The Fullers Brewery Tour

So what did you do today? I had a marvellous afternoon (the morning wasn't quite so good, I attended my friend Fred Morgans funeral). In response to a quip by a mate that I couldn't organise a piss up in a brewery, I thought I'd try. I arranged for a few friends to do the Fullers Brewery tour in Chiswick. We met at the Mawson Arms, the adjoining Fullers pub. A swift pint of ESB and we were off. High visibility jackets were donned and Tim, our tour guide lead us off on the tour.

I love the industrial history of Britain and workspaces. Brewing is a fascinating business, I've brewed my own beer in times gone by and being partial to a pint of real ale, I've been meaning to do the tour for a while. When I booked it, I was asked if I wanted a "tasting or non tasting tour". I asked if anyone ever took the non tasting tour and the charming lady at the other end of the phone laughed. the tour lasts an hour and you get a journey through the process of brewing. I learned a few things. The water from Burton on Trent is the best for brewing. London Water is not up to the job, so it needs a process of treatment to bring it up to standard. The process is now computer controlled. Fullers Beers contain only four ingredients, hops, barley, water and yeast. They used to add sugar, but the barley is now much better quality and so this stage is unnecessary. These days the beer is "consistent". Back in the pre 1980's the process was highly labour intensive. Now a couple of people in a control room manage the process end to end. Strangely enough the bits of the process that can't be mechanised are things like hammering the stoppers into the kegs.

Fullers are the only brewey chain that are growing (according to our guide). The beers are rather good and that must have something to do with it. At the end of the tour, we went to sample eight various ales. Unsurprisingly my favourites were the ESB and the London Pride. Afterwarsds, we adjourned for a late boozy lunch to the Mawsons Arms. I had a rather tasty Steak and ESB pie and chips.

In the post tour analysis, we commented on how the tour was very English. We weren't ushered into a souvenir shop. We were just kicked out at the end of our allotted time. There is an on site shop with the finest bottled ales, but that really isn't the point of a brewery tour. If you like beer and you want a great day out, then the Brewery tour is a great way to start the weekend. From Mill Hill, get a train to West Hampstead on Thameslink, change to the London Overground and then walk/cab from Gunnersbury or Kew Gardens.

I think I'll sleep well tonight.