Germany · BREWERIES
This is the shortlist to send to whoever is planning the trip: 15 brewery visits worth the money, each with its price, its verdict and the one thing to know before you commit.
A 2-hour Cologne brewery tour with three included Kölsch tastings, old-town legends, and a beer-savvy guide near Cologne Cathedral.
“Alex was very knowledgeable and friendly. It was a great introduction to Cologne. He was also very flexible when faced with full venues taking us to different brewery’s to ensure we could make the most of the tour. Highly recommended.”
2-hour Düsseldorf brewery tour with 3 Altbier tastings at classic houses like im Füchschen and Kürzer. Bilingual guide, legends and fun.
“Was a good tour, interesting facts about the breweries.”
A 3-hour guided beer-brewing tour at Beck’s Visitors Center in Bremen, with museum stops, weekday production views, and 3 beer tastings.
“It was very interesting tour with guide Florian. A lot of details and interesting information in general about brewing beer and Beck‘s specifically. After 1,5 of tour there is another 1,5 hours of drinking beer with a lot of options, which was also really great!”
3-hour guided walk in Munich’s Old Town with Germany’s oldest commercial brewery, Hofbräuhaus toast, and two 0.5-liter beers included.
“Beer tour itself was very basic but our tour guide made the evening fun and very interesting. Lots of great information about Munich. Would highly recommend him as a guide”
Two-hour Cologne brewery walk with four Kölsch tastings and a Halver Hahn sandwich, plus Old Town stories in German. $33.
“Es hat allen sehr gut gefallen. Kann man nur weiterempfehlen!”
A small-group Kölsch crawl in Cologne with multiple included tastings, tight Old Town stops, and an English guide telling brewery and city stories.
“It was nice, group was fun. The guide was good. We arrived later because of traffic, and the guide was very flexible to make sure we could join them.”
Hamburg St. Pauli beer walking tour with Astra Brewery entry, 5 tastings, a stop at Zur Ritze, and a peek into the boxing cellar.
Enjoy a 3.5-hour Munich evening beer and brewery tour from Marienplatz, with Paulaner brewing, Hofbräuhaus beer hall, and 2 beer samples.
“Liam is a really nice and responsible guide, it is hard to lead a big group with 20 people to take public transportations and he managed it. Story-telling was also engaging :)”
Bamberg beer tour with certified sommelier Patrick Murphy: 3-4 tastings, old town stroll, and a brewery visit or pro tasting in English or German.
“A great time! Thank you Pat Murphy for leading us around Bamberg, allowing us to try one-of-a-kind beers, and giving us almost 4 hours of your time (when the tour was only advertised as 2). It was a memorable experience and we can't wait to tell everyone we know to visit this charming city, full of history and delicious beers!”
Berliner Berg brewery tour and 5-beer tasting in Berlin for $19, with a German guide and a day-of discount on purchases.
Guided Old Town walk in Cologne with three historic brewery stops, fresh Kölsch tastings, and landmarks like Heinzelmännchenbrunnen and Heumarkt.
“Richtig tolle tour! Kann ich nur empfehlen! Es war lustig, informativ & einfach ein gelungener & guter abend :) danke dafür!”
A 1-hour Munich organic brewery tour at Haderner Bräu with a hands-on beer lesson, malt and hop aromas, and a 4-beer tasting flight.
“La guida era ottima! Un ragazzo giovane, pieno di entusiasmo. Ci ha spiegato molto bene il processo di preparazione della birra con annessi, connessi e possibili inconvenienti. Molto bravo, molto preparato. Unica perplessità, la guida era un praticante della birreria, chi lo sostituirà quando avrà finito il Praktikum?”
Walk Bamberg’s beer past, then tour Schlenkerla on Stephansberg and taste unfiltered Zwickelbier on a 2-hour German small-group tour.
Sip 5 craft beers on a guided tour at Vagabund’s Kesselhaus in Berlin’s Osram Höfe, learn brewing basics in 2 hours.
“Had the best time at the vagabund braureri. We arrived 15 minutes early and were given a welcome beer, they were waiting on two other groups. We ended up starting a little late due to one of the groups being slightly delayed but that was fine cause it meant more time for another beer which was complintary. It ended up being a group of English, Irish (us) and Scottish which I thought was funny, as the joke goes. Joe our guide was great! Super easy going and fun and great at explaining the 7 different processes into craft beer. He also introduced us to Josh one of the brewers! We…”
Cologne Old Town walking tour with a Kölsch at a traditional brewery, plus 2 hours of alleys and market history.
Germany broken up by the kind of day it makes — pick one and the full list is underneath.
