Maybe I just don't get it but I've been on a lot of brewery tours and this is the first time I've been on a tour where there was no actual brewing going on and the machines were fake. Instead of seeing actual beer being made, there's an LCD screen with CGI beer. And the worst part is that this is expensive. I've been on others that were free. I don't know how this gets good reviews. The tour guide was good but this whole thing is a joke.

Great tour, fun nosing and tasting all the ingredients, absolute gem of a guide, Katie is indeed a cutie! Keep her going 😃. Superb ales, tried the red ale, pale ale and kilkennies (red ale with nitrogen). Had very good fun, avsolutely worth the visit and detour if you hadn't planned it.

You HAVE to do this tour. So much fun and a good portion of their history. I've done a lot of beer tours and this was one of the best.

I enjoyed the Smithwick's Experience more than the Guinness Tour (but then found out they're owned by the same people so...) Either way, it was a great tour, and I highly recommend not missing it if you're visiting Ireland. The town of Kilkenny is worth a day of visiting itself. Our guide was fantastic, and you were able to have a more intimate experience than the Guinness tour. Plus, I really like red ales now! Make sure to reserve a few days in advance because they did sell out.

Good fun. Adam was a jolly guide. Nothing overly spectacular but a grand way to spend an hour in Kilkenny. When booking online they add €2 to each ticket for no apparent reason. Tried hard to find the reason for it but it wasn't documented anywhere. Ended up paying it but I would have rather kept the 6€ in my pocket instead of giving it to John Smithwick for no reason

Magnificent tour and great to see it back going again. For the price of the tour and a pint at the end it's unbelievable value. Really nice people working there, from the Tour guide to the girls in the bar and shop.

Good tour although it's the first brew/distillery tour that I have been on where no operations are actually occuring. Kind of odd to see videos instead of actual happenings. The family history was very interesting. Our tour guide was extremely young and was very scripted

Awesome tour! Our tour guide, Darren, was full of information and answered all of our questions. He stayed around for the tasting and answered more questions. Highly recommend this tour!

I had a great time on the tour here. It is better than the Guinness tour in Dublin.

Sehr schöne, stimmige Tour durch die Smithwick Brauerei in Kilkenny. Top modernes Ambiente, alles neu gemacht. Der Tourguide Adam war super. Sein Vortrag war informativ, lustig und erfrischend. Die anschließende Bier Verkostung ebenso. Danke.

The tour was fantastic! They clearly put a lot of effort into the presentation of the history of the Smithwick's brewery and family. Anna was a terrific guide and answered all of my questions. The lesson on the brewing process was quite comprehensive and interesting. This is one of the best brewery tours I have done. Highly recommended even if you already know your stuff.

The place is beautifully refurbished and transformed to an "experience" compare to the past fully functional brewery. The venue itself is very beautiful but a bit too much of technology involved. It loses the sense of the real in some points. It was Christmas Eve when we visited and you could say that our tour guide would rather be anywhere else that going around with tourists. Though, that made him to be honest and cut all the unnecessary marketing extras and be to the point. Very kindly and friendly answering anything he could and giving us a very authentic experience of the Irish hospitality without the cookie cutter corporate experience we had in Guinness factory in Dublin (same company group). Of course they beer was amazing but I would stick with the ale, the rest wasn't something special to make me order them again.

I honestly can't say enough good things about the Smithwick's Experience after visiting Kilkenny! I see some reviews mentioning that they do not make Smithwick's on site any longer taking from the experience which is true but we found during our visit that it was very pleasant. You will have to go to the car park but it is very close & convenient. When we first walked in to the experience they had an original cobble part that was really cool to see showing you the way it was back in the original days. Our guide was on time and professionally took us on the journey into the evolution of Smithwick's. The animated experiences were well done and had a nice balance on our tour with the guide taking us through some parts & movie/animated parts for others. We learned how the beer was made and then came the best part of the experience for me, we went to the end of the tour into the ingredients table. Here you actually get to see, feel, and if you want to taste the ingredients in the steps. I LOVED this part!! I didn't know what hops tasted like in its harvested form for example, but I do now! Put up all the displays you want, this makes the experience for me. For us this really made it cool after hearing the history and how they make it. While Guinness does own the brand now, I feel like this tour is much better than the Guinness tour giving a more personal feel on the guided tour so I'm glad they haven't mimicked what they have at the Storehouse tour. At the end of the tour you end up at the bar for your pint or in my case flight which was very good. I didn't realize that the Kilkenny is essentially Smithwick's with nitro but it was great. It also wasn't crowded which was a pleasant experience for us to be able to talk, especially after the Guinness bar was unbelievably busy so another feather in the cap of the quieter more personal feel of it. You end up in the merch store after having your pint or two & they have some nice things to try out. I highly recommend this one for a great experience. If I am ever in Ireland again I would divert myself here just to come back & enjoy this experience again. When asked about memorable experiences from our trip to Ireland this comes up every time already with me telling people to add Kilkenny & the Smithwick's experience to their trip. Kilkenny is a great place to visit & if you want an experience away from hustle and bustle this is a great place to go.

The Smithwicks experience is a great brewery tour which was one of best I have been on. I am slightly biased given Smithwick's is one of my favourite pints to drink, but besides that the knowledge and history being discussed will be interesting to any visitor. The tour even discussed some prominent Irish history and dates I was not so sure of myself! The best thing of all is the quality of the staff all of which were very welcoming. Jorg did a fantastic job taking us through the tour and getting some laughs as well as keeping us fully engaged throughout. Once we got to the bar, we got speaking to Simon who had a very impressive knowledge of the industry which was really fascinating. Overall, it felt well worth the money and would definitely advise people to give it a go.

Wonderfull guided tour. Full of fascinating information and lots of amazing things to look at. The tickets also include a free drink.

Great way to start a night out. The tour is very accurate and informative (from someone in the alcohol production industry), as well as fun and engaging. Jorg did a great job making it entertaining, educational, and also accessible to the German and Italian speakers. At the end you should get the flight to fully appreciate the tour you just had. I will say the only thing I'd change is the seating in the red room with the Smithwick's family history, you're better off standing or getting a spot facing the portraits instead of keeping your head on a swivel for those 10 or so minutes.

Super cool tour and history of the company, but way too expensive. be mindful of what time you go as the price changes for peak hours

Great tour, interesting and fun.

Nice brewery tour that you don't want to miss, especially if you are a beer person.

We spent 8 days driving and exploring Ireland. This by far, was one of my favorite attractions. Great staff who made us fell like neighbors, not visitors from the States. Seriously, would recommend this over the Guiness Tour (yes we did it the day prior) hands down.

Good tour. Quick, fun, and informative. The tour guide was incredibly friendly and spoke to us for some time after the tour while we were drinking our beer paddle!

They weren’t doing tours the day we were there but thankfully we were still able to try the awesome beer! We ordered the flight and all the beers were great. The staff was so friendly and told us all about the history of Smithwick. Overall it was a fun way to spend an over in Kilkenny.

Für 20 Euro kriegt man eine ca 45 minütige Führung inklusive vieler Informationen und Geschichten zur Brauerei und dem Herstellungsprozess. Gegen Ende erwartet einen eine kleine Geschmacks- und Geruchsprobe der einzelnen Zutaten. Abschließend kann man im Pub noch ein Bier for free genießen. Diese Führung ist auf jeden Fall ihr Geld wert.

Für 2 Personen mit 3 Test Biere pro Person kostete der Eintritt 48 Euro, was ich zum schluss zu teuer finde. Also die jeweils 3 verschiedenen Biere waren noch nicht mal Pint Gläser voll. Die Tour ist gut, aber nicht die beste für eine Brauerrei. Wer denkt, das er sehen kann, wie richtig Bier gebraut wird, täuscht sich extrem. Man wird rumgeführt in der alten Brauerrei, aber es wird hier kein Bier mehr gebraut. Dieses wird einem aber nicht vor der Tour gesagt oder eher vor dem kauf der Tickets. Die 48 Euro hätten wir auch besser in einem Pub vertrinken können und dort hätten wie mehr Spass bei gehabt. Diese Tour können wir gar nicht empfehlen, denn dafür ist sie viel zu teuer. In anderen Brauerreien sind die Touren besser und billiger. For 2 people with 3 test beers per person, entry cost 48 euros, which I find too expensive in the end. The 3 different beers were not even full pint glasses. The tour is good but not the best for a brewery. Anyone who thinks they can see how beer is brewed is extremely mistaken. You are shown around the old brewery, but beer is no longer brewed here. But you won't be told this before the tour or rather before you buy the tickets. We could have drunk the 48 Euros better in a pub and we would have had more fun there. We cannot recommend this tour at all, because it is much too expensive for that. In other breweries the tours are better and cheaper.

Very funny and informative tour! The place is beautifully designed, you can try and taste different things. It's worth every Euro.

Es wird eine interessante Führung geboten. Am Stanort wird allerdings überhaupt kein Bier mehr gebraut. Am Ende der Führung kann man Kosten und der Shop bietet nette Souvenirs.

We went on the guided tour and I think Darren was our guide. He was very knowledgeable and funny. Enjoyed it thoroughly. The sniffing and tasting part was fun. And more importantly, the drink at the end. We decided to do the 3 half pints and 1 full pint. That way we got the 3 half pints first to see which we liked the most and then after got the one we liked as a single pint. Great to learn how Smithwick family played a big role in Kilkenny and Ireland as a whole.

Was not expecting to enjoy this as much as we did, but Darren was a great guide - we learned so much. The tour itself was fun and interactive. Plus a tasty pint at the end!

My sister and I went in spontaneously and were able to get tickets for the next tour. Katy was our tourguide and she was absolutely amazing! She was very knowledgeable and provided a very enjoyable experince for us. Got a pint of Smithwicks after the tour included in the tickets!

Excellent tour, really informative and interesting. All the people we met from Smithwick's experience were incredibly friendly and helpful, Simon, Darren and Regina. The tour itself is well worth doing, takes about 45 minutes, and different options available, a pint or tasting board at the end of the tour. It's great that this tour has kept going, so important to keep the legacy of the Franciscan friary of St. Francis Abbey and the Smithwick family brewery alive, even if Diagio have moved brewing to Dublin. Great experience, highly recommend.

We made a last minute decision to take the tour while we were in Kilkenny at the end of July. We waited about 20 minutes until the next tour started. The Experience had just re-opened a couple weeks earlier and it had a fresh and modern feel. Our tour guide Megan was full of energy and brought the tour to life, even continuing to chat with us while we enjoyed some pints afterwards. A shout out to the staff in the gift shop as well for being lots of fun.