Ask ten beer lovers what makes a great brewery tour and you will get ten different answers: behind-the-scenes access, a guide who really knows their stuff, generous tastings, good company. The best tours manage all four at once. We have been running brewery tours and beer tastings across the UK since 2014, so we know the difference between a memorable afternoon and a hurried shuffle past some stainless steel — and this guide rounds up the tours we would genuinely recommend, region by region. You can browse all our brewery tours in one place, but if you want the highlights, read on.
What separates the best brewery tours from the rest
A few things, in our experience. First, the guide. A host who can explain why a beer tastes the way it does — and tell you the story of the people who made it — turns a nice walk into something you will still be talking about months later. Second, working breweries: the best tours get you close to the kit, not just the merchandise stand. Third, proper tastings, with enough variety to compare styles and sensible measures so you can actually finish the day. And fourth, group size — small enough that you can ask questions, sociable enough that you make friends by the second stop.
London: the Bermondsey Beer Mile
If you only ever book one brewery tour, make it one along Bermondsey's famous beer mile — the run of railway-arch breweries and taprooms threading south-east from Tower Bridge that did as much as anywhere to spark Britain's craft beer boom.
Our Bermondsey Beer Tasting Tour (£49 per person) is led by accredited Beer Sommelier and Certified Cicerone Paul Davies, with tutored tastings at four taprooms along the mile, drawn from favourites like Southwark Brewing, Anspach & Hobday, Moor and Bianca Road. You will pick up the same sensory techniques professional beer judges use, which makes every pint afterwards more interesting.
Prefer some food with your beer? The Bermondsey Cheese Meat & Beer Tour (£65 per person) pairs quality British cheese and charcuterie with the beers at each stop, in small groups capped at around thirteen. And over in east London, the Hackney Wick Craft Beer Experience (£41.25 per person) is led by a working brewer, with five tastings across canal-side breweries and bars plus a shareable cheese platter. There is plenty more in our London guide.
Leeds: brewery access and 300 years of pub history
Leeds gives you two brilliant and very different days out. The Leeds Craft Beer Experience starts with a behind-the-scenes brewery tour at Nomadic Beers, then works through the city's taprooms — Brew York's Leeds home, North Brewing Co and Leeds City Tap — before finishing at the much-loved Cross Keys. The Leeds Heritage Pub Tour takes the historical route instead: three and a half hours through 300 years of brewing history with local expert Mike, currently secretary of the British Guild of Beer Writers, with a half pint waiting at every stop from The Tetley to Whitelock's Ale House, the city's oldest pub. Our Leeds guide covers both, along with where to drink before and after.
Bristol: beer by boat
The Bristol Craft Beer Experience has been running since 2016 and remains one of the most distinctive beer days out in the country. It opens with a private cruise across Bristol's harbour aboard HMS Hops, tasting Bristol Beer Factory beers as you go, then heads behind the scenes at the award-winning Moor Brewery before finishing on King Street with a beer flight and cheese and meat platters. Beers come in third-pint measures so you can sample widely without wobbling. See our Bristol guide for the full picture.
Lewes: three breweries in one historic town
Tucked beneath the South Downs, Lewes packs a remarkable amount of brewing into its steep old streets. Our monthly Lewes Brewery Tours visit three of them — Harvey's, one of the great names of Sussex brewing, alongside modern independents Abyss Brewing and Beak Brewery — led by Dan, a Certified Cicerone and International Beer Judge. It is a gentle, conversational way to spend a Saturday, and a strong shout for anyone who likes their beer with a side of history.
The North West and beyond
Liverpool's Craft Beer Experience runs on the last Saturday of each month: four independent breweries and taprooms, ten tastings, and a flat, walkable route starting from the Ship & Mitre. Manchester's version follows a similar formula, setting off from near Piccadilly for four hand-picked taprooms at a gentle pace, with low-alcohol and gluten-free options available on request. We also run experiences in Birmingham, Sheffield, Glasgow and Cardiff, plus a hop farm tour in Kent that is a must in harvest season.
Famous brewery-run tours worth knowing
We would be telling only half the story if we ignored the tours breweries run themselves, and some are superb. BrewDog opens up its Ellon headquarters in Aberdeenshire; Black Sheep and Theakston's both offer tours in the Yorkshire brewing town of Masham; Hook Norton in Oxfordshire shows off its Victorian tower brewery and shire horses; and Fuller's still brews beside the Thames at Chiswick. Adnams in Southwold, St Austell in Cornwall, Shepherd Neame in Faversham — which claims the title of Britain's oldest brewer — and Harvey's in Lewes all run well-regarded tours of their own. These book direct through each brewery's website, and dates and formats change through the year, so check their sites before you travel.
How to choose the right tour
Think about who is going and what they want from the day. Beer-curious friends who want a sociable afternoon will love a guided taproom walk; committed beer geeks get the most from tutored tastings with a Cicerone; history lovers should look at heritage tours or the old family brewers; and anyone booking for a group should ask about private options. Whichever way you lean, book ahead — the best tours run small groups on limited dates, and they fill up. Then all that is left is to turn up thirsty and let someone who knows the city's beer inside out do the planning for you.