Vancouver: Craft Brewery Tour with Tastings & Pickup

4.94

(145 reviews)

What’s the experience like?

I didn’t think I’d care about hops. Or yeast, for that matter. But on this Vancouver brewery tour, I found myself sniffing a handful of barley like it was some kind of secret ingredient (which, okay, it is). Our guide, Jamie — who knew basically everyone behind every bar — handed it over and grinned when I tried to guess the aroma. I got “bread,” which apparently is the beginner’s answer. Still felt proud.

The van picked us up downtown and we rolled through a drizzly afternoon to our first stop — Steamworks, where the tanks were taller than my apartment ceiling. The brewer waved us in past a stack of kegs and started talking about water chemistry. I zoned out for a second because someone dropped a glass somewhere behind us and everyone laughed. The whole place smelled like warm grain and citrus peel. We tasted something called a hazy IPA that left this weird tickle at the back of my tongue — not bad at all.

By the third brewery (I think it was Main Street), the group was looser, swapping stories about travel plans and worst beers ever tried (someone said “pumpkin spice lager” — yikes). Jamie kept pouring little samples and telling us which ones were brewed just last week. There was this stout that tasted like coffee with a hint of chocolate but not sweet — more like roasted nuts? Hard to describe but I keep thinking about it now.

I liked that we didn’t have to worry about driving or figuring out directions; everything was sorted, even the awkward bits like showing ID or asking for water between rounds. At one point I tried to pronounce “saison” properly and got corrected by the bartender (in a nice way). So yeah — if you want an easy day trip in Vancouver with good beer and better stories, this is honestly worth it.