Brewery Tours Actually About Brewing

Go to Carton in NJ the building is so small you can see the whole brew house from one corner. It's got town history, building history, Carton history, beer making, and philosophy covered, they try to answer any questions and if the guide can't on the tour usually someone in the tasting room at the end is an actual brewer more than happy to geek out, just look for the beards. Plus They make those videos for most the individual beers that touch on each beer's idea.

 

BBC (Berkshire Brewing Co) gives an excellent tour. Starts with a generous 8oz pour from any of their dozen or so taps. Then the group is led from start to finish of their brewing process, going as in depth or basic as the group wishes. Halfway through the tour, everyone is encouraged to sample another 8 ounces or so once again, and then continue on with the remainder of the tour.

Ive gone there several times

 

Boulevard

 

Founders has a great tour. Choose the Tour & Tasting option. It's $30, but you get a great tour, then get to try a pour of most of their regular beers and some speciality ones. I was there in early April, and we got to sample 2010 and 2013 KBS!
As for the tour itself, yea, they do a good job explaining how they do what they do, and why, and what sets them apart from the rest.
Plus, you get a free beer in the taproom, a free pint glass, and some stickers!
http://foundersbrewing.com/store/brewery-tours/

 

I've been on the Anchor tour twice, and I end up having way too much fun there. We may or may not have ended up playing flip cup in the brewery last time... but anyways, the tour itself is really informative and has lots of history, plus one of the most beautiful brewhouses with it's giant copper kettles. The history aspect is great, as it goes along with the development of SF through the last 100+ years. You also get a free high-quality poster at the end and get to try all their beers in an awesome mini-taproom. Everyone who works there seems to love it and it really makes a huge difference. My other favorite was the Sierra Nevada tour: beautiful grounds, massive scale but it still feels homey, very informative while still entertaining, of course free samples, and a clear commitment to top notch quality control and sustainability. I'd highly recommended those 2 to anyone, regardless of beer nerd status.

 

I really enjoyed the Dogfish Head tour; very informative and really showed us a lot of different parts of the brewery. The Palo Santo tanks were pretty incredible, and the history behind their creation is cool.

 

I think a lot of it comes from the crowd that's there - both in size and mentality.
Keep in mind most people who go to breweries and go on the tour aren't there for the nuts and bolts of brewing (even beer geeks the tour is just wasting time that could be spent brewing.
If you're lucky to be on a small tour - only a few people, you can get into more detail of what is going on, if it's a big one, they have to play to the common denominator.

 

I went on the DFH tour with a friend last year and both of us happened to be lab techs. The tour guide took notice of this, and he focused a lot more on the microbiology aspect of the brewing (yeast, cultures, etc.) rather than just take us on a tour of the salt mines. At the end of the tour he even took us into their micro lab and we got to see all the equipment they use to isolate their "ancient yeast" and whatnot.

We enjoyed the tour so much we even took a picture with the guide at the end.

 

Maui Brewing Co.