Heavy Seas offering free brewery tours
Flying Dog Ales* hasn't yet decided if they'll re-start public tours. But here's something I found out about yesterday: Heavy Seas Beer does public tours every weekend.
The tours of the company's Halethorpe brewery are free and open to all ages, though samples are, obviously, only for those over 21. Usually, there are 50 spots open.
It's a shame, though, I only found out about this Tuesday because all four tours for this Saturday are full. And the brewery won't be doing them over the next couple of holiday weekends.
The tours should start again January 8, the brewery says. To participate, keep an eye on Heavy Seas' website.
*In related news: I'll be going on a tour of Flying Dog's Frederick brewery later this month for an upcoming column. Will report back with notes soon.
Erik Maza is a features reporter at the Baltimore Sun. He writes for several sections of the Sun paper and contributes weekly columns on music and nightlife. He also writes and edits the Midnight Sun blog. He often covers entertainment, business, and the business of entertainment. Occasionally, he writes about Four Loko, The Block, the liquor board, and those who practice "
Comments
It isn't like Heavy Seas has been keeping their brewery tours a secret you just never looked.
Posted by: Dan | December 15, 2010 11:10 AM
The tours are not free if you want to drink! I've done the tour a year ago, it was great. Hugh Sisson takes you around the brewery and talks about past, present, and future. He will talk about the hops and barley in good detail and discusses the process which his beer goes through to become distilled, bottled, and shipped. Definitely worthy. If you read carefully on the page, those who DO wish to sample the beer pay $5 for the the glass and samples (which is a good amount of beer), I have tokens left over from my tour. If you do not drink or under 21 the tour is indeed free.
Posted by: Matt | December 15, 2010 11:36 AM
distilled beer?
Which heavy seas beer is distilled?
perhaps filtered, but distilled?
pretty sure ATF (er BATT) would like to see a distilled alcoholic beverage sold as a beer.
Posted by: anders | December 15, 2010 11:54 AM
Sorry- just came from a bourbon tour a week ago in Kentucky, I apologize, Anders. I believe you are referring to BATFE anyway...
Posted by: Matt | December 15, 2010 12:16 PM
Sorry- just came from a bourbon tour a week ago in Kentucky, I apologize, Anders. I believe you are referring to BATFE anyway...
Posted by: Matt | December 15, 2010 12:16 PM
I don't mean to jump on the hater bandwagon but on this one I have to agree with them - it seems like an easy and obvious piece of research when writing about Flying Dog's tours to check out what other local breweries do...
Posted by: MarkT | December 15, 2010 12:35 PM
Piling on here... but Erik, I'm pretty sure you're the last one in Baltimore who just realized this. Not very news-worthy. Clipper City Brewing Co. tours have been going on for years.
Posted by: Brad | December 15, 2010 1:17 PM
P.S: and while Clipper City's owner Hugh Sisson will occasionally host a tour here and there... it's not nearly as often as previously (the man is just insanely busy these days.) Though the tours are still just as fun and educational.
Posted by: Brad | December 15, 2010 1:19 PM
I love the tours and have been telling people for ages. Maybe if Maza came out once in awhile he could of heard me sing my praises.
Posted by: Tif | December 15, 2010 2:31 PM
The problem with a lot of these "free brewery tours," as many such breweries have discovered, is that far too many of them turned into "free-for-all" drink-fests where some folks would come repeatedly just to drink up "free" beer before and after the tour. This got out of hand at more than a few breweries across the nation, with some telling particular "repeat customers" to stop showing up every week/month. Thus, the "buy the glass" and tokens. Let's face it, after a couple dozen brewery tours, they're all the same anyway, as with winery tours. It's not like anybody's making beer from rutabagas and saffron, not even Dogfish Head.........
Posted by: Alexander D. Mitchell IV | December 15, 2010 5:38 PM
I would like to know how Heavy Seas gets away with serving beer during their tours. Why is the state not allowing Flying Dog to server beer during their tours, but Heavy Seas is allowed? Something is not right here!
Posted by: Butch Casssidy | December 16, 2010 2:10 PM
nice!
Posted by: Ana | December 2, 2011 12:29 AM