Orkney Brewery in Orkney Islands

Fabulous beers, excellent pub grub, friendly service and we got a peek inside the brewery. Great gift shop as well. (The Dark Island Reserve gift set made it home safe and sound!) Excellent stop after a morning at Skara Brae.

What a disappointing visit. The shop and bar area are wonderful, and we have always been a fan of the beer, but the staff were a major let down. We wanted to buy some beers and merchandise, but were met with a very rude female staff member who made patronising comments on the items we picked out. Very unhelpful when I asked for sizing of T-shirts too. Thank goodness we didn’t book a tour or stay for a drink- my advice would be to try the shop in Kirkwall instead!

My two Australian friends and I have just had the worst experience at this Orkney business. The staff were downright rude. We arrived, planning to have a tasting and lunch, but were unfortunate enough to arrive just after a large tour group who had been having a tasting were leaving. There clearly were insufficient staff to deal with this large number of people and the two people on duty were frantically clearing away in readiness for the next bus load. The waitress made it clear we were unwelcome and was very rude and although we bought very expensive beers at the bar and asked if we could sit down, the barman made it very clear we were in the way and also that we were not welcome. Did not even offer us a seat at the bar while they tidied up. I appreciate the stress they were under but there was absolutely no excuse for the rudeness we received. We did not wait for lunch. My third trip to Orkney in as many years and sadly the absolute worst experience I have had. It was so embarrassing in front of my Australian visitors.

We were in a bit of a rush but we're well looked after and had a memorable time; nice food and even nicer beers. Black Isle is a favourite of mine and was sublime, they were even brewing it at the time Our Labrador Holly was well looked after too. Many thanks!

We had lunch at the brewery, the food was great, we had an open sandwich and thoroughly enjoyed it with a paddle of beers allowing us to sample a few different ones. One thing that annoyed me a bit was the pricing in the gift shop, the individual bottles of beer are being sold for 65p more than they are in the Tesco in Kirkwall! I would have expected the cheapest place to buy the brewery products was at the location they are made. Another aspect of the pricing was the gift sets on offer, they were actually more expensive to buy the gift set then the 3 or 6 bottles separately, meaning that the cardboard box they came with was worth more than 1 whole bottle of beer! So overall, worth a visit but buy your souvenirs in Tesco.

Worth saying, this is labeled as being in Stromess. It is almost 10 miles outside of Stromness so unless you have a car it is a fair hike. It is much closer to Skara Brae. Location aside the food is good and the beer is quite good. They have a really nice range of selections no matter your beer preference.

Love visiting the Orkney Brewery. It is a small Brewery but the tour is excellent with the Tour Guides being very informative. The tasting options are great, with the Drivers Pack available, which is a great option. The food is very good and reasonably priced.

We went for the tour, because of the noice levels and the strong accent it was difficult to understand. The beer was great of taste!

Overall rating is above average or good. Nice gift shop and dining area. The service was very good. The beer on tap was below average. The bottled beer was quite good. The food was good. We did not do a tour of the brewery.

The brewery not only produces a great range of ales, all of which are on sale in bottles or on draught, but also has a restaurant which is great for lunch

Great beers, definitely recommend getting a beer flight. Food was yummy and the shop they have is cute too. An excellent stop off after Scare Brae.

Orkney has dinner great food places but sometimes you need to know where to look. Food here was first class and the beer, superb! Really interesting building, first class conversion.

Wir waren im westlichen Teil des Mainlands unterwegs und steuerten die Brauerei an, um dort zu Mittag zu essen und im dortigen Shop einige Flaschen Bier zu kaufen. Wenn möglich, hätten wir auch eine Führung durch die Brauerei gemacht, aber die nächsten Führungen dieses Tages waren bei unserer Ankunft schon ausgebucht. Das Restaurant bietet lokale Küche. Ich hatte klassische Fish and Chips, meine Frau einen Burger, beides von ausgezeichneter Qualität. Dazu natürlich ein Pint des dort gebrauten Biers. Für ein anständiges Mittagessen zu empfehlen. Die Brauerei liegt übrigens nicht in Stromness, sondern etwa 9 Meilen nördlich des Orts.

This was a planned return visit by seven hungry holiday makers! We were well received, and served in a friendly manner with delicious food! We left not needing to eat for the rest of the day. I am not a burger fan but I enjoyed the most delicious burger - good Orkney beef being the secret I told myself!! There is also a shop where Orkney Ales are available as well as the usual host of tourist gifts! we will be back when next in Orkney! The great thing is that local people eat here and that is a test of the quality of any establishment.

Stopped off for lunch whilst in the area. Food and service were fine. Lovely building with a good shop,

Visited here and decided to have some food . Had to wait for a table as it was very busy. The food was pretty pricey for a cheese sandwich . Things in the shop seemed expensive too T-shirts hats etc . Bought some beer and...

The seafood platter is full of local smoked fish and treats. We are not big beer drinkers and prefer a colder brew but for those who love hops and beer this is a great place to stop and take a meal break.

We arrived just before a busload of people and staff took our order but said they would get to us after serving the bus...we were patient for awhile, but after getting our drinks (a very ordinary draught beer- not given a smile and a sensible...

good to be back at my old workplace, we had a great lunch with the kids and the men had a brewery tour from the owner Norman Sinclair, thank guys it was a great visit

Popped in for a late lunch, fish and chips were great and beer excellent, service was friendly, relaxing atmosphere.

Dropped in by chance, following a recommendation from one of the ring of Brodgar rangers. It was busy, but staff attentive, food was lovely and a selection including small,platters. The visitor centre is lovely with images of the old school that it used to be,...

Stopped here for lunch. Very nice food which included a seafood platter. Some ifvthe best food we have eaten on the islsnd.

Although I hadn't booked a tour, and as I was the only person there for the scheduled time wasn't a problem. I was given a personal tour which was very informative and friendly. All questions I had were answered. Would highly recommend if you're interested...

Went in for a tour and a few pints. Gordon was a very enthusiastic speaker and made the talk very worthwhile (it helped that the only people on the tour was our group so we had time for as many questions as we liked). Bar...

Definitely worth a visit if you’re a beer lover! Friendly staff and great tours as well as a gift shop. Purchased some of the delicious beer to take home with me.

A friendly tour guide walked us thru the brewery, then topped off the tour with a flight of their 3 most popular brews. Stayed for lunch and a pint, good eats and drink, would recommend.

Phoned and booked in for lunch a couple of weeks before our trip to Orkney. Unfortunately when we arrived our booking was nowhere to be found. Luckily it was slightly later in the afternoon and they were able to find a table for us. The...

My sons in law and I did the tour. The guide was knowledgeable and friendly. The tour was most informative and the samples were enjoyed although the driver only had a sip. We then enjoyed a light snack for lunch. Well presented tasty food was...

Visited when guiding with a large group. Very accomadating and friendly well worth the visit. Loved the shop and the coffee was delicious.

Situated a short drive from Skara Brae, the brewery is a good place to stop for a bite to eat. We went for lunch - menu has a wide choice and of course , the option to taste the beer brewed on site. A good...

A cheerful and lively spot for a snack and good beer (obvs!) We enjoyed taking advantage of the shop to get a few presents too - 3packs of varied beers have gone down well in all senses!

We visited Orkney Brewery during our visit to Orkney, and paid for a tour of the brewery. It was £19 for four of us, which seemed expensive, until we realised that 3 sample beers each were provided at the end of the tour (although my partner had mine as I was driving…..)The tour itself was very interesting. I thought I knew a bit about brewing, but obviously not as much as I thought.After the tour you can visit the brewery shop, where beers (and many other things) can be purchased. Bottles of beer start at about £2.50, so comparable with supermarket prices for run-of-the-mill beers. In other words, good value indeed

Really interesting tour and great food if you stay for something to eat. Great excuse to try the brews made on site.

You've come all this way, you better try the brewery. Yummy, hearty meals, and their own specialty brews. Their tea and coffee is also great, if you are not in the mood for a beer.

I booked the tour of the Orkney brewery and lunch in their restaurant from my home in London in advance if my visit. I’m glad I did as the restaurant was packed but they had saved me a table by the fire. I had a sea food platter which was delicious. The brewery is small, a micro brewery, but the tour was very interesting nonetheless. The resulting beers are excellent. I had the tasting paddle of three 1/3 pints of beers and I liked them all although the Dark Island was my favourite. All the staff were welcoming and helpful. Definitely recommended.

Had a tour with John which was very informative and interesting. Had lovely food and all staff were very accommodating. Would definitely recommend!

We had lunch at the Brewery but didn't do the tour. The food was very good and the beer great. The photos and information sheets were excellent and the choices of take away beers in the shop excellent

We stopped in at the Orkney Brewery for lunch. I'm not a beer drinker, so that aspect of the mean was lost on me, but overall the food was quite nice and the atmosphere fun. Judging by the crowd on a weekday, other folks thought it was a good spot for lunch, too.

We stopped here with our tour group for a tour and lunch. It is really the only place around that could handle that many people. And even at that, they split our group in two, with one group doing a tasting and lunch first and the other doing the tour first. We sat down to find a flight of three ales ready for us to taste. My husband is really into ale and liked them a lot. I liked the Northern Light best. We were given tomato soup and sandwiches. I'm not a fan of tomato soup, but this one may have changed my mind. Later, we tried some of their shortbread and it was quite good.The tour was really well done and the guide answered any and all questions.There is also a shop.

We visited the Orkney brewery on a family holiday recently and stopped for a late lunch. My son in law was keen to try out the local beers and was not disappointed. Some of us opted for the dirty fries with haggis which were delicious. The young Geordie waitress who served us was charming and very helpful in explaining the beers and food choices. She made our visit even more pleasurable. Our two granddaughters loved the good selection of cakes.

This was an unplanned last minute visit and we were fortunate to get a table at lunchtime - they were very busy and the service was slow but we were told it would be! Great food and service in comfortable and welcoming environment

Cons:- Crammed in, tables are so close together you feel you are dining with the people at the table next to you.Staff only speak to take the order, no customary question if every thing was all right! Food was hot, starters were very good.. The desert was just plain awful.. Cheesecake was in a glass. Couldn't for the life of me break the base as it was brick hard, the topping was a consistency of a Muller yogurt.. (very very runny!, reason for glass perhaps). Prices are same as all over Orkney.. Wasn't very impressed overall thats why giving an average score..

Based in a converted village school the vintage classroom themed restaurant is a great place for coffee or a meal whether you are visiting for the brewery tour or just dropping in for a bite to eat or drink. The vintage atmosphere is lovely, the service friendly, the menu good and the food excellent. We enjoyed the sea food sharing platter which was fresh, very tasty and plenty for a light lunch for three. Finally, the brewery shop is well stocked and their bottled Orkney Brewery beer cheaper than in 'tourist' shops in Kirkwall.

On s'est arrêté pour manger quelque chose avant de visiter Skara Brae. On a mangé un black Island burger qu'était très bon. Très bonne bière!!!

We stopped for lunch as part of a day in Orkney. We had excellent burgers and delicious beer. Can thoroughly recommend both beer and food.

Just visited the Orkney Brewery with a group of friends and enjoyed a well informed tour followed by 3 glasses of beer!!

Lunch for 20+, pre-booked, no problem!

This was one brewery we wanted to stop at. The converted schoolhouse was done very well. Love the old school memorabilia scatter around. The beers are good and so is their food. We ended up buying a couple bottles to take back to our B&B.; Rcommend

Sadly I wasn't allowed the full brewery visit as we have apparently done a few too many over the years, but lunch in the brewery bar more than made up for it. The website had promised something nice and more than delivered. I had the paddle of 3 taster beers (all great) and the delicious Dark Isle burger; my wife the equally delicious platter of local seafood. Food is only served til 5.00, which is a shame as this would be a great evening out option. And you will struggle to find a better lunch stop on mainland Orkney.

The beer selection is very good and wide ranging in taste. The tour guide is very knowledgeable and friendly to all. The ingredients of beer used in this brewery will be available to be touched, smelled, and seen on the tour.

After a recommendation we stopped of for a taste of locally brewed beer, but were enticed by lovely aromas into having lunch. The Dark Isle burger & chips, plus a taster paddle of beer did not disappoint. Lovely surroundings in the Old School house with friendly, knowledgeable staff and spotless facilities.

Excelent and wonderfully informed tour followed by a wonderful meal with a couple of pints of local ale

Orkney cheddar wholemeal sandwich with chutney could have been very good. Unfortunately, when it arrived made with bog standard sliced brown bread my heart sank. My partner had sweet chilli chicken, but it was very dry. To her credit, the person who served us gave us coffees on the house, but even this was disappointing.

The food here is beyond expectation. We never had a bad or even mediocre meal during our entire stay.

What a great place for a brewery! It's in a scenic bit of the mainland en route to Skara Brae (depending on which way you're travelling). The staff here were fantastic and so friendly. The food was great, too - we had veggie burgers with fries and salad. They also offer 1/2 or 1/3 pints of the beers on tap if you fancy tasting different kinds. The day we visited they had Dark Island, Corncrake and Red McGregor on tap. Their Dragonhead cake is pretty special, too!

We pulled into the car park half expecting this place we’d heard about to be closed and were so pleased to be wrong! It was open and a friendly young lady made us feel very welcome. My husband loves real ales so we had to give it a try and he enjoyed the ale. The food was delicious - we both had the 3 course deal, I had the humous to start, vegetarian lasagne for main and the xmas pud for dessert. My husband had the nachos, scampi & chips and also the xmas pud. Everything was very good. The waitress was lovely and friendly even though we were the last customers to arrive and leave. A wonderful find, an old converted school, the tables have been made to look like school desks with the inkwells cleverly used to hold the condiment sachets. Lots of historic information and memorabilia all around. Very tastefully decorated, modern but so respectful of the past. Gorgeous. We were so pleased to find this brilliant place and will be returning.

Well worth a visit if you like beer and the cafe is lovely we had haggis nancho yum yum. Spent lots of money on different beers

The tours cannot be booked in advance, so we just turned up there. We were told that the next two tours were already full. After a while the very friendly lady in the shop realized that we were fairly disappointed and let us know that she could squeeze us in, if we did not mind doing the tour with a large group. So in the end we took part in the guided tour, which we enjoyed as it was informative and interesting. We also got samples of the beer to try and we had a light lunch, which was fine.

Well worth a visit and try samples of the various brews they carried. Lunch was excellent here and bought some great souvenirs for our bar ie. bar mat, coasters etc.

What a superb surprise for an off-the-cuff lunch. Called in on recommendation of friend for lunch and found ourselves in a superbly renovated building, manned by friendly welcoming staff. Then had lunch and it was EXCELLENT (fresh, nicely presented and tasty) at a reasonable price. Whats not to like.

Visited as we were passing. Pleasant enough place but everything seemed to be more expensive than if you bought it elsewhere! Even the tour.

This is a very well placed brewery with a lovely dining room. The beer is awesome. We had some nachos for lunch, very good.

We arrived dripping wet and cold. The staff immediately made us feel warm by seating us next to a heater and bringing hot drinks so we could warm up. The cafe is delightful with reasonably priced meals. A brewery tour is also available along with tastings. An excellent stop.

Had lunch here after a cold day touring. I had nachos, different than the USA version but good—don’t touch the handle of the container it comes in—burn’t my thumb. My sister had assorted seafood—she liked it and our guide had a ham sandwich and sweet potatoe fries which were very crispy. None of us drink so can’t comment on that but plenty of people there trying the samplers.

Interestingly, while there in the cafe, we did not sample any of the beer as the coffee was quite good! Have sampled the good beer elsewhere, of course!

We called in for a tasting visit and were offered a pint of an Orkney beer of choice, three taster samples of different beers or a menu of all of their beers.I had been warned about the Skullspltter before I went but could not resist trying one.

We visited the brewery cafe twice and had great lunches. Loved the decor of the cafe and the schoolhouse touches. Good atmosphere both times in the cafe and I wish them the best for the future.

Il posto è molto in voga è meglio prenotare. Io e mia moglie abbiamo trovato un tavolo con molta fortuna. Cibo buono e birra superlativa. Personale gentile e sala semplice ma di gran effetto. Da non perdere.

We did the brewery tour and ate in their restaurant. The tour is not expensive and includes three tastings. We have done brewery tours at other breweries but still managed to learn something new, so felt it was worthwhile doing. It was nice to spend time appreciating their different beers. After deciding upon our favourite, the beer was cheap to buy. We had a meal at the brewery and were glad that we had got there early because the restaurant filled up very quickly. If you want to guarantee getting a table it might be worth booking. The food was lovely and reasonably priced.

Abbiamo potuto effettuare la visita da soli ( 4 adulti e 4 bambini) con guida completamente dedicata a noi. Quindi siamo stati privilegiati. I bambin hanno ricevuto un foglio con un quiz che li ha subito coinvolti lasciandoci quindi la possibilita' di goderci il giro. La degustazione molto carina ha previsto l'assaggio di tre birre scelte fra quelle prodotte (3 x 200ml) per gli adulti mentre i piccoli hanno a loro volta recensito 3 succhi. Molto carino quindi e kids friendly. Un paio d'ore carine da spendere.

Just the best beer in the world! Don't miss the special reserve. Lovely restaurant in a former school room, great ambience & great food

The brewery restaurant was great place to stop for a warm lunch after seeing the Ring of Brodgar standing stones (only a 5-10 minute drive away). The food was good and everyone had different flight variations so we could sample more types of craft beer. All the beer was good! It was busy (almost always full while we were there) but my group didn't have difficulty getting a table for four. I'd recommend eating here if you're in the area.

We were passing the Brewery so decided to pop in for lunch. Absolutely no complaints about the service - we were seated quickly (even though it was very busy) and orders were taken and delivered promptly. Unfortunately, the quality / value for money didn't meet the same expectations as the service. We were 2 families, with a total of 4 adults and 3 kids and ordered sandwiches and fries. Whilst the sandwiches were ok, it was hard to justify a £6 - £7 price tag. Brown bread with a thin slice of cheese or ham and a very small side salad. Fries were fine, but again, value for money at £3.50 for a small pot of fries was lacking. Shame really as the staff and surroundings were great, but food (which was the purpose for coming) let it down.

Delicious beers and traditional food with a modern slant. A bit out of the way but well worth a visit (especially if you are not driving).

A former schoolhouse, themed accordingly, that does very good lunches. Service is friendly and efficient even during the very busy lunchtimes. The best beers are those brewed by the Orkney Brewery itself, and you can also have tours of the beer-making facilities. Good location, too - Skara Brae and Skaill House are not too far away.

We visit the brewery and we decided to have lunch there with the beer taste. The burgers were tasty and mixed with the beer, great

Indicar que los lunes tienen abierto, hoy hemoa disfrutado de la comida de Brewery y su cerveza. Muy buen sitio en las Orkney. Familiar, comida casera, un restaurante bueno, limpio y agradable.. todo genial. Probamos la lasaña y la hamburguesa, de postres brownie, junto a las cervezas, todo por 31£. Todas las personas que nos han atendido han sido muy simpaticas.

Arrived late in day and just missed tour but lovely girl gave us a quick show round and tons of information about Brewery. She was lovely wish I remembered her name. We will be back.

Called in to see what delights the brewery shop provided - decided to stay for coffee and cake - a clootie dumpling cake. Absolutely delicious, clearly fresh and great service made a fuss of our dog and brought him fresh water

My boyfriend and I were recommended to go here for lunch by our Air B&B; host.

The Tasting Hall is the bar-cum-restaurant-cafe. The Orkney Brewery beers are on tap but you can also have soft drinks, teas, coffees etc. The menu allows you to have a three course meal or cake or just have what you fancy. It’s all good. I had the seafood platter and my husband had the cheese platter. Both left us with no space for pudding. If you want to try a selection of beers without drinking huge volumes you can choose 3 types and have one third of a pint of each. The service is quick even when busy. Recommend booking ahead to avoid waiting.

Arrived fairly late. Initially busy - got into the last 3pm tour. Kids not that fussed about tour but there activity books, toys Corner, and a fruit juice tasting paddle for them to try while we sampled the beers. Should have come here to eat rather than at Scara Brae... Saw others food and looked great. Would be wrong not to leave without some beer...

We were site seeing and stopped for lunch two days; the food and service were terrific both times. The place is very clean and the restrooms very adequate and also clean. The cheese plate could easily have been shared between 2 people.

Die Führung in der Brauerei ist interessant und sehr detailliert. Anschliessend kann man drei Biere testen. Ob diese dem persönlichen Geschmack entsprecjen, ist jedem selbst überlassen...

...a berci solamente una birra, nemmeno top tra quelle della zona, perchè l’insalata con il pollo ed il piatto di salmone che abbiamo scelto sono stati una delusione...

We visited here and had lunch before touring the brewery.

We sat outside on a beautiful sunny morning and thoroughly enjoyed the coffee and the view Also solved our youngest daughters birthday present !

This is very much a 5* operation. The brewery is located in an old village schoolhouse and the building is very much in keeping with its local environment. The range of quality products in the shop is very tempting. The menu available in the well appointed Tasting House is just for an interesting, tasty lunch. The Orkney Brewery should feature on the itinerary of any visitor to Orkney.

we were fortunate enough to stop here twice while driving about in western Orkney. Very nice menu and beers/ales, will definitely stop in again when visiting Orkney.

The Orkney Brewery is a great visit to make. The staff are all very friendly and our Tour Guide, Joyce, was brilliant. She was great at telling the story of the Brewery and the brewing process.

Called in to buy some of the local beers on recommendation of a local brewer from where we come from not dissapointed beer good pleasant ladies in the office .

The staff were very friendly and helpful. An interesting and informative tour with John, one of the brewers on the site. The food was fantastic accompanied by the different beers from the tasting that you get following the tour. If you have room after the burger I would suggest to Dragonhead cake, loads of calories but worth it in the end.

It's a very small place, there is a cafe, very helpful staff. They have a very good tour guide who is very friendly and knowledgeable and he gave my kids an a great distillery tour that satisfied their curiosity. My kids also enjoyed the juice tasters they got when their parents got a beer tasting session.

Had the steak pie which was good but needed a bit more salt. It was also just steak on top of pastry, not really a pie.

Wenn man gerade von Bursey kommt gerne Bier trinkt und einen leichten Hunger hat sollte man hier abbiegen. Freundliches Personal Richtig gutes Essen und ein leckeres Bier Tasting kann und sollte man hier erleben

A great selection of Local beers in a beautiful location. The old schoolhouse restaurant serves excellent meals which can be washed down by the beers.

We love Northern Light so thought would visit the brewery especially as the platters in the cafe sounded great, massively disappointed, staff cut small chunks of food, basically presented and charged crazy prices, we are willing to spend to support the community but this was something else. The food was tasty, but pricing just outrageous.

Excellent resturant with good food a reasonable prices, and where you can sample some of the ales they produce there. Staff are very good and are very helpful.

We had lunch there, paying £30 for 2, (2 mains, 1 desert and drinks); the steak pie was great - lovely meat, a generous serving - whilst my wife had the King Haakon burger - an interesting take on the burger, and a good sized burger.

A good experience with great staff. Sandwiches could be a bit more exciting. Burgers looked great, though.