Recent Posts

Today we’re launching the Hospitality Support Alliance. Along with our friends at Master of Malt, we’ll be donating £1 for every order placed on our websites over the next month to support hospitality workers who are struggling to make ends meet because of COVID-19 crisis.

20th Mar 2020

News

Our Craft Beer Advent Calendar as seen on This Morning

We're proud to have featured again with This Morning, showcasing with the best advent calendars you can buy for Advent this year!

14th Nov 2019

News

An Interview with Salt Beer Factory

This week we launch the range of Salt Beer Factory beers on the site and what better way to introduce a new brewery to our beer hunters than to have a good 'ole fashioned interview with Nadir Zairi, Director of the Yorkshire based brewery in Saltaire.

3rd Oct 2019

Interviews

Is the Future of Beer Non-Alcoholic?

There are signs that Non-Alcoholic beer is hitting the mainstream and is poised to hit the big time, but just how popular will it become? In this article I’ll look at some of the signs that show ‘NOLO’ (non or low alcoholic) beer is becoming a serious player in our industry, and how its development might progress in the UK.

20th Aug 2019

Views

How to host a successful beer tasting night on a budget

After trying out our very own World Beers mixed case for a beer tasting party, Christie Day, Brand Expert at money-saving website Savoo shares her tips for hosting a top beer tasting night on a budget.

12th Aug 2019

Beer Guides

2nd Nov 2017

BHU: From Grain to Glass

Week 25: Unit 3 Intro--Our Favourite Brewery Tours

Welcome to Unit 3 of Beer Hawk University. It's time to see things from grain to glass! This unit will focus on the brewing process, ingredients, homebrewing and breweries. Before we get stuck in, let's take a look around at some of our favourite breweries we've toured.

The brewery tour: the thing we all seem to tell ourselves we like to go on. But when it gets down to it, you're really just walking around looking at big shiny tanks in an old warehouse and they all kind of look the same. Some might enjoy staring up at the top of a fermenter, wondering what it might feel like to swan dive into their favourite beer; each to their own. Yet, here are our favourite brewery tours for those who want something more to look at:

The Black Sheep Brewery

We love this brewery tour for

Week 25: Unit 3 Intro--Our Favourite Brewery Tours

The brewery tour: the thing we all seem to tell ourselves we like to go on. But when it gets down to it, you're really just walking around looking at big shiny tanks in an old warehouse and they all kind of look the same. Some might enjoy staring up at the top of a fermenter, wondering what it might feel like to swan dive into their favourite beer; each to their own. Yet, here are our favourite brewery tours for those who want something more to look at:

The Black Sheep Brewery

We love this brewery tour for a number of reasons. Climbing up and down and around the creaky floorboards of the old part of the brewery is fascinating and really give a sense of Yorkshire brewing culture. We also like the massive open fermenters where we can almost watch our favourite bitter transform before our very eyes. But the best part of the tour happens before we even get there: the drive up and around Masham is gorgeous and is Yorkshire defined.

Brasserie Cantillon

Tucked away in an "up-and-coming" neighbourhood in Brussels, Cantillon is one of the world's greatest breweries to visit. It's at once a family-operated brewery and museum of Belgian brewing tradition. You step through multiple storeys of wooden stairs and past antiquated machinery (which is partially still in use) to reach, essentially, the rafters and where the magic of spontaneous fermentation takes place. Gaze in wonder at the rows of bottles marked by whichever lambic or gueuze is conditioning inside while you enjoy a taste of your favourites.

Founders

We like this one because it's big! Yes, many other breweries have state-of-the-art canning lines, forklifts buzzing about and a fantastic taproom but Founders is impressive thanks to its sheer magnitude. It's been a 20-year project in the making but when you stand in the shadow of stack of beer where a petrol station once stood or crane your neck to see the top of a fermenter from what was once a car park you can't help but be wowed. And then go get a pulled-pork sandwich.

Mittenwalder Privatbrauerei

Located beneath the imposing shadows of the Karwendel Mountains, the Mittenwald brewery is gorgeous inside and out. While the modern brewery--which is currently the only bit in operation--is mostly off limits to tours, the historic sections still remain and make for a much more interesting visit. Still owned by the same family since the early 1800's, it's a good thing that the founding fathers were somewhat pack-rat in nature. The original equipment and machinery is on display as well as much of the branding materials as they changed through the decades. Have a beer on the terrace before leaving and you've had the true Mittenwalder experience.

Jopen

We sure like ourselves a visit to the Jopen brewery in Haarlem, the Netherlands. Much of the tour takes place from the vantage point of a catwalk hovering around the tops of the tanks. This really gives a different perspective to the size of the operation. Enjoy a fresh pint from the taproom overlooking the brewery or head over to the Jopenkerk--an old, former church in the centre of Haarlem where a second, smaller brewing operation and the Grand Café is located.

All this wandering around among the tanks has us working up a thirst! Let's go grab a beer, shall we? And we'll see you next week as we really get into BHU Unit Three when we'll talk about the different types of breweries. Until then--cheers!

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