Best Denver Brewery Tours

Get behind-the-scenes looks at Denver’s thriving beer scene, including the largest single-site brewery in the world, as well as specialty microbreweries. To enrich your experience even further, delve into the fine craft alcohol scene with tours of Denver's distilleries.

Note: Tour times are subject to change. Please call ahead to confirm.

The Biggest Brewery in the World

The Coors Brewery Tour

The legendary Coors Brewery in nearby Golden can brew up to 22 million barrels and package up to 16 million barrels annually, making it the biggest single-site brewery in the world. The brewery offers guided tours (for a fee), a sampling-only experience (for a smaller fee) or you can just visit the gift shop.

Downtown Denver Brewery Tours

Great Divide Brewing Company

Great Divide Brewing Company's downtown Brewery and Tap Room is the go-to locale for many of Denver's beer aficionados, where you can sample any of the beers on tap, as well as the occasional Tap Room-only special release. The brewery offers behind-the-scenes tours of both its original Ballpark location and its RiNo Barrel Bar & Packaging Hall.

breckenridge-brewery-bottling

Beer Walking Tour: LoDo to LoHi

Here's a walking tour that takes you from LoDo (Lower Downtown) to LoHi (Lower Highland), visiting several beer hotspots along the way.

Wynkoop Brewing Company

Colorado's first brewpub opened in 1988 and was founded by a group of young urban pioneers that included John Hickenlooper, who went on to serve as Mayor of Denver for seven years and as the Governor of Colorado for two terms (the first former brewer to be elected as a state governor since Sam Adams in 1794). Today, the Wynkoop Brewing Company is the center of LoDo — Denver's hip historic district where century-old warehouses have been turned into more than 90 bars, brewpubs, restaurants and cafes.

Guided Private Tours

Denver Microbrew Tour

Find out why Denver has been dubbed the "Napa Valley of Beer." The Denver Microbrew Tour is a 1.5-mile guided walking tour in downtown Denver's historic LoDo (lower downtown) neighborhood. The tour includes 10 samples at four of downtown's best breweries and tap rooms, including Wynkoop Brewing Company and Rock Bottom Restaurant & Brewery. The guides are bona fide Denver brew aficionados, so you'll come out of this tour knowing more about beer than you ever thought possible. If street art is more your scene, join their RiNo Beer and Graffiti Tour, which winds past colorful murals in the River North Art District (RiNo) on its path to four breweries (and possibly a cidery!).

Aspire Tours' Brews n' Views Tour

Get out into the mountains and sample the best of the Colorado brewing scene with Aspire Tours. On this small-group tour, you'll learn the history of brewing in the area and enjoy stunning views while you visit three breweries in mountain towns (including historic Golden) on this half-day tour.

Denver Brew Tours

Take a private tour of Denver's best breweries with up to 14 of your closest friends with Denver Brew Tours. What makes this tour different? YOU pick the breweries! Choose from any of the more than 100 local breweries in and around Denver and Boulder, or pick from Denver Brew Tours' list of nearly 50 partner breweries, grouped by region so your can maximize your time. With Denver Brew Tours, you're in control of everything except the driving. Prefer to keep your feet on the ground? The company also offers a walking tour of Denver’s Tennyson Street Cultural District, including tasting flights at three local breweries.

Mile High Bike Tours' Bike & Brew Tour

See some of the city’s best attractions by bicycle, including diverse public art, government buildings, beautiful parks, distinct architecture and all three professional sports arenas. Then, head to RiNo to sample some of Denver’s finest craft beer at a local hotspot on this approximately nine-mile, three-hour, fun-filled excursion.

Wynkoop's architecture is typical of the neighborhood, with hardwood floors, exposed brick walls covered with artwork and big open windows. The second floor of the huge pub has 22 pool tables, multiple dart boards and other bar games. There are always more than a dozen craft beers on tap. The flagship beer (available in cans) is Rail Yard Amber Ale, a smooth amber with the malty flavor of an Oktoberfest lager. For a true Colorado experience, try Patty's Chile Beer, a German-style lager made with chiles and smoked Ancho peppers.

Direction to next stop: Walk west on Wynkoop two blocks to the 16th Street Mall, then turn left and walk seven blocks to Curtis.

Rock Bottom Brewery

Today, Rock Bottom Brewery is a major chain with more than 30 breweries that produce 700 different craft beers that have won over 125 medals. But their brewery in Denver is the "mother ship," the first brewery of the chain when it opened in 1990. Rock Bottom has one of the best locations on the 16th Street Mall, Denver's mile-long pedestrian promenade. There are 41 outdoor patios along the Mall, but the one at Rock Bottom is the largest and one of the most popular. On summer weekends, bands play and hundreds of people gather to sip craft beer on the patio under twinkling lights, as horse-drawn carriages clatter by. The interior of the massive bar is built around towering glass windows displaying the brewing equipment. It can be noisy, crowded and fun, as the bar brings in an attractive crowd of young downtown office workers. For a quieter experience, head to the back bar, which has pool tables and a staff that's both knowledgeable and passionate about craft beer. Rock Bottom features the standard IPAs, Red Ale, White Ale, Dark Ale and a Winter Tartan Ale, as well as the always popular Molly's Titanic Brown Ale. The brewmaster at each pub creates specials, so check what's on the current beer list, and especially look for the hand-pulled cask-conditioned ales in the back room.

Direction to next stop: Catch the free MallRide bus at the corner of 16th and Curtis and take it north to the final stop at the Union Station Light Rail. Walk back to 16th Street and over the Millennium Bridge (easily identifiable by the tall white mast). Continue straight through the Riverfront development and across Commons Park to a second pedestrian bridge over the South Platte River. On the other side of the bridge, walk one block to Platte Street and turn right. Denver Beer Company is on the far side of the street.

Take a seat outside and enjoy the sunshine at Denver Beer Co.

Denver Beer Company

Denver Beer Company is one of the city's favorite tap rooms — a place that really captures the laid-back feeling of The Mile High City. Located in a former auto garage, on warm days the "walls" of the pub literally roll up, making the whole building open air. There's an outdoor patio with picnic tables next to a space where different food trucks park every day.

Denver Beer serves only delicious homemade pretzels and beer, but you're welcome to bring your own food or purchase food at the rotating food trucks. Dogs are welcome too, and it's a rare day when there aren't at least a few pups at the bar or on the patio. Owners Charlie and Patrick began as home brewers and are dedicated to making the finest and most inventive beers in the city. There are usually a dozen small-batch beers on tap that rotate regularly. Check the chalkboard to see what's available. If Graham Cracker Porter is on tap, make that your choice. It's been described as "a campfire in a glass with notes of vanilla, smoked cedar and mulling spices." This is a neighborhood bar where people stop in after a bike ride or a run. Even Denver Mayor Michael Hancock is a fan — he helped Patrick and Charlie make a pumpkin ale here to kick off Denver Beer Fest in 2012.

Direction to next stop: Turn right from the brewery and in a half block, head west over a third pedestrian bridge, which crosses I-25. Continue up 16th Street as it changes into Tejon Street, then turn right onto Erie Street just past Hirshorn Park. Turn left on 17th Street and walk up one block to your next destination, on your right.

Recess Beer Garden

After crossing the bridge, you've entered LoHi, one of Denver's hippest and fastest-growing neighborhoods. Before you reach your next destination, stop on 16th Street when you see a 30-foot-high milk can. This is the legendary Little Man Ice Cream, where they produce hand-made, small-batch ice cream, created with some of the finest local ingredients. Relax with a triple scoop (we're partial to the Salted Oreo) in their outdoor ice cream garden. For those poor souls who have trouble with milk? They sell a Lactaid pill for 50 cents!

Now, on to the next sip. Recess Beer Garden is a great introduction to this section of town. Although no beer is brewed here, Recess offers 24 beers on tap, including plenty of local and Colorado drafts, along with out-of-state brews, ciders, seltzers, wine, cocktails and kombucha. The staff is beer savvy and will work with you to find the perfect selection, whether it's light, hoppy, malty or complex. Post up in the beer garden with some friends as you play yard games and enjoy everything Denver and Colorado have to offer.

Directions to next stop: Exiting Recess, turn right and then take another immediate right onto 32nd Avenue. Walk two and a half blocks east until you reach a sharp turn in the road — and your next destination.

Avanti F & B

If all this walking has worked up an appetite, end your night with dinner (and another beer) at Avanti F & B, one of Denver's most popular spots for foodies. Inspired by European markets and food-truck roundups, Avanti bills itself as a modern-day food hall, offering up seven different restaurant concepts under one roof. Grab a Neapolitan-style pizza, some TexMex BBQ or a traditional arepa. There are also two large bars — one upstairs and one downstairs — with 20 draft beers on tap, many from local breweries.

Directions to next stop: Return to the Light Rail station the same way you came. From here, you can catch the free shuttle to anywhere on the 16th Street Mall.

Brewery Tours Outside of Denver

Farm House at Breckenridge Brewery

Take a tour of the bucolic Breckenridge Brewery facility in Littleton. You'll walk through the whole brewing process and see from start to finish how Breck Brew gets the beer to your bottle. Everything from the 100-barrel brewhouse, to the fermentation hall, to the bottling line...and all with a complimentary beer in your hand! You'll taste and talk about the company's different beers and how they're made. Tours cost $3 and begin and end in the tasting room. We recommend grabbing a meal at the excellent Farm House Restaurant while you're there.

Avery Brewing Company

One of Boulder's most beloved brewers, Avery Brewing Company is rapidly making headway on the national beer scene. Last year the company moved into a new $27 million "dream brewery" in north Boulder, upping both their brewing capacity and tap room seating.

Left Hand Brewing Co.

Located on the banks of Longmont's St. Vrain River, the patio is perfect for relaxation and beer appreciation. Since its founding in 1993, Left Hand's brews, including its iconic Milk Stout and Sawtooth Ale, have wowed beer connoisseurs, racking up dozens of medals at events like the Great American Beer Festival, the United States Beer Tasting Championships, the Brussels Beer Challenge, the World Beer Cup, the International Stockholm Beer & Whiskey Festival and more. You can also visit their newest location: Left Hand RiNo. The Denver outpost is a full-service restaurant and bar, with 48 taps (including, of course, Left Hand's award-winning beers), along with wine, sake and cocktails.