For every traveller who goes through the process of picking out their next destination to visit, there’s always that one thing which you personally deem to be the make-it-or-break it element — that one thing which your trip just wouldn’t be complete without. Look, even if you’re going to be staying at a particular destination for a good while, the allure of travel is just that — the fact that you never quite feel like you’ve had enough of the place. There’s always that lingering feeling that there’s still just so much more to explore and that’s why you keep going back to certain destinations.
What I’m talking about though is that personal experience which you want to have and in my case it is indeed having a taste of the local beer, whether it’s craft beer or if it’s an import which the locals just cannot get enough of.
You can only imagine what the prospect of a brewery tour is like for me then and it goes even deeper than just being able to search for one online and sign up. That’s just it — brewery tours don’t seem to be openly advertised online and through the regular tourism marketing channels. Fat chance of getting any information from the security guards working at the breweries as well because firstly, a brewery is usually situated in a precarious location, far from the typical tourist areas and secondly, it’s usually just part of a string of many other factories.
So walk-in tours simply aren’t available, but when someone invites you to one then it’s all systems go. It’s like information which gets passed around a secret world of beer lovers and is not unlike the on-goings of the famous prohibition.
This is however some information you easily get from the personnel working at hostels and they seem to have an abundance of it. I learned once that if you can gather enough people and confirm their attendance, you can simply make contact with the marketing division of a brewery and they’ll duly oblige to organise a tour for the lot of you.
Fortunately I’ve not had to take matters into my own hands in that way, but I was once invited to a local brewery tour, right here in the country I call home.
I’ll tell you what — as interesting as it is to learn about just what goes into the making of a beer, for me it’s ultimately all about the taste. I really don’t care if they used the sweat of a unicorn to bring out that unique bitterness — all I really care about is how it tastes.
That’s exactly what a brewery tour offers — the chance to taste a wide selection of beers (and not get drunk because you spit it out like the wine-tasters). That’s how one discovers which brew really tickles their fancy and I can safely say that I’ve since added a specific brew to my favourites list which I’d have otherwise never even tasted.
