Innis & Gunn

The Innis & Gunn brewery sits just outside Perth, and if you've ever nursed one of their oak-aged ales, you'll want to see where the magic happens. The visitor experience here is properly unpretentious - you're walking through an actual working brewery, not some theme park version of one. The tour takes you past the fermentation tanks and into the heart of their operation, and you get to see the oak casks that give their signature beers that distinctive vanilla and wood character. It's loud, it smells of grain and yeast, and it's genuinely interesting stuff. The tasting room is where things get fun. You'll sample several of their core range - the original oak-aged ale is smooth and complex, nothing like the mass-produced lagers most people assume all beer tastes like. Allow a couple of hours if you're doing the full tour and tasting; just the shop and tasting bar takes forty minutes or so. Families with older kids will get something from it, though it's really aimed at actual beer enthusiasts rather than casual visitors. If you're based at Newmill Farm, just down the road, this makes a solid half-day outing that doesn't rely on the weather. Going mid-week beats weekends for a more relaxed atmosphere. Worth the detour if you drink beer; less so if you don't.