The Bar Towel

Has anyone got some experience with any of the beer tours offered in the Toronto area? My brother in law has a milestone birthday coming up and we were thinking of bringing a gang in to the city for a beer tour. There are quite a few different tours available with a quick search so I thought asking here may steer us towards a good one and avoid any duds.

Thanks!

I've been on some, including the "Beer Makes History Better" tour. It's a fun, casual tour that ends at Mill Street. Their guides are usually very good.

I haven't really done actual brewery tours, but know Bellwoods and Duggans and perhaps others have recently launched small group "brewmaster" type tours, a little more interesting and personal than the traditional big group tours.

I'd actually be curious to hear form others as well. Bar Towel reviews of tours could be quite interesting!

I've done the "Beer makes History Better" tour. Fun, but you only stay for a pint in three places. The Steamwhistle tour is fun also.
I know Amsterdam does tours and tastings on weekends and I think you can book tastings at Great Lakes as well.

admviolin wrote:The Steamwhistle tour is fun also.

My brother took me on the Steamwhistle tour last year, and I thought it was quite good. We did the 12-pack tour. The cost was only marginally more than the cost of a 12-pack, and you get beer while you're there.

Thanks for the feedback.

I think we are looking for a walking tour rather than a brewery tour so the Beer Makes History Better tour sounds pretty good. I looked at a bunch of reviews and most say the guide was knowledgeable and enthusiastic which really make the difference in this sort of thing. It is also reasonably priced. Some exceed $100 but are very vague on what you get. The history tour doesn't sound like an all you can drink piss up which might have been more appropriate for a twenty fifth birthday but not so much anymore.

Keep the feedback coming. His birthday is not until September so we have time to pick the best one for our crowd.

I've done the Steamwhistle tour twice. The first time the guide had lots of info on the building and its significance in Toronto's history as well as about the company and beer but the second time was only about the brewing process which is interesting but left so much of the Roundhouse story out. Even with a ho hum guide my 8 year old nephew got to pull the Steamwhistle steam whistle and he came away with a big grin.