The Sam Adams Brewery Tour is a fun, free activity to do while visiting Boston. While most of their beer is made at locations in Pennsylvania and Ohio, the tour guides are still able to give a good explanation of how the beer is made and show visitors around the small factory there.
The brewery is easy to find. Taking the orange ‘T’ line outbound toward Forrest Hills and getting off at the Stony Brook stop will put you about a five minute walk from it. Take a left when you exit the station. Most people who get off at this stop will be heading to the brewery anyway so just follow them.
Once you reach the brewery, go to the desk to get a ticket for a tour. If you are lucky, you will get one for the next tour. Otherwise, you will have to wait a little while. Sadly, they do not take reservations. If you are planning to go on a weekend, especially a Saturday, aim to get there by about 10AM if you do not want to wait. After our tour ended around 11AM, the waiting area was packed.
Tours are held on Monday through Thursday from 10AM to 3PM, Fridays from 10AM to 5:30PM, and Saturday from 10AM to 3PM. They start about every 45 minutes.
Tours are free but they will ask for $2 donation for local charities.
Many people go through the tour together, so if you want to be able to see anything you will want to get a spot up front. First, the tour guide explains all of the ingredients that go into beer and what their purposes are. I found this part interesting and informative since I never really understood how the process worked. He will pass around cups of the dry ingredients for you to smell and taste. They reminded me of sunflower seeds, dirty chocolate, and pinecones. Next, he will bring you into another room with large vats and barrels, where the beer is made and ages, while he explains the rest of the process.
The next part of the tour, and clearly the favorite part for most of the group, is the tasting room. Each person is given a small glass with Sam Adams printed on it to keep for free. Then, pitchers are passed around the room for samples. We were allowed to sample three different kinds: Boston Lager, Noble Pills, and Brick Red. People of all ages are allowed to visit, but you must be over 21 to sample.
After the tour, you will exit into the small crowded gift shop. This is where they make their money from the tours.
Overall, the tour is interesting and definitely worth it for the free beer! We had a great tour guide who did a wonderful job of answering everyone’s questions even though he later admitted it was his first tour ever.
