Charging for a brewery tour?

The new Sierra Nevada brewery in NC gives free 90 minute tours nearly every hour of nearly every day (and you still have to book weeks in advance), which includes ~8 samples and getting to play in the hop room. Of course, SN is incredibly wealthy and can afford a bit of a loss. I don't know if I've ever paid for a tour, but I also don't tour regularly since most tiny breweries aren't really worth touring.

 

Paid tours are generally a way around a states alcohol laws. Here in Texas, until recently, it was illegal for a brewery to sell on premise. Give a "tour" for $10, throw in a pint glass and 3 "free" pint samples and you've got a workable to solution to the legal issues. Most of the "tours" here will have a band and a food truck available as well as maybe a local charity set up along with some artisans and their wears. Usually on Saturday afternoon, they are a great way to pre-game, day drink or whatever else you've got on your agenda. Typically open for a couple hours but the actual tour is about 10-15 minutes depending on how many choose to participate. As @deverlow said it's a great way to supplement the breweries cash flow and keep the product moving.

 

Pretty sure it's only $5 for the tour at CCB. That includes a pint pour in the tasting room and you keep the glass, along with some nice free samples as you take the tour. Highly recommend taking it, Bob does a great job giving the tour. He's worth the price of admission all by himself. (toss him a few bucks afterwards if you have the same experience I always have had).

 

We toured the Allagash brewery about 3 years ago and if memory serves, it was free. They took us back into their barrel room and we got to try some of the small batch stuff. Best tour ever. There was a free tasting at the end with those little sample glasses. I'd go back, but my daughter moved to Boston, another veritable land of beer opportunity.

 

i've done a bunch of travelling specifically to visit breweries and it seems to break down in the US to an east of the rockies breweries charging, west of the rockies free tours. there are probably exceptions to that but that has been my observation over the past years of beer-cations. my big thing is how does a brewery justify charging for stickers? they are free advertisement for them and again, the breakdown is fairly similar with some exceptions. my last vacation i came back with very few stickers because i wasn't going to pay a buck a piece for something most places give out free (at least here in the sane world of colorado)

 

I took the Sierra Nevada Mills River tour back in July. Loved it. They did not charge as you mentioned. We had our kids with us so when we got to the tasting room, they were not allowed to sit at the bar, but they did have a nice table for them and had non-alcoholic refreshments for them. The tour guide was very nice, very knowledgeable, and perfect for the job. I think her name was Ashlyn; she was fantastic. I gave her a nice tip at the end of the tour.

 

Nice!

Not every single "tour" in the United States is worth paying for (I get it: one brewhouse looks pretty much like all the others) but one shouldn't reject the tour concept out of hand. Plus, as someone suggested earlier, there's Georgia and its laws relating to this.

 

The last brewery tour I paid for was $10 at Dark Horse, and I got a pint glass with their logo on it, and sat in the V.I.P. lounge and sampled BBPt5, Double Crooked Tree, and 3 other beers that are not available anywhere else.
I felt it was $10 well spent.

 

In Belgium you pay for all brewery visits. For most of them you have to book in advance also.
Most of the tasting rooms are open once or twice a week...

 

First time I saw this was Anchor Brewing in San Francisco...something about using the money to pay for all the Maytag appliance repairs. Maybe it was something like that or I made it up.

 

Maui Brewing is $10 and you get a flight at the end.

 

i've paid $9 for a distillery tour in ky but you got almost 4 shots to taste and some bourbon chocolates ,
but i never herd of a brewery charging

 

Back in January we toured Mills River, and it was a pretty darned good tour.

Some breweries have premium level tours. The New Glarus Hard Hat tour has been on my to do list for someday, and it is 3 hours and the cost is $30. I recently found out that Sierra Nevada now has a Beer Geek tour at Mills River that costs $30 and takes 3 hours. Those would be tours of areas you normally don't go to, and highly detailed beyond the usual tour (this is malt, these are hops...).

I have seen many SS tanks, but going through a brewery I always see new details and process differences from brewery to brewery.

 

super common. usually between $5-10. including some beer and either a pint glass or something else.

Saugatuck is actually somewhat smart. You get your choice of a pint glass or an empty growler. Now I bet most people then fill that growler up... great plan on their part. Since i was with my wife I got one of each. I don't really need another shaker pint, but I don't need 2 empty growlers.

I think the only free one I have been to was Harpoon in Boston. Since they are in production during the week no "tours" but they do a free tasting and tell you a lot about the beers. This was amazing and drank my fill in an hour for sure.

Founders offers a $10 tour and a $30 tour. The $30 option is a special tour with a private tasting kind of thing where they might pull out special things. I have always been tempted, but that is so much for a "tour" and a couple maybe good tastes. At that point get a beer fest ticket to someone and sample all the goodies.

More wine places are charging now. Tours used to always be free. Tasting rooms used to be free. Now i see them charging $5-$10 for the tasting. I think one place here you buy their glass for either $5 or $10. Then you can come in anytime and taste for free with the glass.

 

First tour I went on was $5 and I expect at least that much now. If no charge and have a taproom, I append $5 to my tab.

 

At Coppertail, we charge $7 for the tour. That being said, that price includes a full beer to drink during your tour and a pint glass to take home after. The tours are also pretty in depth and last around 30 minutes. For $2 more than a pint of beer.. I'd say that's a pretty sweet deal.

 

We at Troegs charge $5, but you get the equivalent of at least a 12 oz beer, with a minimum of 4 tastings, 1 straight from a fermentor, and 3 finished products. We also give you a souvenir pint glass at the end of the tour, which is only available by taking the tour.

 

I have mixed feelings about this. Part of me thinks that this is to promote the brewery and should be part of their advertising budget. Another part of me is thinking about the 'welfare guys' who haunt every business that offers free stuff. I've been on free tours and have paid for a few. I don't mind paying a minimum fee for a glass and a few samples but I don't expect to front the cost of the whole tour plus overhead.

I agree, New Belgium has a world class tour.

 

The one recommendation I have is that if you plan on going on Half-Acre tour (and they hold them only on Saturdays, starting at 11:00A.M.), I would show up at 10:00A.M. at the very latest. They only take the first 60 people and usually by 10:15 the line has already stretched around the corner of the block. The nice part is that about 20-25 minutes before 11A.M. they will go around and give the first 60 people in line a nice looking ticket which gives you the ability to take the tour, also lets others know who didn't get one that there is no more point in waiting.

As for the 2 hour tour, after you enter their facility, they give you first 10 minutes or so to get your first of three beers, and just mosey about and look around. Then there will be a personable guide who usually spends the next 20-30 minutes talking about the history and answering questions relating to it. Then you get another 10-15 minutes to get another beer before he continues on with the tour. And another 10-15 minutes, and more tour... you get the point. The 2 hours go by pretty fast, especially after you get a few beers in you!