With more than 450 years of brewing traditions behind it, the Tennents Wellpark brewery is called UK’s best beer attraction. After all, Tennent’s Lager has been holding a coveted position in a market that’s largely dominated by fine Scotch whiskies. In a country (and city) that talks and walks whiskey; Tennent’s has been upholding the beer tradition since its first production batch in 1885.
The Tennent’s brewery tour is something that every history lover, Glasgow lover and beer lover would love to take and touring the historic brewery would be an unforgettable experience. The brewery tour attracts as much (and sometimes more) visitor footfall as compared to the leading distillery tours in Glasgow like the Clydeside distillery or the Glengoyne distillery.
Wellpark is hailed as Scotland’s oldest surviving brewery… it gained immense popularity amongst the public for its stouts and ales since 21-year-old Hugh Tennent introduced the Tennent’s lager to the world. Tennent has been exporting beers since 1791 and their lager beer is now called Scotland’s favourite beer.
History
Robert Tennent had been illegally brewing his own favourite spirits i.e. stout ale since 1556 technically making this the oldest commercial set up of Glasgow. It was his descendants Hugh and Robert Tennent who established a formal brewery (called HR Tennent but simply referred to as Drygate brewery). Soon their sons took over the brewery and bought the adjacent brewery of William Maclehose …a 5-acre site that was given the name Wellpark brewery.
Originally the brewery produced stout beer and ale and it took time till 1924 when the fifth generation Tennent family descendant decided to produce lager beer and by 1963 Keg Lager was also produced. Much later in 2009, the C&C group of Ireland bought the brewery and the Tennent’s brand. By then Tennent’s lager had become Scotland’s best selling lager with 60% market capture. The can designs were widely liked… they had attractive female models pinned to the sides (called lager lovelies). Today these cans are valuable collectables.
Tennent’s produces more than 15 variants of spirits including ales, stouts, whiskey oak, lager, scotch ale etc. The brand is heavily involved in sports and music sponsorships. In fact, they sponsor the hugely popular (probably Scotland’s biggest outdoor music festival) T in the Park. Tennent’s also sponsored the Scottish cup for 18 years but post-C&C acquisition it now sponsors the Irish Cup. The Wellpark Visitor Centre attracts a remarkable number of visitors daily and its brewery tours are considered to be one of the top activities in Glasgow.
The Tennent’s Heritage Centre
This beautifully put together heritage centre focuses on the story of Hugh Tennent and the first 1885 Tennent lager that had earned the nickname madman’s dream. The artefacts dating back to the age-old brewing days are kept here. Souvenirs from Tennent’s intense involvement in sports and music and the overall evolvement of Scottish culture is also on display.
The famous Lager lovelies’ adverts and the various media publicity clippings that the brand has attracted are also demonstrated on the tour. The capture animations created by students of the Glasgow school of art and written stories from many generations of Tennent’s alumnus are some of the most fascinating stuff guests get to experience for free. Tours are paid but a visit to the heritage centre is free.
Tennent’s Tours
The brewery tours offered here not only take in the beer production process but they are complete storytelling sessions that starts off with an exploration of the Heritage Centre. The standard offering is the Tennent’s Brewery Tour that lasts for 1.5 hours and is offered usually 6 times a day with the last tour kicking off at 6 p.m.
As mentioned earlier the tour takes in the origins, history and culture of Tennent’s and how it represented sports and the music scene of Glasgow. Many artefacts, souvenirs and displays are put up in the heritage centre and the tour starts off with a thorough exploration of it. A tour of the Wellpark brewery is next and the entire process of refining post brewing, kegging, bottling and canning is demonstrated. The last part of the tour is the tasting experience that includes a free pint of Tank beer poured straight from the gleaming copper tanks of Tennent’s. There are also 1/3rd of a pint tastings of 8 different kinds of beers on offer (an add on experience that’s payable).
You can check the rate and book this tour online from this Viator site.
The premium exhaustive tour here is called the Masterclass Brewery Tour. This includes the standard Heritage Centre and Brewery tour (all areas including restricted ones) with a demonstration of canning, bottling and kegging operations. There is a brief tour of the Tennent’s training academy and then the main part of the tour starts at the private lounge within the Visitor Centre. A 2-hour masterclass is held with the in-house beer experts who provide samplings of lots of International and Scottish beers along with appropriate food pairings. By the end of the masterclass, guests gain a lot of knowledge about all things beer including the craft beer movement and the ingredients of different kinds of beer.
The tastings usually include St Mungo’s Lager from West Brewery and a Tennent’s Oak Cask (a light ale). Then there is a sampling of Weihenstephan Hefe Weiss Dunkel with Bavarian purity law made beer, light Fraoch Heather Ale, Stewarts Aka Pai and tropically flavoured IPA, William and Marshall Rock n Roll ale, Fruli strawberry beer and Orinoco milk stout. The masterclass tour kicks off at 6 p.m. and lasts for a good 3 hours. Plenty of snacks is provided and there is a tutorial on ‘which food pairs well with what kind of snack’.
You can check the rate and book the Masterclass Brewery Tour online from this Viator site.
Be aware that both tours require customers to climb and descend over 100 steps in an hour so the tours are meant only for people with reasonable fitness levels. The masterclass tour (excluding the brewery visit) is however wheelchair accessible. The masterclass tour is only done in small groups of less than 10 people so there is a lot of one to one interaction with the tour guide.
Apart from these brewery tours, Tennent’s also offers a Heritage Walking Tour that takes in most of the sights of old Glasgow like the Glasgow Cathedral, Provands Lordship, Necropolis and Medieval Quarter plus a slew of stories about the royalty and quaint historical characters of Glasgow. At the end of the walking tour, there is a return to Tennent’s story heritage centre and the standard Tennent’s brewery tour follows including the pint of freshly brewed Tennent’s beer from the copper tanks. For any person who wants to combine a walking tour with a brewery tour…this is an ideal option.
You can check the rate and book the heritage walking tour online from this Viator site.
Then there is an offer of a Tennent’s brewery tour plus lunch at Committee Room 9 (traditional Glasgow pub that has large sports screens). The Committee Room 9 is only 10 minutes away from the Wellpark brewery and there is a 2-course meal plus a pint of Tennent’s lager beer/ 125ml glass of wine for the special price of 27.50 pounds per person. This is a good option for anyone looking forward to combining a brewery tour with lunch at a true blue Scottish pub.
For football fans, there is the tempting option of a Celtic Park Tour plus a Tennent’s tour. Celtic Park is one of the UK’s favourite football clubs and its home ground is a leading attraction in Glasgow. On offer is a guided tour of the stadium, club and ground along with exposure to the exhibition and the club’s history. The second part of the tour takes in the Wellpark brewery and the heritage Centre with a demonstration of all stages of beer making. This tour is offered at 11 a.m. and 2 pm ….an approximately 3-hour offering. The tour is priced at 23 pounds but does not include transport between Celtic park and Wellpark brewery (takes 7 minutes by car).
Apart from these Tennent’s also offers Glasgow Bike tours and Music City tours. The wide range of tours makes it obvious that Tennent’s brand is inextricably tied up with the music, culture and sports scene of Glasgow.
Tennent’s Shop
There is an onsite shop that sells a wide range of Tennent’s merchandise right from beer mugs to T-shirts to souvenirs. You can visit it to purchase some unusual collectables, vintage posters etc.
Tennent’s Training Academy
This is a leading hospitality industry-based training academy in Scotland that provides a wide range of cookery classes, legit hospitality courses, cocktail skill courses and much more. It’s said that the Tennent’s Academy employs the best industry experts who provide the most inventive teaching experiences in the hospitality industry. The Tennent’s training academy is also briefly toured in the Tennent’s offered tours.
For the record, Tennents also hosts parties, events and corporate meets. You need to contact 0141 5530010 for making a booking of this kind.
Location & Contacts
The Tennent’s brewery is open from Monday to Friday (9 a.m. to 8 p.m.) and on Sunday (10 a.m. to 6 p.m.).
The Tennents Wellpark Brewery and Visitor Centre is just a 10-minute ride away from George Square (city centre). Public buses along Duke Street as well as trains from Queen Street as well as High street stations are convenient for reaching the brewery (these options are 10 minutes away). After visiting Tennent’s brewery you can easily visit nearby attractions like the Glasgow Cathedral and Necropolis besides all the fantastic murals around the City Centre.
If you are not taking up the Committee 9 lunch offer then there are plenty of other places around in which you can have a fantastic meal. For example, there is Bilson Eleven and Mccune Smith Café which are both half a km away. Then there is Nakodar Grill on Annfield Place that serves fusion Indian food and is perfect for people with special dietary needs like Vegan, Gluten-free and Halal.
161 Duke Street, Glasgow, Lanarkshire, G31 1JD
Phone: 0044 0141 2027145; Email: [email protected]; Website
A travel addict. Still celebrating the day when he quit his high-profile corporate job to pursue his passion for travel writing.