I’ve done the Bays Brewery tour a couple times now both times arranged by the local Wetherspoons, Talk of The Town in support of Clic Sargent. An amazing charity that supports young cancer patients. We all met in Talk of the town and they had arranged taxis to pick us all up at 5:30PM and would then drop us back later.

Upon arrival you’ll be greeted by a friendly and knowledgeable member of staff. Who will take you into the into the main storage room where you’ll be given an empty pint glass. Firstly this needs to be filled, so straight away your taken through into another smaller storage room full of kegs. In here is a rack with all the current ales to choose from, tapped and ready to pour. The number one rule of tour is, no empty glasses! Drink as much as you like, you’re free at any point of the tour to wander back to the rack and fill up. Cider lovers don’t worry, they have ciders to. You’ll just have to pour it from the bottle into your glass.

We were walked through the entire process showing all the equipment needed to make Bays beer. The giant fermentation tanks frothing at the rim, sticking our heads inside the giant kettle and they had a table laid out so we could taste all the different wheats and smell the malts they use to flavour the beer. One tasted like burnt toast, I certainly wasn’t keen on that one. It was interesting to learn that even the spent grains don’t go to waste and once a month the local farmer comes along to take it all as feed for his cattle. With the solar panels on the roof as well, the place runs very efficiently.

I have to admit come the end most of us were starting to feel quite jolly, myself included, but the atmosphere was always one of enjoyment and having a great laugh. I suppose it would depend on the group your with, I was lucky to be with a great group of people.

When we were done, I think it was around 9PM, by this point i was very jolly, so the time was a wee bit vague. The taxi had arrived to pick us up and take us back into town. You can probably tell from my lack of patience while I took the photos we all enjoyed ourselves immensely.

Doing it through spoons was well worth it though. For just £15, transport was provided and once there you can drink as much as you like and learn about the journey process from the ground to your lips. Our group raised an amazing £449.21 for Clic, so next time your in Talk of the Town look out for a Brewery Tour leaflet.