On the late afternoon/early evening of my first night in Halifax. I booked myself in to take a tour of the Alexander Keith’s Brewery in downtown Halifax, which had been in operation since 1820, making it one the oldest breweries in Canada, though not THE oldest. I generally like Alexander Keith’s beer, though it is not my go-to beer; I just wanted an excuse to visit the brewery. I cannot remember if I have ever been on a brewery tour but this was certainly an experience. I walked into the old building and into an indoor courtyard where I got my ticket from the reception desk/gift shop and waited for the tour to begin.
At precisely 6PM, a man bursts from the wooden door at the top of a staircase to welcome us to the brewery. There were about eight of us on this tour, and we show him our tickets and walk into the first room. The first thing that happens on this tour is that the tour guide gives us a sample of the Keith’s IPA to drink, and I have to say, this is an excellent first thing to do on a brewery tour. If you are on a brewery tour and the tour guides do not give you alcohol at the start of the tour and throughout the tour, then is it a true brewery tour?
In the first couple of areas, our tour guide talked about the history of Alexander Keith (the man) who was the businessman who founded the brewery and the politician who was the mayor of Halifax on three separate occasions. There were several interesting pieces of memorabilia worth checking out, including old bottles of Keith’s beer that were at least a hundred years old, and pictures of Alexander Keith’s family, among other things.
The next area was a 19th century-styled dining room that I would imagine Alexander Keith would be in; either to have his meal or conduct important business meetings.
The next room was the ingredients room where workers make small batches of craft beer. We also got a new sample of a different kind of Keith’s beer and a new tour guide to show us the next section of the tour.
The next area was the actual distillery where the works would make the beer, and our tour guide would explain the process of how they make Keith’s beer. Our tour guide was showing us the barrels in which they store the beer when another tour guide showed up who wanted to invite us to a social gathering down at a bar that is a part of the brewery. Our new tour guide calls this a cèilidh (pronounced KAY-lee). So, off we went to this magical gathering.
Our new tour guide took us to the bar behind the brewery, which looked like a big cellar with stone walls and wooden seating. This bar looked like an old-timey Scottish/Irish drinking hole. We met two more tour guides and they served us yet another sample of beer. As this was a cèilidh, our three lovely tour guides wanted to regale us with some Gaelic songs that songstresses of that time would normally sing. I must tell you, their voices in unison while playing their instruments sounded angelic. None of us that paid for this tour did not know any Gaelic songs so the tour guides asked us to clap along to the beats. This was a really nice atmosphere and I was impressed by the singing of these tour guides.
After the live music demonstration, we received one more beer sample (this time, of our choosing) and we could now peruse the bar at our own leisure. There were two rooms worth checking out. The first room was a games room that had some games for people to play, including a ball-rolling game, and a ring toss game where you had to toss your rings on a stag’s antlers.
Also on display in this room is an old bottle of Keith’s from 1870-1890 that was missing until 2015 where someone found the bottle off the coast of Nova Scotia. Imagine taking a swig of a roughly 125-year-old bottle of beer.
The other room was a cozy study where I would imagine Alexander Keith would sample his creations, or conduct his business. All the while, the guides would play sea shanties from a stereo in the bar, which made me think about Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag all over again.
And with that, our tour of the Alexander Keith’s brewery comes to an end. I really enjoyed the tour and it felt like a unique experience within Halifax and Nova Scotia. The tour guides were knowledgeable and were thoroughly entertaining throughout the tour. I paid $28.95 plus tax for the tour, and I would say that it was worth it. I would say that I drank about two pints worth of beer on the tour, and with the entertainment, I would say that the price was appropriate for what you got and what you will experience. If you are ever in Halifax, I would check out the Alexander Keith’s brewery tour.
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