North Carolina Has One of the County’s Best Brewery Tours

When it comes to beer, North Carolina is a top spot to enjoy the bubbly stuff. But, there are fantastic breweries across the U.S. that offer up tasty, delicious beer, and it's something that makes traveling around the country so fun. If you're a beer lover, chances are, any town that you're visiting has a great, local brewery packed with flavorful brews and nostalgic stories. Now, one North Carolina brewery has been crowned one of the best in the entire country to take a brewery tour by a panel of experts and readers. Are you thirsty yet?

So, how long has the tradition of the brewery been around? As it turns out, the very first brewery in the United States was set up in New Amsterdam, which is now New York City, on Brewer Street, which is now Stone St., in the early 17th century, according to Alcohol Professor. "Commercial brewing was not as common at the time," they add. "Beer was something that everyone brewed individually, so there was not yet a need for a separate entity to do it." NewJersey.com adds that, "Van Putten's brewery was the first-known colonist brewery before the US was founded." So, the brewery has been around for literally centuries and even dates back to before the beginning of the U.S.

The experts at USA Today have released their roster of the best brewery tours in America, as part of their 10 Best series. This series has experts picking spots for which to vote, and then readers vote for their favorites. They state that these spots "offer the best tour experiences" and that "only thing better than sipping a pint of your favorite brew is getting a behind-the-scenes look at where it's made."

So, which North Carolina brewery tour made the cut in USA Today's ranking? It's the famed Sierra Nevada Brewing Co., with locations in Chico, California and Mills River, North Carolina. This shouldn't be a surprise, because it's such a popular brewery in the state. "During each 45- to 60-minute interactive tour, visitors trace the process from grain to bottle," they explain in the story. "Smell whole-cone hops, sample sugary wort, and finish with a guided tasting of Sierra Nevada beers." So, it's a unique that this brewery is in two different states but offers a similar experience.

Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. is located at 100 Sierra Nevada Way in Fletcher. Reach out to me with your favorite brewery tours and stops.