You don’t have to be a drinker to enjoy some of Ireland’s historic breweries and distilleries – but it helps! Lorna Hogg is your guide.

 

 

Whether your chosen drink is a pint or a short - Ireland had always been associated with a drop of the hard stuff. So, what better choice of day out than a visit the source of your favourite drink – its history, how it is made, plus of course, the chance to enjoy a sample on site?

 

Over the ages, the production of both whiskey and beer requires local fresh water sources along with a power source, traditionally gained from harnessing fast running streams. Hence, there is good chance that your visit will take in attractive surroundings – as well the opportunity to finally see inside those mysterious buildings around brewing plants. Plus, there will be chances to ask questions about how just how they add those extras that keep you coming back to your favourite drink – and then sample it!

 

Ireland has a range of award winning brewery and distillery tours – and Smithwicks is the latest producer to join the list. Celebrating 300 years of its Kilkenny brewing tradition, and updated with a smart new ruby red livery, Smithwicks is unusual in that it still brews from its city centre location, right on its original site. The guided walking tour visits the production areas - after lengthy consultations with Health and Safety!

 

Ian Hamilton, Operations Manager comments, ``for many years, visitors to Kilkenny and locals alike have wanted to take a tour of Ireland’s oldest brewery. In celebration of our 300 year anniversary, we are delighted to open our doors to the public, and give them a glimpse behind the historic walls of St. Francis Brewery.’’ How right he is – enthusiastic visitors can invariably be found waiting outside the doors for admission to the first tour of the day, at 12.30pm!. As this is a production facility, the Tours are unsurprisingly carefully planned to disrupt the working schedule as little as possible.

 

The thirteenth century St. Francis’s Abbey was at the site of the first brewery, around St. Patrick’s Well, and the tour includes a chance to see its picturesque remains, as well as to visit the adjoining oratory, which is still used by workers. The brewery tours start with a visit to the Exhibition, to give some background from the founding of the Abbey to the present, through visuals and audio, covering the family history and growth of Smithwicks.

 

 

Once fully informed, and clad in high visibility jackets and goggles, visitors gather in the eighteenth century delivery yard, around which the original brewery grew. However, it’s a walk of just a few paces into the twenty first century. You pass shiny delivery vehicles disgorging brewing ingredients into storage chambers, on your way into the working Brewhouse - an unusual experience on tours of modern working breweries. The first thing you notice, aside from the warmth and strong smell of hops and malt, is the air of quiet efficiency. Under the eagle eyed gaze of the brewer, who watches the process from behind a bank of monitors, you cross the spotless floor to view the mash tuns and watch the giant sweeping separators at work, through a glass porthole.

 

Next comes an opportunity to stand (briefly!) under 100,000 pints, which are held in the in towering CCV containers, as the brew ferments. Consistency is the overall aim here. No matter how the raw ingredients may differ under varying conditions, the pint must taste the same. Which naturally leads the tour into the Tasting Area, in which colour and taste are carefully monitored. Then it’s time for a trip to the Cellar bar, to do some tasting of your own, with a complimentary drink.

 

The Smithwicks Brewery Tour takes around one and a half hours, and is available at 12.30pm, 1pm: 3pm: and 5.30pm daily, Tuesday to Saturday inclusive, price €10.00. The tour is closed on Sunday and Monday. Over 18s only, and not suitable for wheelchair users.. Tel. 056 779 6498 smithwickstours@diageo.com

 

 

 

Kilbeggan, Co.Westmeath Tel. 057 933 2134   www.lockesdistillerymuseum.ie

The last remaining example of a small pot still distillery in Ireland, producing from 1757 until 1957. More recently, Cooley’s Distillery has matured whiskey in the 200 year old granite warehouse since 2007. Over 85% of the original machinery remains intact, and is turned on for visitors. Self guided/guided tours, 40 minutes showing process of whiskey making, and including a free drink. The Pantry Restaurant is well worth a visit. Partial disabled access – ring for details.

Open all year. Adults €7.00 ; Seniors €5.75.

 

 

 Distillery Rd. Bushmills, Co. Antrim Tel. 048 207

33218/1521   www.bushmills.com

Dating from 1608, you can still watching whiskey making (during factory hours) on an excellent tour in Ireland’s oldest internationally famed distillery, and enjoy a free drink. There is also a café and shop. Disabled access to centre, shop and restaurant, but production tour is not wheelchair accessible.

Open all year. Check for opening hours and tour times beforehand. Adults £6.00 Seniors £5.00 on weekdays, £5.50 and £4.50 at weekends..

 

 

Old Middleton Distillery, Midleton, Co. Cork.

Tel. 021 461 3594 www.whiskeytours.ie

Excellent audio visual experience in the old Distillery, which produced whiskey for one hundred and fifty years. The tour’s atmospheric Old Trail passes through the production stages, in various old buildings with original machinery. Look out for the old water wheel and the Pure Pot Still. There is also a Craft Shop and recommended Restaurant. Wheelchair accessible. Free drink included.

Open all year Adult €13.50   Seniors €10.00

 

 Bow St. Smithfield, Dublin 7 Tel. 01 807 2355

www.jamesonwhiskey.com www.whiskeytours.ie

Dating from 1780, this old distillery is the background for a one hour tour, using video and sets, which show the process of distilling single malt. The tour’s Old Trail passes through the production stages and buildings to explain about manufacture. A free drink is included, and several people on the tour are chosen to take part in a tutored tasting. Craft shop and excellent restaurant. Wheelchair accessible.

Open all year. Adult €13.50 Senior €10.

 

St. James Gate Brewery, Dublin 1 Tel.01 408 4800

There are no brewery tours at Guinnesss, but the process of brewing is shown at the displays at the Guinness Store House, dating from 1904, which was originally used to house fermentation. Built of steel, and influenced by American industrial architecture of its time, its core is in the shape of a giant pint glass – which could hold 14.3 million pints!. Over the seven floor, you can learn about Guinness, including the process of brewing, the building’s history, look at the famous advertisements over the years, shop, eat and of course, enjoy your complimentary Guinness, plus the city view from the Gravity Bar Wheelchair accessible.

Open all year. Adult; €13.50 when booked online. Seniors €11.00

 

, Bury Quay, Tullamore, Co. Offaly

Tel. 057 932 5015   www.tullamore-dew.org

A audio visual tour in the old canalside bonded warehouse, which dates from 1897, glooks at the production processes of both Tullamore Dew and Irish Mist, plus the growth of the town and its merchant classes. After a complimentary drink, there is a bistro to enjoy. Wheelchair accessible.

Open all year Adult €6.00 Seniors €5.00

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