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Alexandria Historic Breweries Walking Tour and Pub Guide

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With the new self-guided walking tour, visitors can explore Alexandria’s rich beer history while sampling brews at a choice of 15 pubs and restaurants along the way. Pick up  Alexandria’s Historic Breweries: A Walking Tour & Pub Guide at the  Alexandria Visitors Center at 221 King Street and at participating pubs and restaurants (listed below). The map will guide you through a comprehensive history of brewing in Alexandria, while designated “Hops Stops” highlight top places to pause for a brew or snack. Hops Stops are denoted by  Hop Stops Icon. Physical sites are denoted by  Brewery markers Icon markers.

Use the hashtag  #ALXBrewTour as you share photos of your tour experience on  InstagramTwitter and  Facebook.

 

Free King Street Trolley

As always, please drink responsibly. Hop on and off the  free King Street Trolley, which runs from the  King St-Old Town Metrorail station to the waterfront seven days a week. See  DashBus.com/Trolley for schedule.

 

Brief History of Beer in Alexandria

Established in 1749, this bustling port town brimmed with Scottish merchants and Irish immigrants. Because public drinking water didn’t yet exist, people quenched their thirst with beer, a staple of 18th-century life and the preferred beverage of dockworkers, shipwrights, sailors and families alike.

Alexandria was home to the largest pre-Prohibition brewery in the south, and one of the most historically relevant breweries in U.S. history, the Robert Portner Brewing Company.

Also known as the Tivoli Brewery, which brewed from 1862-1916, the Robert Portner Brewing Company closed when Virginia passed the 18th Amendment and Prohibition ensued. Only in 2011 would production brewing return to Alexandria, with the arrival of  Port City Brewing Company.

Aslin Beer Co. is a spacious brewery and taproom, located in Alexandria’s West End, replete with a modern-Scandinavian design. Aslin...
847 S. Pickett Street Alexandria, Virginia
Lost Boy Cider is Northern Virginia’s first urban cidery. We create hand-crafted ciders using real apples and all-natural ingredients like...
317 Hooffs Run Drive Alexandria, Virginia
Port City Brewing Company is an award-winning craft brewery and proud producer of an exciting line of hand-made, great quality,...
3950 Wheeler Avenue Alexandria, Virginia
Mieza Blendery is a different approach to making beer. With a blendery, the objective is to make a lot of...
109 Clermont Avenue Alexandria, Virginia
Atlas Brew Works Alexandria Brewery & Tap Room is slated to open in mid-2024 in the Carlyle Crossing mixed-use development.
2429 Mandeville Lane Alexandria, VA 22332
Created by master winemaker, Gize Negussie, Negus Winery and Meadery Tasting Room opened in Alexandria, Virginia, in late fall 2023.
5509 Vine Street Suite A Alexandria, Virginia
At Orkney Springs Distillery we pride ourselves on exceptional quality from the initial concept to the final product, our attention...
3125 Mount Vernon Avenue Alexandria, Virginia

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