The Carlton Brew House

The team on the CUB tour were friendly and helpful and we did have a good time. We were running late and had forgotten we needed enclosed shoes, which seemed to really annoy one of the male staff members. Thankfully there was a lovely lady that was more than happy to help us out.
We picked up the tour probably 2 — 5 mins behind and the lovely guide brought us up to speed without missing a beat.
When comparing the tour with others such as XXXX and the Bundaberg tour, I felt a bit disappointed. The guide was funny and quirky which made the tour interesting and time passed quickly.
After the tasting we decided to have lunch and ordered a few beers to go with the meal. The beers were very well priced, however not all beers on offer were available because they don’t stock everything in the fridges!!! Arh, aren’t we at a brewery? No cold beer!!! Isn’t there a joke about that?
The meal was VERY slow to come out. It was tasty but nothing to write home about. I certainly wouldn’t rush back, having said that we did have a good day.

Great way to spend an afternoon. The tour was pretty much what we expected and the tour guide was pleasant with a lot of knowledge about the business. The bottling room was pretty impressive. The meal was great and the beers to taste were very fresh and tasty. Only real bad part was the guy on the guitar in the bar was way too loud. Painfully loud. Next time I will go when he isn’t there or I will sit outside. One of our meals was late but they offered a pint of beer as an apology. I thought that was a great gesture.

Many thanks to our tour guide Nina, the self proclaimed hipster.
The tour I booked was the standard but turned out to be private as just my roommate and I were the only ones. We ran about 20 mins behind and received a courtesy call to not rush. I hate being late but I’m new to Melbourne meaning I should’ve left sooner.
Once there, we got straight to it. Nina was cool with the questions even though I was always a question ahead. But not in a know it all manner. The whole process was explained and it was nice to not have to be so formal since it was only us three. We went through the brew process and then finally to the packaging facility where the tour concludes.
After that you arrive back at the spacious taproom and try all the beers, 8 to 10 I’m thinking. Everyone was so kind and they even insisted we take photos behind the bar.
My next tour will definitely include the brew and food pairings during my year long stay.
Fun fact: CUB’s yeast waste is sold for the production of Vegemite.
Cheers.

We had a very enjoyable time on our tour of the Carlton United Brewery. We learnt many fun facts and got to see first hand how the beer is made, bottled and distributed. The lunch afterwards int eh dining hall was delicious, and much better than I was expecting. Chicken schnitzel for her, fish and chips for him. Tasty, generous portions, and fast service. A tasting paddle was also included with our tour voucher and was a lovely way to sample the extensive range. I would highly recommend to both locals and visitors!

While the beer itself might not be the most exciting you’ll come across at a local brewery (see Mountain Goat and Moon Dog down the street to fill that void) the tour itself is a fantastic way to spend a few hours taking in a Melbourne icon.
The guides were friendly and while they had the ‘quirk’ levels turned up to 11, at least they kept you awake and you did actually learn some cool stuff amongst all the ‘dad jokes’.
Highlight was the bottling room. Huge, crazy, and simply hypnotic. I could have stared into that beer-​making machinery majesty for hours.
At the end you get a generous tasting paddle with 8 samples. If you live in Victoria you’ve no doubt tried most before, but we were surprised to find how much we loved the Carlton Dark ale, that Fosters isn’t all that bad, and the unpasteurised Draught (fresh batch that has to be drunk within two weeks) was an improvement over the usual.
Good spot to take tourists, or to check out if you’re lazy locals like us that had it on the ‘to do’ list for years. Mai bit of feedback is that the bar at the end is pretty sterile and drab. If they had done that up a bit it could actually be a cool place just to come for a drink sans-​tour too.

Had a lovely day today with the tour and a 4 course tasting menu with matching beers. It was very interesting to see the inner workings of a brewery that has the capacity to make 2,000,000 litres of beer a day! The tour guide Genevieve was very knowledgeable and had a lovely sense of humour. Well worth a visit!

The Carlton United Brewery Tour gives you insight into how your favourite beers are made. On the tour you get a brief rundown of the beer making process and get to see the process in action, from brewing to bottling it is all completed here at the Carlton United Brewery. You can ask questions as well.
The tour itself last 45 minutes and takes you into the brewery to see the action… or lack thereof. The tours run Monday to Friday and some Saturday mornings, and I choose a Friday afternoon to take the tour. The brewery was pretty much deserted, save for a few maintenance workers, you see depending on the demand the staff can shut up shop Friday’s. So the only action our large tour group witnessed was bottling, which was frantic and fast!
The best part of the tour naturally was the beer tasting back at the Brew House (see prior review for Brew House itself) where we each got to chose four 100ml tastings from the range of 10 options at the bar. They ranged from the good –Cascade, VB and Carlton Dry to the bad — Fosters and Pear Cinder.
The tour seems rather rushed and given the lack of brewing action was rather lackluster however I took my Dad for his birthday and he enjoyed it. It was his first brewery tour and loved learning about the process and of course the samples.
I have spent many hours on such tours and this tour was not up to scratch. Carlton United has the potential to be a great tourism destination and brand opportunity but an both accounts this the experience fails. The tour goes through the motions without flare.
I would give the tour two stars in itself, but then they give you beer, so it can’t really be all bad!