Best local breweries to visit?

I've been to all but not taken the tour at Victory and used the self-guided tour at Troegs. Enjoyed all the visits.

But I'd say the best tours I've taken were at Weyerbacher (which isn't quite SEPA but close), Yuengling, and Dogfish Head. Something special at each of the three.

 

i would recommend the breweries that are actually brewpubs. Can get boring making the trip out just for a tasting room.
Add Tired Hands in Ardmore, PA to the list. Highly recommended
But I would recommend Victory and Dogfish Head out of that list.

 

Agreed with what's said above about brewpubs. Tired Hands, Earth Bread, and Forest and Main are all very good IMO. I also really like the new Iron Hill in Chestnut Hill. My ranking of your list:
1. Victory - great atmosphere, pub exclusives, there are some food concerns but I'm not getting into that
2. Troeg's - technically, it's a tasting room, but the room at the new brewery is huge and they offer some plates and snacks now. They pretty much always have a Scratch beer on, which I'm a big fan of. They main thing to keep in mind is that they close early.
3. DFH - If you can, schedule a brewery tour ahead of time. I've not been on the tour (you've seen one tank, you've seen them all) but I heard theirs is one of the better ones. The brewpub in Rehoboth is awesome and they've made an effort to get more pub-exclusives on recently. I've only been once, but will definitely go back sometime. They said that they're pretty much crowded at all times, so go early.
4. Stoudt's - I like Stoudt's even though they're a bit off the beer geek radar. They have decent German food, which is inexplicably rare in Pennsylvania Dutch country, and a really cool old-timey vibe.

Sly Fox just opened up a new place in Pottstown. Probably not much reason to drive past their Phoenixville location to get to it unless there's something special about it, but I plan to check it out at some point. Weyerbacher is also just a tasting room, but it's worth checking during their limited hours. I liked Bullfrog when I visited, but it's pretty far. People rave about Selin's Grove, but it's also very far from SEPA. Someday.

I haven't been to any of the NJ ones, mostly because they're in NJ, but I think the ones like Flying Fish and River Horse are tasting rooms with stupid hours.

 

Can you elaborate on what you're looking for? The breweries/brewpubs around here are all very different. I think each offers something unique.

 

Victory no longer does tours.

 

Check out 16 Mile in Georgetown, DE. It's just south of the Dogfish brewery in Milton and has a great taproom.

 

Philadelphia Brewing Co's tour is good because there space is rather unique.

Yards also does tours and they have food and full pints to buy so you can spend more drinking time there as opposed to just getting samples.

 

Aha! But not the one made of Palo Santo wood!

 

I enjoyed troegs tour. The actual tour not self guided.

Very interesting and fun times.

 

Yeah, DFH is supposed to be pretty cool, and I'll check it out at some point. In general, I've found tours to be a waste of time, though. For one thing, guides usually (and understandably) spend time describing the brewing process from a very simplistic level. At best, you will get some interesting stories about the brewery or see something special like Palo Santo wood. At New Belgium, the tour is the best time to be there, because you can snatch up tables that have emptied out. Have you ever been on the Brooklyn Brewery tour? It's just in the next room and you can barely hear the guide over the music and people noise coming from the bar area. I believe they're expanding on that site, so it might be worth it soon. My favorite thing about going to breweries is pub exclusives or if they just have really sweet pubs or tasting rooms.

 

The tanks are cool, but my favorite part about DFH was smelling the Palo Santo wood sample. It's hard to tell just how much of the beer's aroma comes from the wood until you smell it. If I was a beaver I'd totally relocate to South America so I could eat those trees all day.

 

My favorites in the area are Tired Hands, by far, Forest and Main, Victory, and Iron Hll in Media. I've also enjoyed Sly Fox, Yards, Round Guys and Dock Street.