TripAdvisor, which bills itself as “the world’s largest travel site,” today released a list of the 10 most popular American brewery tours, based on its user “popularity index.” I’ve been on a number of brewery tours, including one at the Samuel Adams Brewery in Boston’s Jamaica Plain neighborhood, which is ranked fourth in TripAdvisor’s list. Unless you’re a brewer yourself and you appreciate the actual brewing equipment, a brewery tour is a brewery tour is a brewery tour. Sure, some of the facilities might be nicer, one brewery might make better beer and/or give out more samples and some have better gift shops. But in my experience, brewery tours are not particularly exciting.
Here’s TripAdvisor’s list, starting with the most popular brewery tour:
- New Belgium Brewing – Fort Collins, Colorado
- Allagash Brewery – Portland, Maine
- Anheuser Busch Brewery Tour – Saint Louis, Missouri
- Samuel Adams Brewery – Boston, Massachusetts
- Sierra Nevada Brewing Company – Chico, California
- Heinzelmannchen Brewery – Sylva, North Carolina
- New South Brewing – Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
- Boulevard Brewing Company – Kansas City, Missouri
- D.G. Yuengling and Son Brewery – Pottsville, Pennsylvania
- Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Co. – Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin
[…] I’ve been the Samuel Adams brewery a number of times, for tastings and new brew launches, and I recommend any and all beer nerds in the Boston area put the Sam Adams brewery tour on their to-do lists. (The Sam Adams tour was recently ranked number four on TripAdvisor’s best U.S. brewery tours list.) […]