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Brewery Tours & Beer Tasting Near Leicester What to Book and What to Expect

Leicester sits at the heart of a genuinely strong brewing region. We run brewery tours from our site at Everards Meadows in Enderby, offering guided tours through the brewing process alongside structured beer tasting sessions. Whether you're planning a group day out or a solo visit, this guide covers what's available, what you'll experience, and how to book.

Where to Find Brewery Tours Near Leicester

The East Midlands has a long and well-documented brewing tradition, and brewery Leicester searches have grown steadily as more people look for experience-led days out rather than standard leisure activities. Leicester itself sits within easy reach of several working breweries, but the most established visitor offering in the area is right here at Everds Brewery which sits proudly within our Everards Meadows, in Enderby, just south of the city.

Our old  site was purpose-built to bring brewing back to the heart of Leicestershire in 1985 after decades of operating elsewhere. We’ve since moved across the road from our Castle Acres brewery. We opened our state-of-the-art brewery here at Everards Meadows in 2021.  The brewery occupies a modern facility within a wider leisure and hospitality destination, so a brewery visit can sit naturally alongside other activities in the same day, like shopping at Fosse Park or walking into Leicester via the canal footpaths or just exploring the 70 acres that Everads Meadows sits on. 

What makes the location practical for visitors?

Enderby is well connected by road, close to the M1 and M69 corridors, making it accessible from across Leicestershire and the wider East Midlands. If you're travelling from Nottingham, Derby, or Coventry, the journey is manageable without an overnight stay. Parking is available on site, and the surrounding Everards Meadows development includes food and drink options beyond the brewery itself.

For groups, the location is particularly useful. Corporate teams, birthday parties, and hen or stag groups regularly use brewery visits as a structured activity that doesn't require travelling far from the city. The combination of a working industrial facility and a relaxed hospitality setting makes it a more versatile choice than many dedicated event venues.

What Happens on an Everards Brewery Tour?

A brewery tour here is a guided experience through a live, operational brewing environment. This isn't a museum exhibit or a reconstructed heritage display; visitors see the actual equipment we use to produce our beers week in, week out.

The tour itself: what you'll see and learn

The guided walk typically covers the full production sequence, from raw ingredient intake through to conditioning and packaging. You'll see the mash tun, brew kettle, fermentation vessels, and conditioning tanks. At each stage, your guide explains what's happening chemically and mechanically, and why those decisions affect the finished beer's flavour and character.

Expect to cover:

  • The role of malt and hops and how these two ingredients influence colour and body

  • Hop varieties, timing of addition, and their effect on bitterness and aroma

  • Yeast strains and fermentation temperature management

  • Conditioning, filtration, and packaging for cask, keg, and can formats

  • Who Everards are

The tour is paced to allow questions at each stage. Our guides are knowledgeable about the technical side of brewing but explain things accessibly, so prior knowledge isn't required or expected.

How long does a brewery tour take?

Most tours run for approximately 90 minutes to two hours, depending on group size and the level of discussion along the way. The tour component is typically followed by a tasting session, which adds further time. Plan for a half-day commitment if you want to get the full value from the experience without rushing.

Beer Tasting Experiences Explained

The beer tasting experience is the part of the visit that most guests love getting to. Tasting structured in this way is quite different from drinking a pint at the bar; the format is designed to develop your palate and your understanding of how brewing decisions translate directly into flavour.

How a structured tasting session works

You'll typically work through a flight of beers in a guided sequence, moving from lighter, lower-bitterness styles through to darker, more complex examples. Each beer is introduced with context: the style category, the key ingredients, the brewing approach, and what characteristics to look for.

A well-run beer tasting session will ask you to assess:

  • Appearance: colour, clarity, and head retention

  • Aroma: identifying malt, hop, yeast, and any secondary fermentation notes

  • Palate: balance of sweetness, bitterness, body, and carbonation

  • Finish: length, dryness, and any aftertaste characteristics

This structured approach is drawn from the same framework used by the Institute of Brewing and Distilling (IBD) for professional development, though the sessions here are designed for engaged enthusiasts rather than trade professionals. You don't need any formal background to participate and get real value from it.

Can you request specific beer styles?

We also make sure to cover a range of beers so that we can find something to suit everyone on the brewery tour. We’ll help you to explore new beers and consider beers outside your usual drinking style. We’ll also help guide you in how to choose future beers and get the most from your pint. If you are gluten-free or prefer a zero alcohol beer, you can let us know when you book and we’ll accommodate our selection for you accordingly. 

Best Brewery Days Out in the East Midlands

Interest in brewery tours in the Midlands has grown considerably as the region's craft and regional brewing scene has developed. The East Midlands in particular has a concentration of working breweries that are genuinely worth visiting, and Leicester is a practical base for exploring more than one in a single trip.

What distinguishes a good brewery day out?

The quality of a brewery visit depends heavily on a few practical factors. A working brewery that produces beer on site gives you a more authentic and informative experience than a heritage display or a taproom with no production connection. The quality of the guide, the depth of the tasting format, and the venue's accessibility all matter considerably.

When assessing any brewery experience, it's worth asking:

  • Is this a live production site, or a visitor attraction built around a brewing theme?

  • Does the tasting session include structured guidance, or is it simply a free drink at the end?

  • Are group sizes managed to keep the experience personal and interactive?

  • Is there flexibility for dietary requirements or non-drinking participants in the group?

We keep group sizes manageable specifically to preserve the quality of the guided experience. A large group moving quickly through a facility rarely comes away with the same depth of understanding as a smaller group with time to ask questions and engage properly.

Combining a brewery visit with other activities

Everards Meadows is designed as a destination rather than a single-purpose venue. The wider site includes leisure facilities and food and drink options, which means a brewery tour can anchor a longer day out without requiring travel between locations. For groups with mixed interests, this is a practical advantage that a standalone brewery site can't always offer.

How to Book and What It Costs

Booking a brewery tour or beer tasting experience with us is straightforward. We offer scheduled public dates and private group bookings, and the process differs slightly for each.

Public tour dates

Public tours run on a fixed schedule and are open to individuals and small groups booking independently. Spaces are limited per session, so early booking is advisable, particularly for weekend dates, which tend to fill quickly. Check the current availability and upcoming dates directly through our website rather than relying on third-party listings, which may not reflect real-time availability. Our brew team actively brew on a Thursday, so if you want to see the brew house in action, book a Thursday tour. For Friday, Saturday and Sunday tours you will be taken in the brew house and we bring this to life through visuals to show you haw the brew team would be using the brewing equipment at each stage.  

Private and group bookings

Private bookings allow you to take an exclusive session for your group, with dates and timing agreed in advance. This format suits corporate events, celebrations, and any occasion where you want the experience tailored to your group rather than shared with other visitors. Minimum group sizes typically apply, and lead times for private bookings are longer than for public sessions, so planning ahead is worthwhile.

What's included in the price?

Standard pricing for a brewery tour and tasting experience generally covers:

  • The full guided tour of the production facility

  • A structured tasting flight of selected beers

  • Any printed tasting notes or materials provided during the session

Additional options, such as food pairings or extended tastings, may be available depending on the booking format. Pricing is confirmed at the time of booking and reflects the session type and group size. We'd recommend contacting us directly to confirm current pricing and availability.

Is there an age restriction?

Brewery tours that include alcohol tasting are subject to standard UK licensing requirements. We only allow those aged 18 and over to book on our tours, as this is a working brewery and we want visitors to experience our beers and feel immersed in the space, which isn’t suitable for under 18’s whether they are tasting our beers or not. The GOV.UK guidance on licensing and alcohol service provides the relevant statutory framework if you need to check the specifics.

What should you wear and bring?

The brewing environment is an industrial facility. Expect hard floors, some areas with low ambient temperatures, and wet surfaces in production zones. Closed-toe shoes are strongly recommended; sandals and open footwear are typically not permitted on the production floor for safety reasons. Comfortable clothing that you don't mind getting slightly damp is sensible. We'll cover any specific requirements when you confirm your booking. The brewery itself can be quite warm, so layers are probably best.

Ready to Plan Your Visit?

An Everards brewery tour at Everards Meadows gives you a genuine look at how a regional brewer operates, paired with a tasting format that builds real understanding of what's in your glass. If you're looking for an award-winning, well-organised, informative day out near Leicester, or a group experience that goes beyond the standard options, it's worth getting in touch to check availability and discuss what works best for your group. Visit Everards to explore our tours, upcoming public dates, and private booking options. Fancy a chat before you commit? Give us a ring on 0116 201 4100 or head over to Everards, and we'll help you find the right experience. We're based at Cooper Way, Everards Meadows, Enderby, Leicestershire, LE19 2AN, and we'd love to see you here.