Why do a Beer Tour?

Why do a Beer Tour?

For the Beer of course!! Well that’s the obvious answer, but there is more to doing a beer tour than the beer, believe it or not.  But without beer – let’s not go there, that’s a sad world I would rather not think about.  But onto beer tours..

Beer tours come in a few different sorts; tours of local breweries conducted by bar or brewery staff, guided brewery tours – often visiting multiple venues in one tour, self-guided venue hopping, pub walking tours and multi-day experiences – often including non-beer activities throughout the tour.  The choices available can enable any beer explorer to truly immerse themselves in a local beer scene according to their time and budget, they also allow those new to beer a great opportunity to dip their toe (or tongue) into beer through more education based experiences.

At Dave’s Travel & Events we love getting people into our local beer communities and taking tours ourselves when we’re on our own beer adventures, so we thought we’d share some views on why you should be beer touring.

Local Discovery

There’s no better way to discover a place than through its beer.  Beer has been brewed and served in villages, towns and cities across the globe for centuries with pubs serving as public meeting houses for important town decisions and breweries having built communities around them.  Beer has lubricated the thinking and doing of societies since it was first brewed by the Sumerians.

With all that history there has to be a few stories right?  Including a beer tour on a visit to any new place is always guaranteed to give you a tasty insight into what makes it unique.

Characters

Where there’s beer there’s people, from brewers and sales staff to bartenders and publicans the characters that bring beer to life are often the best part of any beer journey.

Getting up close to the people and the brands driving local beer communities and contributing to the global beer scene is a key part of the best beer tours.  Tour operators enable interactions between tour guests and beer personalities, helping to connect and create beer networks and providing richer beer experiences for beer explorers.

Straddle Two Worlds

Travelling is as much about exploring and discovering new places as it is about learning more about where you’re from.  It’s through experiencing new cultures, customs, spaces, time and even weather that we bring a different perspective of our own, and tasting beer is no different.  Beer Tours bring together the wonders and joy of eating and drinking with travel.

Regional Styles

We’ve all had that Traditional Roman Pizza in a place just down the street that just doesn’t do justice to pizza, or the Real American Ribs that resemble the BBQ you remember but just isn’t “real”.
Whilst nowadays most things can be re-created locally there is no substitute of having what’s local, locally.

Whether that is on a pub walk exploring the best of your own backyard or hopping your way across a foreign country brewery to brewery, some of what makes something “local” is where it’s made and consumed.  Beer Tours are a great way to not only sample local beer but to enhance the experience by drinking locally.  Trust us, there is no better way to experience a regional beer style than to go where it’s famous for being made.  Being able to taste the local influences and learn how a place created a beer style is all part of the beer journey.

Extend the Festival Experience

Don’t just go to a beer festival, do a tour.. Festivals are an awesome way to experience a wealth of beer, be entertained, sample some great food and immerse yourself in a crowd of other adoring beer fans.  Adding a beer tour or extended beer journey as part of any festival means you not only get to enjoy the atmosphere and festival beers but you get to explore what’s going on locally, often taking something your learned or a piece of local insight given from a festival goer or stand holder to help you go deeper into local beer wherever you are.

Use your time at beer festivals to not only sample the beers, but to ask the locals what’s good, where they recommend you go and what you should try – then get out there and go exploring beer!

Taste Beer at its Freshest

Beer as awesome as it is, generally does not travel well.  To taste beer at its best you need to drink it as close to the source as possible.  Tours can sometimes be your best way of getting to experience beer the way it was brewed to be.

They get you up close to the breweries, how and where the beer is made and if you are lucky enough sometimes even to try beer straight from a tank. You can’t get fresher than that!

It’s Easy

And if for no other reason, beer tours can offer a convenient way to experience the best of a local beer scene.  With no worries about navigation, transport or even having to pay at each venue, quite often a beer tour simply takes some stress out of your travels whilst giving you an awesome local beer experience.

So there you go, a few great reasons to get on a beer tour and to taste your way through a place.  Go on, get out there and go beer exploring.