5 Welsh Breweries Offering Tours & Classes

Fancy a pint? Craft beer has undergone something of a renaissance in recent years, and perhaps nowhere more than Wales. From Conwy to Swansea, many breweries in Wales boast delicious homemade ales crafted using intricate refining processes.

In short, if you’re a beer enthusiast, there will be a brewery to suit you here. So, whether you want to learn more about the brewing process or just taste a great deal of different ales, here are our top five Welsh breweries offering tours and classes.

Gower Brewery, Swansea

This brewery, established in 2011, is in the heart of the beautiful Gower Peninsula. At Gower Brewery, the team uses traditional methods and high-quality ingredients to create tasty craft ales. They also offer tours, so that visitors can learn more about the history of this welsh craft brewery and how their ales are made.

Tours begin around 4-5pm and can accommodate between ten and twenty guests. They cost £10 per person and must be booked in advance. Once you’re done with the learning part, you then get to finish off your tour with a tasting session!

Harbwr Brewery, Tenby

Located in the seaside town of Tenby, only a short distance from the beach, is the delightful Harbwr Brewery. Tucked away above the harbour, this state of the art 5-barrel brewery is the first of its kind in Temby Harbour.

Sympathetically converted from an eighteenth-century warehouse, this family-friendly venue has a choice of drinks on offer for under 18s and non-beer drinkers in your party, in addition to their trademark craft ales. They also offer a range of freshly-cooked food in their tap room, from classic pub food to locally-sourced seafood dishes.

Once you’ve eaten and drunk all you can, you can take part in their Hops and Hywel tour complete with taster session for groups of four to forty. And if there’s a tipple you particularly like, you can purchase any of their varied signature ales in the brewery.

Tomos Watkin Brewery, Swansea

A family-run business based in Swansea, Tomos Watkin Brewery won Best Brewery in Swansea in the Jack Swan Awards 2018, and that’s just one of their accolades.

Whether you prefer beer or cider, they offer a wide variety of all-natural flavour profiles, from zesty to fruity. You can also take part in a tour of the brewery, which costs £30 per person.

Each tour lasts for three hours and is aimed at groups of between twelve and twenty-five. On the tour, you get to go behind-the-scenes at the brewery and take part in an open bar tasting session in their tap room.

Kingstone Brewery, Tintern, Monmouthshire

Set in the Wye Valley, this micro-brewery offers real ales adapted from traditional recipes. As such, all Kingstone Brewery beers are hand brewed, unpasteurised and bottle-conditioned for a fuller flavour.

This four-barrel microbrewery located in Tintern, is the perfect place to visit for those interested in traditional ales and the history of the craft. On site is a log-cabin-style tap room which has a full bar and seating for up to 50, where you can enjoy pizza night on the first Saturday of each month.

Groups of up to 20 can also take a brewery tour to learn how the Kingstone’s award-winning ales are made and complementary tastings are available in their gift shop.

Cwrw Llŷn, Nefyn, Pwllheli

Cwrw Llŷn Brewery produced its first batch of beer in 2011. ‘Cwrw Llŷn’ means ‘Llŷn Beer’, and they have a real focus on being local to North Wales.

Their first brews were produced in the middle of the Llŷn countryside using restored brewing equipment in an old cow shed. Their beer is still hand-made in small batches – but with newer equipment, since expanding in 2012. The company also has a real focus on sustainability, with spent brewing grains used to feed local pigs and waste hops also recycled.

Tours of the brewery give a short introduction to their brewing techniques and their story so far. They run Monday to Saturday between 12-5pm, take a round 45 minutes and end with a tasting session in their taproom. Booking is essential and tickets cost £7 per person.

Had enough of beer? More into whisky or gin? Take a look at our list of the top distilleries in Wales you need to visit. Or, for more ideas, have a look around our dedicated food and drink section.