibe, awesome art (Kelly Towles and others), informative brewery tour with great free samples for all. Getting in for free is great, free samples are better but hanging with everyone there and the employees/owners makes this place feel like a second home. Love these folks, did I mention the beer was phenomenal? Wish these dudes were open to the public more than once a week (Saturday's) but one is better than none and it's well worth the trip!

http://www.dcbrau.com/

Cheers

 

Sweetwater in Atlanta GA puts on a great tour/tasting. $8 for a tour, pint glass & a ton of stuff to taste.

 

Some that are memorable, there were many more.
Cantillon - have been 3 times.
Anchor was very good.
Stone was alright.
Firestone Walker, and we chatted with Matt B.
Sierra Nevada (well it was Beer Camp).
New Glarus was fine, Hard Hat tour if I go again.
Fullers twice.
Young's was excellent, but now closed.
Spezial being guided by Herr Merz.
Bells with Larry Bell guiding the tour, about 97 or 98.
Bell's new facility in May for the open house.

 

I love going on brewery tours. Wish some of my favorites offered more of a tour--so I'm glad to see that Bell's is holding them in their production facility now.

Of my "repeat visits" I'd say that Lagunitas is among the best. Their tour is just a load of fun. It's approachable, the guides are a blast, they pour a flight at the start and you can hang out in the beer garden after. Plus, no reservations are needed.

And I want to show some love to my San Antonio-Hill Country-Austin time. I miss being able to take a day trip and visit Real Ale, Jester King, Hop & Grain, Live Oak, Thirsty Planet... I can honestly say I had an amazing time at each of their tours and open houses and you can't go wrong with any of them.

 

Southern Tier is the best. For 8 bucks, you get a keeper glass that is also for the tastings throughout the tour (its etched with the ST shield). The tour has a rolling cart with 5-7 taps that travels with the tour group. Pitchers are poured and passed around and glasses are filled to each guests liking, with makes for a drink and drown hour or so. Def one to check out...easily reachable from Cleveland, Erie, PGH, Buffalo, etc...

 

Agreed! Oskar Blues is a blast. Great vibe with down to earth employees who typically are heavily inebriated and drinking along with you on the tour. Plus, there's ski ball.

 

Did that, very cool. Still have my Guiness glasses with James Joyce likeness that I got on Bloomsday.