Brewery tours around the world
My first brewery tour did not include any actual beer because I was still an underage high school student at the time. One of my buddies wanted to become a brewer after graduation and he somehow persuaded a teacher to take us on a road trip to visit a microbrewery. She pulled us out of our classes for a day and drove us three teenagers in her own car to Wellington Brewery in Guelph, about 90 minutes from our high school in Niagara-on-the-Lake. We all enjoyed a private tour that included sampling the malted barley grains and smelling hops, but, sadly, not tasting any actual beer. It was a memorable experience for us all, nonetheless, and, indeed, my friend went on to study at Weihenstephan, the world’s oldest brewery, in Bavaria, Germany, and worked as a brewer for many years afterwards. In fact, he was the original brewer at Tree Brewing in Kelowna back in the ‘90s.
Since then, I have participated in more brewery tours than I can count. Some stand out in my memory more than others, for sure, but I can say truly I’ve rarely been disappointed or found them to be a waste of time, especially since all of them (once I was of legal age!) included at least one beer sample.
Here in B.C. you will find several breweries that offer tours. Among the best, I’d suggest checking out Twa Dogs Brewery at Macaloney’s Island Distillery just outside of downtown Victoria. Led by kilt-wearing guides, participants learn about both the brewing and distilling process, including three beer tastings and two whiskeys. Tours are available Thursday to Sunday; reservations required.
BrewCycling
Another great option is a multi-brewery tour by bicycle. Again in Victoria, The Pedaler offers the Hoppy Hour Guided Tour, which visits three different breweries in the downtown area. Victoria is a wonderfully bikeable city so this is a pretty fun experience, and e-bikes are available if you want a little more zoom.
Looking elsewhere in Canada, the top of my bucket list is the Eastern Townships in Québec. This beautiful region east of Montréal hugs the U.S. border next to the states of Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont, and offers an assortment of beer tourism opportunities. I’ve never been there, but back during the pandemic I came across a website promoting cycling there and I have been fantasizing about it ever since. What has me truly salivating is the prospect of cycling between some of 28 microbreweries in and around Sherbrooke known collectively as Les Brasseurs des Cantons. The rolling countryside looks so beautiful, ideal for rural cycling, and many of the towns and villages are hundreds of years old, so the breweries are often based in beautiful old buildings.
European Experiences
Some of the best beer touring experiences I’ve enjoyed took place in Europe. Back in my early 20s, I backpacked around Europe with a buddy for two months. In Dublin, we enjoyed a historical walking tour led by a history student from the university, which ended at the Brazen Head Pub, Ireland’s oldest pub, founded in 1198, where we sipped a few pints of Guinness, marvelling at the idea that it had been been served there since the brewery itself opened in 1759. Amazing! I checked and it’s still open today.
No visit to Dublin is complete without the famous Guinness Brewery tour. Thirty years ago when I did it, there was a cheesy video presentation that celebrated the brewery’s founder, Arthur Guinness, as one of the leading figures of history, a veritable saint of a man, apparently, before we were allowed to sip a complimentary pint or two of the delicious black nectar Ireland is famous for. Apparently, the experience has been modernized and improved considerably.
The Guinness Storehouse now offers several different tour options, and has twice been named Europe’s Leading Beer Tour Visitor Experience by the World Travel Awards.
In 2003, my wife and I visited the Czech Republic, and high on our wish list was to visit the Pilsner Urquell Brewery in Plzen, a smaller city just west of Prague that is the birthplace of the Pilsner style of beer. We thoroughly enjoyed the tour of the historic brewery complex, which is still operating as a modern facility today. The best part was a visit to the underground cellars where they showcased the traditional methods of open fermentation in wooden vessels and conditioning in giant pitch-lined wooden barrels, which are still made on site today. The guide poured samples of unpasteurized, unfiltered Pilsner direct from one of those barrels—and to this day, that remains one of the best beers I’ve ever enjoyed!
Since then, I’ve encountered many other beer lovers who have enjoyed the Pilsner Urquell Brewery Tour. In fact, the World Travel Awards named it Europe’s Leading Beer Tour Visitor Experience in 2024. But if you can only include Prague in your travels, you can still check out Pilsner Urquell’s Original Beer Experience there, which offers a variety of “educational” options, including a tapster academy. Pro tip from Toronto beer expert Stephen Beaumont: “If you volunteer for one of the regular beer tapping competitions held in the beer hall, they will allow you to hang on to the beer you poured, thus increasing your allotted number of included beers by one!”
Another fantastic option to explore is a multi-day beer-themed tour package. I can highly recommend Taste Vacations, a company that runs several different package tours, including options in Ireland, Belgium, Czechia, and Asheville, North Carolina. Their sister company, Zephyr Adventures, offers more active tour options, featuring cycling, hiking and rollerblading, many of which include stops at local breweries. My experience with them was an active beer tour of Belgium, which involved daytime hikes or bike rides followed by brewery visits and fantastic beer-focused meals.
Finally, check out Airbnb Experiences, which are crafted and hosted by expert locals. The next time I make it back to London, I’ve got my eye on a guided tour along the Beermondsey Beer Mile. Wherever you are travelling next, you can use use the site to search for a local beer experience.
Whether it’s a half-hour tour at a brewery here in B.C. or a multi-day excursion in Europe, touring for beer is a wonderful way to explore the beer community.
