I've done a few brewery tours now and its interesting to compare them. This was pretty standard stuff, though it was a lot less sanitised than the PR spin you get at Guinness, for example - it actually felt like a real industrial brewery. And the lady taking us round really knew and cared about the place - and told good ghost stories of people drowning in vats of beer (yes, we know the joke...). We learned also that they brew Kronenburg under licence there, and that there is a Monkey Stout. But the highlight was the marble brewing hall...
... and more specifically, this control panel. When I grow up, I want to work one of these.
For the £5 tour, you get a free pint and a pint glass, which is good value for money; I took away eight bottles of their finest Strongarm Ruby Red for £10 (it's named after the brewer - Mr Armstrong, geddit?!) And while the Nice Lady showed us the well that means the brewery has to be where it is, this also means it occupies a prime chunk of real estate in the centre of town - eerily reminiscent of Youngs. I'd go while you can...
***Update*** Ma Quigley writes "Quigley house (and the one next door) was ONCE owned by the brewery. What about Helen's great-grandfather's house now IN it!"
It was explained on the tour that the brewery's expansion absorbed several streets. And here to prove it is a photo of Silver Street, now inside the brewery...
