The completely incomplete list of almost all the London based breweries and distilleries that offer some sort of chance to have a look around their venue, sample their wares, and get relaxed enough to walk home with a crate of booze without even remembering using your credit card.
Beefeater Distillery
Beer
Offers occasional brewery tours — you need to need to be added to their mailing list and they then notify you of upcoming dates.
Offers regular tours on Saturdays, although you have to check in advance for times and details.
Offers pre-booked tours for groups of 5-30 people. Either a taster tour with 3×1/2 pint tasters for £10, or a complete tour with 3 pints/bottles for £15.
Offers prebooked tours lasting 90-120 minutes with a beer to start with, and to finish with, and ingredient tasting between. There are also some turn-up tours available on Saturdays.
Tours cost £12 per person.
Offers a full-day brewery experience. For a surprisingly low price of £20.
Tours on Thursday evenings lasting about an hour followed by tastings.
Tours cost £23
Monthly brewery tours on the first Saturday of each month. Each tour begins at noon and lasts for an hour and a half. Tours include an introduction to the brewing process and brewing ingredients, as well as a tasting session.
Tours cost £12
A huge brewery in Chiswick offers regular pre-booked tours. The tour lasts around one and a half hours and culminates with a tutored tasting of some of Fuller’s ales. Weekday only though – they don’t do weekends.
Tours cost £10.
Tour will last around 1 to 1.5 hours, and include 4 half-pint samples, and a branded pint glass.
Tours cost £13:49
Not tours, but an “experience day” and as such, with prices starting from £75 per person, rather more expensive than a tour elsewhere.
They offer regular tours of their Greenwich facility followed by tastings.
Tours cost £20.
Regular tours on the 3rd Wednesday of every month in the evenings, which have to be pre-booked.
Tours cost £15
A relaunched brand from 2010, they offer tours every Thur and Sat. Tours last around an hour followed by tastings of three beers.
Tours cost £15 or £30.
Tours on the second Wednesday of every month lasting around two hours and included 3 pints to tast.
Tours cost £15
Spirits
Tours used to be rare, but the opening of a new museum means they offer regular tours lasting around an hour now.
Tours cost £12
Tours of both the still room and the bottling facility followed by gin tastings. Tours take place in the evenings and last around an hour.
Tours cost £10
They also offer a distillers experience to distil your own personalised bottle of gin.
Tours last around an hour (or 90 mins for more expensive option), followed by tastings of the company’s vodka and gins.
Tours cost £35 to £55
Located, as many are, under some railway arches, the distillery offers tours, but only upon request
Offers a “Ginstitute”, starting with a small museum and followed by botanical sampling and a tour of the still room.
Tours cost £100 per person
London’s first gin distillery since 1820, they offer regular tours and tutored sampling sessions. Tend to sell out quickly once dates are announced.
Tours cost £15
Disclaimer — Prices and details correct at time of writing, which is various drink sodden evenings in late December 2014.
Perhaps it’s worth noting that the Ginstitute event also equips you with 2 bottles of gin to take home! Great round up, so many tours to take.