Best Brewery & Beer Walking 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.

Self-Guided Craft Beer Walking Tour: LoDo to LoHi
Guided Private Craft Beer Tours
Brewery Tours Near Denver

Denver Craft Beer Self-Guided 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, governor of Colorado and a U.S. senator (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.

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.

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

Rock Bottom Brewery

Today, Rock Bottom Brewery is a major chain with six locations across the U.S. that have won more than 200 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 16th Street, Denver's mile-long pedestrian promenade. 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. 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, various ales and 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.

Directions to next stop: Catch the free 16th Street FreeRide bus at the corner of 16th and Curtis and take it north to the final stop at Denver Union Station. 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.

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 on the patio. 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.

Direction to next stop: Turn right from the brewery and in a half block, head west over a third pedestrian bridge, which crosses Interstate 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 Tejon Street when you see a 30-foot-high milk can. This is the legendary Little Man Ice Cream, where they produce handmade, 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. Little Man also has various gluten-free and vegan options available.

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. If you have a furry friend, check their "dog hours" on the website for patio access.

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 more than a half dozen different restaurant concepts under one roof. There are also two large bars — one upstairs and one downstairs — with a wide selection of draft beers on tap, many from local breweries.

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

Guided Denver Craft Beer Private Tours

These private tours will fill your mug with suds and your head with knowledge, along with showing you some gorgeous mountain scenery, another thing Colorado is famous for.

Denver Microbrew Tour

Find out why Denver has been dubbed the "Napa Valley of Beer." The Denver Microbrew Tour is a 2.5-hour guided walking tour in downtown Denver's historic LoDo (lower downtown) neighborhood. The tour includes 10-plus samples at four of downtown's best breweries and tap rooms. 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 three breweries and one 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. Aspire also has a Tacos & Beer Tour that celebrates the local Latin culture and a Boulder Hike n' Brews Tour for those seeking adventure in the iconic Flatirons.

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 professional sports arenas. Then, head to RiNo to sample some of Denver’s finest craft beer at a local hotspot on this three-hour, fun-filled excursion.

Brewery Tours Near Denver

The small fees for these tours are worth it if you want to get an insider's perspective on the brewing process.

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 (a fee is now required), a sampling-only experience (for a smaller fee), or you can just visit the gift shop.

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 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. The company previously moved into a $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 Amber 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 Denver 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.