A seemingly endless array of brewery visits on offer in the UK

Whether the weekend weather lives up to expectations or not – let’s face it, if we wait for a confirmed scorcher, the barbie would never get an outing – now’s the time for pondering the Big One – what to do this summer? May I make a suggestion? Whether you’re away in the Lakes or down in surf country, consider visiting a brewery. My research for CAMRA’s Beer magazine certainly took longer than anticipated – but then that’s because of the quality of opportunities on offer.

And the highlights from over three dozen visits? Very difficult to single individuals out, but seeing the shire horses and steam engine at Hook Norton, peaking into Wadworth’s pub signwriting studio – the only one in the country apparently – and being enveloped in the history and heritage at Fullers and Harveys, are all top contenders.

The signwriting is on the wall at Wadworths

Then there’s Bateman’s windmill, the welcoming bistros at the Black Sheep in Theakston and St Austell brewery, not to mention the friendly brewers I had the good fortune to meet along the way. Oh I give up – I can’t decide!

And then, as ever, there are the ones that didn’t make it onto the pages of Beer, purely because of space – in reality I could have filled my allotted space twice with copy to spare.

So here are my suggestions of good places to visit. Do let me have your tips too. After all, it’s these trips that have inspired me to set up www.drinkbritain.com – so we can all make the most of what goes into making these great beers of ours.

Look forward to hearing your thoughts… and in the meantime – Cheers!

Best UK Brewery Visits, Beer

featuring Adnams, Batemans, Belhaven, Black Sheep, Fullers, Greene King, Harveys, Hook Norton, Marston’s, Palmers, Shepherd Neame, St Austell, Wadworths

Other top trips worth making a bee-line for

Grain: from farm to glass

The National Brewery Centre is now open in Burton. Based in what was the Bass Museum, it is designed to appeal to all ages, with shire horses, a working steam engine, multi-media exhibits, role-playing actors, and a restaurant.

Following the floods of 2009, tours are now very much up and running again at Jennings brewery in Cockermouth.

Visitors to dynamic Cumbrian brewery Hawkshead in Staveley don’t need to go hungry, nestled as it is between award-winning artisan baker, More? and ever-popular Wilf’s Café. Tours are available Saturday afternoon and the Summer beer festival with live music is set for 22-25 July.

Eco-friendly Keswick Brewing Company donates 50p from every daytime tour to the Tourism & Conservation Partnership for Red Squirrel and Woodland Conservation.

Surrey Hills Brewery will be welcoming visitors from late Summer following its relocation to Denbies Vineyard in Dorking.

Fancy letting someone else do all the planning – and driving? Book onto a Beer Safari in East Anglia with beer guru Mark Dorber (The Anchor, Walberswick) as your guide, or join the Ale Trail in Cumbria for an escorted tour of the county’s many real ale hotspots.

Sitting pretty: Eddie Gadd in his malt store

For an insight into a modern micro-brewer, visit Ramsgate Brewery. So well are its beers doing that earlier this year it trebled its capacity. It produces ‘passionate, contemplative beers rather than session ales’, and co-founder and head brewer Eddie Gadd is a hop fiend. A regular at the local festivals, his Year in Beer ensures that no-one ever need get bored.

As well as Monday brewery tours, Stourbridge brewpub Windsor Castle’s Chris Sadler offers Brew a Beer days. You’ll be getting down and dirty with all that mashing, boiling, fermenting and racking, so wellies are essential, but there’ll be numerous taste breaks along the way.

‘Time for our next beer’ are welcome words that crop up several times on tours of Hogs Back brewery as jugs of foaming ale appear as we wander through the small but perfectly-formed set-up in its own 16th-century renovated farm building. And where else will you see a pic of the queen supping a pint? Don’t miss the vast selection of beers – and ciders – in its adjoining shop.

The Three Tuns Brewery, one of only four brewpubs left in the early 1970s prior to the launch of CAMRA, offers group tours of its Grade II listed Victorian tower brewery, the smallest in the UK. Located in the medieval town of Bishop’s Castle in Shropshire, the Three Tuns probably owes its legacy as the oldest working brewery in Britain (license granted: 1642) to the town’s 800-year history as the region’s drover’s epicentre. It sits snugly alongside the peerless pub of the same name, with its good food, warm welcome and ­ of course ­ fine ales

Join the Club

For those interested in good beer, cider and food, CAMRA is well worth a join, if you are not already a member. As well as its now legendary London beer festival, there’s any number of other festivals around the country, not to mention a well stocked book shop and plenty of active local branches. Particularly useful I think is the Good Beer Guide and both its satnav and iphone app. The opportunity to find a decent watering hole whereever you may be is invaluable.