St Austell Brewery Visitor Centre in Cornwall, Isles of Scilly

We had some lovely food and did the tour after. It would have been nice if staff told us we could have 10% off our food as we were doing the tour, but we weren’t told that till after we had paid and no offer of a refund was made. Felt very money making rather than an experience to be savoured. Barry was an entertaining tour guide and clearly enjoyed his life long career at the brewery.

The welcome from entering the Hicks bar to the brewery tour was outstanding. Staff were friendly and welcoming. Dave took us on the tour and was so informative with great banter throughout. Highly recommend the tour and Hicks bar -great value for money

Had a lovely lunch today. Would thoroughly recommend. The staff are lovely and friendly. Ideal for families and as a bonus doggies are welcome. So you don't need to leave fido at home.

Highly recommend the brewery tour. Barry (Baz) our guide was brilliant. Very knowledgeable and beer tasting at the end was exceptional!! Also looks good for food and drink there as well!! Brilliant!!

Brilliant Brewery Tour, great to get history of the Brewery and the tasting session at the end was great with 8 ales to try. We had lunch in Hicks Bar after the tour and the food was lovely. Would highly recommend and definitely come again when next in Cornwall.

Had a lovely Lunch and then did the tour .. Barry was brilliant and we could have stayed all afternoon, however had a train to catch .. which we missed but worth it for the fantastic experience… would highly recommend but don’t book your trip home to early

Did the brewery tour first, with Dave, a superb guide, knowledgeable and funny...excellent value for money, £20 for full tour plus tasting menu at the end..(I recommend eating beforehand, especially if you're doing the 11am slot, some of the beverages are deceptively strong!!)...followed by lunch at Hicks Bar...tasty, reasonably priced ..10/10

A great 2 hour tour and tasting at St Austell. Dave and the team were fantastic, friendly and knowledgeable. The tasting section of the tour was the best I have been to. Trying the whole range, and a few special ones too! Would highly recommend this tour 😃

Average tour, but a very good and knowledgeable guide. Biggest grumble was that when we visited (Friday morning) the place was closing down for the week. They don't actually show you around the main brewery (they say for health and safety reasons). Instead you get to see a much smaller limited batch production setup, about the size of a tennis court. This was not doing anything, so it was just looking at a collection of tanks and pipes. Tour finished at the cask filling area. Had we done this bit first we would have seen something, but as it was approaching lunch Friday, the end of the working week, it was just apologies and watching people sweeping up. The talk on the history of the brewery and how they make beer was very good, but the actual tour, well let's say I have done other brewery tours that you see more, also at £20 hmmm.

Great time tasting the range of lagers, ales and stouts on offer from this brewery. Keagan was enthusiastic and knowledgeable about the whole process. We were the only ones on the tasting session which made it special.

Popped in on a walk with the dog, service was exceptional and very attentive.Ordered drinks and food, service was very quick and beer was exceptional as always. Food was delicious and their beer flavoured chili sauce and BBQ sauce is amazing, purchased them from the shop. A definite choice for a delicious lunch on a sunny afternoon, outside in the sun!

Wow….expectations were completely exceeded. The visitor centre was interesting and had a modern feel (so didn’t alienate the children!), they even had an old style billiards table you could play on and a table football too.The restaurant was light and airy, staff were so friendly and the menu had something for everyone.We tried the beer tasting, and they were all very nice. When the food came out it was well presented and tasted delicious.After more beer and desserts, we made our way down to the shop and bought more beer (& some lovely looking pint glasses).

I’ve been a big fan of St Austell beers for a while now and thought I’d pay a quick visit to the brewery while I was visiting Cornwall. As well as buying some beer and souvenirs, we ended up staying for lunch at Hicks Bar. I can’t recommend it highly enough, the staff are really friendly, helpful and make you feel very welcome. The food was really good and the restaurant was clean, modern and family friendly (we have a 4 yr old and an 8 yr old). I’m really glad I took the time to visit, and highly recommend it if you’re in the area.

Visited Monday 19th July the first day on reopening. We were met with a lovely team of people so friendly, couldn’t do enough for us. The food was first rate extremely good choice and well presented.I couldnt believe it could be such high quality after being closed for eighteen months.That is a credit to all of the staff who you could see worked so well together enjoying what they do. Will be my first port of call when we next visit.Well done guys!

I visited to buy from the brewery shop only. There are no tours at the moment due to COVID19, unfortunately. I have done the tour in the past and this was pretty good so keep this in your To do list when they are able to restart!The shop is well stocked with beer from the on site brewery, including all the regular favourites, plus special one off brews. There are also various wines and spirits.Prices are great, considering everything is produced on site, and the service was excellent, with help getting my purchases to my car (with the required distancing maintained at all times). Check opening times before a visit as these may not be the usual times.

Be warned that if you are expecting a tour or attraction its not. Its only a shop but if its beer you're looking for there's plenty to buy!

We visited on the off chance that tours would be happening, the brewery tours and restaurant were closed due to COVID. However, all was not lost as the shop was open.The friendly greeting was all we needed to enter and discovered a great range of souvenirs. We made up a number of beer gift packs, and probably saved a few pounds. There were a number of local Gins for sale as well as beers and a good range of brewing memorabilia. If you are passing its is worth a look.

Looking forward to the tour but unfortunately due to COVID-19 tour and restaurant close so made do with the shop which had loads interesting gins, whisky and rum plus the st Austell range beers. Brought some memorabilia, beer and gin.

Called to purchase some gifts for family. Great little shop and friendly staff. We can’t wait to come back next April hopefully for a brewery tour

Great brewery tour. Very interesting, informative. Friendly, knowledgable staff. Great tasting experience. Many beers tried. Thoroughly recommend

Very good value for food and drinks pleasant staff very helpful Good parking and easy access visited several times and always the same

We visited whilst on holiday in Cornwall. We had a great tour around St Austell Bewery. Anne was very informative and knowledgeable. I would highly recommend this tour.

Went on a tour with a group of friends. Very friendly staff, very informative guide, lots of beers to taste - and a delicious pastie as well. Well worth a visit.

Friendly staff and a relaxed ambience. Lots of interesting brewery-related paraphernalia and a couple of tours/tasting if you're interested. Of course, plenty of good beer. Reasonable choice of well-prepared food from a typical pub menu. Excellent take-away from the brewery shop and some nice brewery-related gifts.

We had a great 90' tour led by Pat who have a full explanation of the brewing process and of At Austell history after welcoming us with half a pint.She then ran a passionate beer tasting letting us try 12 different beers covering the wide range of at Austell produce, including some local seasonal brews that we wouldn't find easily elsewhere.Great experience, good value, amazing beers!

What a wonderful lunch with family and an afternoon out with abundant entertainment! Visited on a special event day with music going on throughout the afternoon and evening. Bands were great, but the beer tasting in the visitor centre was even better - now we know what we like! The food for lunch helped sustain us through the rest of the day. Highly recommended - very friendly staff.

We arrived at the Brewery on a rainy chilly day but from the very first we soon became warm and totally engrossed with the atmosphere of the building. First stop a coffee to get us alert and ready for our experience. The mixture of old and new was exhilarating. The staff throughout made it a pleasant and informative trip through time and the life of St.Austell Brewery. The sampling area was bright and jolly and you could make your own bottle label to take home for a souvenir. The food was delicious but make sure you have saved enough time to enjoy everything.

Informative tour with very enthusiastic tour guide, Keegan. Tasting at the end was fun with a good range of beers to be tasted. Good value for money.

We visited for the 90min brewery tour on the recommendation of friends and weren't disappointed. Our guide Roy was very charismatic and despite having been on several brewery tours before, I still learned some new facts! We also got to try several different beers and hear some great trivia about this historic brewery. The complimentary pasty and pint at the end were a nice touch, I could happily have stayed in their pub a while longer!

Good brewery tours are offered here and we found the tour interesting. Drinks and food on offer at the visitor centre.

Meal was superb, well prepared and presented. The staff were very helpful and courteous. As a local to the area , it is a shame that we had not visited the venue sooner. We will be back very soon for sure.

We attended the visitor centre for a 90 minute brewery tour. After we ate in the restaurant and sampled some more of their excellent real ale. On the specials board was the trio of smoked fish terrine, a most excellent well presented meal.

Stopped here for some food. (Not the brewery tour) fish finger sandwich was really tasty. Brew burger was nice too. Decent portions, friendly staff

Sophie was very informative. Fun and lighthearted in her commentary but very knowledgeable. The group had a variety if ages and all catered for really well. Tasting session was great. Well worth the money

Very Informative. Lots of things the same as all brewing but the great thing about visiting different breweries is that they all have their own histories, differing displays and mainly different beers.

Lovely pub setting overlooking the harbour. Nice atmosphere inside. We only ordered a light bite, some cheesy chips, they came very quickly and were a very large portion! Staff were attentive and polite. What more do you need?

Visited whilst staying nearby, really worth visit, interesting and informative,ate in Hicks bar on site,food really good and great selection of drinks,staff friendly and welcoming, would recommend for a visit and a beer or two

Took the 90 minute brewery tour led by Tracy and it was informative and interesting. Tasted quite a few of their beers at the end. Well worth a visit!!

Me my 3 sons and a friend went on the tour one rainy day. The tour guide was Tracy who clearly enhanced our experience with her enthusiasm and knowledge. It was a well run and very interesting and enjoyable experience. The range of tasters were outstanding, i can highly recommend this day to beer and non beer drinkers. Will definitely return next time we visit Cornwall.

We did the Brewhouse Tour with Nick as our guide. It was a great day out and well worth the money. Nick was friendly and happy to answer any questions we had and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. It was bought for my dad's birthday and the icing on the cake was Nick letting us take a photo of him behind the bar too. Couldn't have wished for a better day. Thank you St Austell

We visited this place on the 30 / 7 / 19. As a family of 5 we booked a table in the ‘Hicks bar’ (high recommended to book) and also booked a ‘Brewing experience’ tour. Food was absolutely lovely and staff were very friendly. The tour around the building was a lovely historical insight. Would defiantly come back again on another holiday.

This was one of the best tours we have been on. We were booked onto the two hour Brewhouse Tour and it was fascinating! I don’t drink beer, so it was very much a trip with my husband in mind, but even I found the whole place interesting. Our tour guide was Roy, who has been part of it for over 40 years, so he really knew his stuff and was a great host. In honesty, he was brilliant. The facilities are done to a great standard and it is all well thought out. Even the pasty was perfect! The price (we paid £25 each) was reasonable as the service and attention to detail you get is worth every penny. The only thing to mention is that there is an early shift on Fridays in order to clean the equipment, so we didn’t get to see some parts of the process ‘at work’. However this didn’t take away from the experience and no matter what day, I’d highly recommend a visit.

We are local to this establishment and never been here before. We went for lunch only and were pleasantly surprised. .The place has a reasonable size carpark, good disabled access, and the welcoming is friendly. The whole place looks clean and tidy. The food was excellent and the table service was all that could be asked for. The prices were a little inflated over local pubs, but the Brewery is a tourist attraction, so this can be expected. However everyone in our party of 5 said they would come back again and we will.

Booked onto this tour as its something I have wanted to do for a long time now - glad I did the tour but wish I had done it on a weekday rather than a Sunday so that I could have got a better feel for how it all works, hmm my bad on this one. The guide was great, very knowledgable about how it all works and the history of the company too, even added a little humour to the tour too.

What can i say, St Austell brewery brew some of the finest beers in the world all made from local ingredients and Cornish water that make these beers the finest we had a wonderful tour guide Anne she answered any questions we had highly recommended it

Lovely to see what they’ve done with the place. Relaxed setting, Lovely food. Friendly staff. Nice to have lift access.

Great place showing exactly how to deliver this type of experience well.

This centre holds a secret that you must discover to enjoy the delights of Cornwall! The history of the brewery is fascinating and being a women I was thrilled that a women had been instrumental in making the business as it is today! Of course the beers have to be sampled with the good old Cornish pastie what a wonderful way to spend an afternoon! Special offers are also included don’t miss out on this amazing centre!

We phoned ahead and booked ourselves on a tour just to make sure we didn't miss out. The staff were all very helpful and attentive and we learned a lot about the workings of the brewery. Our group of about 8 were given the choice of a pint, a bottle to take home or a tasting - we were the only 2 to choose the tastings which meant we got our informative guides sole attention and tried 7 or 8 delicious ales to compare and contrast. We would definitely recommend it and look forward to our next visit.

A bit disappointed as there seemed to be a shop or a tour, no obvious visitor centre. Nobody asked if they could help, and there is no proper signage.

A really lovely visitor centre...friendly staff...great range of gifts and beer that you can only get at the brewery....lovely pint in the bar above...highly recommended.

We stopped here for a tour of the brewery, unfortunately they were undergoing maintenance so no tour. Staff advised that we could look around for free, which we did. It did not cover all that is on the tour, but satisfied our curiosity.

I love the staff, the food and the ale, the beer festival is always a fantastic night out, we will be back again

After an interesting insight to St Austell Brewery you can partake of the selection of drink direct from the brewery, the restaurant is a pleasant & airy area & the food is 1st class,A pleasant place for lunch, The shop sells all the products produced here along with glasses & bar mats, tea towels & gifts related to this place. Well worth a visit.

Fabulous trip round brewery, great selection of beers to sample, staff were really excellent 10/10 The shop was well stocked with lots of different Cornish products Walked from train/ bus station, uphill but not far

We really enjoyed the tour of the brewery in St Austell. The history of how the brewery came about was interesting and the tasting of the beers even better!! Worth a visit if you’re in Cornwall. We had lunch in Hicks bar in the brewery too, which we thoroughly enjoyed.

We loved the our self tour and sampling.We had a couple of drinks in lovely surroundings.The food looked good as well.This place must be great in the summer.The staff were very friendly and the shop has lots to offer.A nice place to be.

Thoroughly enjoyed our 90 minute tour. Pat was very welcoming and knowledgeable. Beer tasting was first class. The centre has excellent facilities and provides samples of beers not widely available. Good value.

We took the visitors tour and found it very informative, we learnt so much. Our tour guide Tracey was very knowledgeable about the brewery and it's products. The tour takes about an hour it's well worth the £12 fee as you get 2 drinks to either have there or take home bottles

The tour was very Informative. What a lovely guy Roy was. He showed us around and told us the history of the brewery and we had the chance to try what ever we liked.

We went after visiting the excellent exhibition, which I’ve reviewed elsewhere. You might expect that you’d be trying to persuade yourself that the food is OK just so you could go for lunch to try some of the great range of beer at the bar, but you’d be wrong: the food is excellent and the surroundings light and airy. We had very good crab sandwiches, a very classy burger and scampi and chips. As you’d expect, there is an extensive range of St Austell beers, both on tap and bottled, including some special and small batch brews, so plenty to try, which only serves to encourage you to visit the shop afterwards. There’s also a good range of wine and soft drinks.

We have been here quite a few times for both the brewery tour and to eat in the restaurant.

Loved the tour, very informative. Good range of tasters and a fabulous lunch. Battered mushrooms, we all raved about the batter. Friendly staff too. We liked the fact that it had been kept in the family and they rated their staff very highly. Well done.

We visited hicks bar for a drink as its dog friendly on way back from st austell town day out and as usual the bar is kept clean and staff friendly and polite. We had the citrus grove small batch ale and a really nice drink so we bought a case (We supply the lemon zest to them for it) and a bottle of navy seadog tarquins rum. We asked whether they sold the rathlee rum to sample as they sold it in shop but they didn't. Would recommend a visit as lots of stuff to purchase in the shop.

A great Brewery tour, we totally recommend you visit St Austell Brewery. Nick shared all his knowledge of new and old beers. He has a good sense of humour and got everyone involved.

A proper family run company with a passion for everything they do. We did the brewery tour, very interesting. Our tour guide Tracy explained the process from start to finish and even did it mind the constant hands up from the little ones with lots of questions. After the tour we stopped in Hicks restaurant to eat. Food was very good. All in all a great day out.

Excellent tour of the site. Anne does a great job of explaining everything on the tour and answering any questions. Really interesting and well priced shop at the end. Bar / restaurant afterwards is well worth a visit. The team there were also very attentive.

Really well organised visitor experience with some delightful, welcoming and knowledgeable people. Food at the cafe is well above average and very reasonably priced. See review of the brewery for more detail of the tour but this is excellent value.

Thought the tour was a very worth while experience. Staff were all super welcoming and friendly. Our guide Anne was clearly very passionate about her job and did a great job of explaining the process of making beer. Have always been a lager lout myself but am starting to see the error of my ways, Korev is a great bridge between Lager and ale and since my visit I am becoming increasingly partial to "Proper Job" a very light and drinkable alternative to lager.

Lovely place to buy their beers. Very nice bar upstairs serving food if you wish. They are happy for you to have a little taste of any beers for sale at the bar. Free wifi too.

Enjoyed a couple of hours at the brewery, having lunch and then a good look at the museum. The food was lovely and the staff are all very friendly. The free tasting is highly recommended.

Four of us visited Hicks Bar in the Visitor Centre for lunch. We were impressed with the variety of meals and their prices. I enjoyed a mushroom burger with Cornish brie. The service was friendly and efficient and we all enjoyed our lunches and the beer available at the bar too!

I booked a tour of the brewery for my husbands birthday treet. The tour was very informative and if was led by a lovely lady called Patricia. Then we could sample some beers. After we went into the light and airy restaurant and had drinks and lunch. My hubby had burger and fries and I had a ploughman’s. they were both fresh and well presented. The staff are 1st class. There was no rush to go. We then visited the shop before leaving. The date of the visit was 2nd June. Thank you, we shall be returning and have told others as well.

Very welcoming visitor centre. Good place to purchase your favourite beers, ales lager and more besides. Los of small batch beers to buy to. Unfortunately we did not do the tour as we had our dog but we could take him around the visitor centre.

Had a lovely tour around the brewery. Patricia, our guide was really friendly and knowledgeable about every thing. It was nice to be guided by someone so passionate. The tasting session at the end was fab, great selection of beers to taste.

Thought we would come here for a coffee a lovely lady checked to see if the lift was working it was so went up for a coffee good for disabled the staff were really friendly there the coffee was lovely def go again when in area

Stopped here out of interest to see what it was like as I had heard good things and was wonderfully surprised by my experience!! Lovely bar area and an outside decking along with a great selection of st austells beers! The food was amazing and great value for money! Will definitely be coming back and would recommend it for lunch for anybody in the area whether going on a brewery tour or not!

An excellent family afternoon out. Well organised and friendly. Once in the brewery tour area you have the shop, restaurant in which everybody bar us was eating and the Hicks Bar. The Hicks bar was relaxed with the bar staff knowing there stuff about the St Austell Brewery. But thanks to Roy and his wife who could not do enough for us.

We visited here yesterday and we really enjoyed our visit the staff were very friendly and helpful we had a look around at the small pilot distillery which was very informative with grains and wheats and watched a small section of bottling and packing through a viewing gallery, we didn’t do the full tour but my husband did come out with six bottles of beer!

My partner and I recently visited on a trip to St Austell and had a great time.

Just back from a fantastic experience at St Austell brewery. We had a large group tour and it was great from our arrival to the end. Staff were extremely welcoming and friendly. Pat our tour guide was wonderful and extremely knowledgeable. Drinks, food and setting were superb and we all had a brilliant day. Thank you

We called on a Monday morning en route to Charlestown but being out of season tours were only running at 11am and 1pm so we were too early. However we were able to have a look round the museum which provides a really good insight into the history of this family run firm. The shop is also really well stocked, especially for beer lovers so we chose a few beers to try. Enjoyable morning and well worth a visit - we'll return for the tour and tasting next time.

Brilliant experience. Visited with our young baby and were unsure about accessibility. The bar and shop staff were very friendly, made us all feel welcome and made it a very enjoyable afternoon. The food and beer were all delicious. Thank you

Whenever we are in the area we always try to go here. The meals never disappoint and we generally choose from the specials board for something different. I always have a flight of beers and look forward to trying three different ones. Service is always cheerful and helpful.

We paid a visit the St Austell Brewery hoping for a tour and were disapointed to learn that the Brewery tours were no longer available... because of 'Health & Safety' (soon we won't be able to do anything!!)

great place to visit if you like beer interesting tour around the brewery and a sample at the end , great range of beers and ciders available in the shop here I always overspend on the take outs

I call in at St Austell Brewery every time I visit Cornwall, not only to stock up on their gorgeous ales, but the brewery tour is excellent value, and good food and real ales are available in the bar/restaurant.

After seeing their stall at the St Austell Food Fare, we decided to visit the brewery. We did the tour, not only was it very informative, it was extremely enjoyable. They also have on site bar that you can visit without doing the tour, the food was excellent.

We had lunch with friends before our tour and enjoyed an excellent choice of beers, great service and excellent food. Great ambience and nice facilities... Exit through the gift shop....

Visited the shop and Hicks bar, good range of beers on offer and the museum next to the bar was fasinating.

Fabulous place to visit; would highly recommend a tour of the brewery. Staff very friendly & helpful.

We had a great tour with Anne who showed us the brewery and will look out for Skinners Ales here in Essex and Australia!

Visited as part of a family day out. Guided tour included a free taster before you start and a drink or two bottles at the end (soft drink for 14 to 17 year olds). Guided tour lasted around an hour and was very interesting- obviously a company proud of its heritage. Would recommend the pub food for a meal afterwards

We popped in to the centre for the brewing experience.

So today was meant to be a rainy day. So we thought we'd give it a try.

Called on a very wet day and they were extremely busy buy we managed to find a table. We ate off the specials board which always contains different meals from normal pubs specials boards. My 'Kevins Fried Chicken' was really good in quality, quantity and value.

The visitor centre at St Austell brewery is free. The "brewery " tour which cost us £39 for 2 adults and 3 children involved a tour of the free visitor centre which we had already seen (for free). It included watching a film of the brewery which is no longer in use, not the brewery that St Austell use for brewing.

Popped in here by chance, and so glad we did. The staff were so friendly. We did not take the tour, but those who did were very impressed. We bought things from the shop, then went up to the bar for a drink. Lovely relaxed atmosphere, and though we did not eat, other people were enjoying their meals. Would recommend going here when in St Austell.

Recently went with friends on the tour. Although a few bits not running as it's a Saturday it was a great tour. Our Tour guide "Roy" was brilliant and so very welcoming. Excellent value. Food looked superb in the cafe but we stuck to the Tribute.

We enjoyed our lunch here after a brewery tour. The menu has a broad selection and I decided to have Ploughman's