Merrimack’s Family Friendly Anheuser-Busch Brewery

This past Saturday, my family and I had the opportunity to visit New Hampshire’s own Anheuser-Busch Brewery in Merrimack, NH. The Brewery’s countryside setting paired with its beautiful stables and Clydesdales make it both picturesque and family friendly.  The Anheuser-Busch Brewery in Merrimack is a true gem in New Hampshire and I highly recommend a visit.

The Clydesdales

I’ll begin by telling you about my childrens’ favorite part of our Anheuser-Busch experience – the Clydesdales!  The Clydesdale Hamlet is about a 5 minute walk from Merrimack’s Tour Center.  Here you can do a self-guided tour of the stables, visit with the Clydesdales and take advantage of all of the amazing photo opportunities that the stables and Clydesdales offer.  Anheuser-Busch’s beautiful stables, majestic Clydesdales and historic wagons make for a wonderful experience.  This experience is open to the public and free!

 

 

While visiting the stables we were able to meet Merrimack’s Clydesdale Diamond and Assistant Handling Supervisor Mark.  Our whole family immediately fell in love with Diamond.  We are so grateful to Mark for our Clydesdale meet and greet.

After Diamond went back to her stall, Bud, the Dalmatian, came out to visit us.  Bud was a huge hit!  Can you tell?

 

 

Family (Holiday!) Photographs with the Clydesdales

The stables and the Clydesdales make a picturesque backdrop for family pictures and in particular, holiday pictures.  Here’s my family posing with our favorite Clydesdale Diamond.  Anheuser-Busch’s Photographer, Emily, took this picture and I thought she did a great job.  Getting the whole NH Kids crew to look in the same direction, let alone to take a lovely photograph, is a feat – thank you Emily!

You can have your own photo opportunity with a Clydesdale on the first Saturday of every month from 1:00pm-3:00pm.  Upcoming dates for a photo opportunity include November 1st and December 6th.

 Emily also captured this sweet moment with my little peanut and our new furry friend, Bud.

The Brewery Tour

While at Anheuser-Busch we also took party in the Complimentary Brewery Tour (and yes, the kids came too!).  I had my reservations about taking the kids on this tour.  I’d never been on an Anheuser-Busch Tour before and I wasn’t sure whether it would be appropriate for kids.  I was very pleasantly surprised at how much my children enjoyed the tour.  They found the entire Brewery experience interesting and had lots of (very random) questions throughout.  Our tour guides Alecia and Taylor were truly phenomenal.  They had a clear love for their jobs, gave a very interesting tour (I learned a ton!) and, most importantly to me, were incredibly gracious with my children.  Alecia and Taylor handled every unpredictable question from my little guy with kindness and patience.  They also played an entertaining game of peek-a-boo with my one-year-old when she got a little wiggly.  You know the expression “It takes a village”?  Well, on this tour I felt like I had my own little Anheuser-Busch Village helping me!

The kids favorite part of the tour was its finale in the Hospitality Room.  The kids got to sample (as much as they wanted to) from the soda fountain and were given pretzels to snack on.  After her second cup of Fruit Punch, my oldest declared that she would like to tour the Brewery daily.

Here are the kids kicking back and enjoying the Hospitality Room.

Adults were able to choose two full size samples from the Hospitality Room Bar’s Menu.  The samples were generous and complimentary with the tour.  The quality and taste was wonderful, as you would expect from Anheuser-Busch.  My personal favorites were the Stella Artois Cidre and the Raz-Ber-Rita.

 

 

The Raz-Ber-Rita looks particularly tempting to children!  My kids informed me (several times) of the injustice of me drinking “slushy” that they couldn’t have.  🙂

Note: The Brewery Tour is about 30 minutes long and is then followed by a 20-25 minute visit to the Hospitality Room.  There are about 3 times in the tour when you will be in close proximity to Brewery equipment that children should not touch.  My older children (ages 4, 6 and 7) had no difficulty complying with this rule.  That said, I believe that children under the age of 3 should be watched carefully during these parts of the tour.  I held my one-year-old during these parts of the tour for safety.  Other than these spots, all of my children were able to walk around freely during the tour.  The tour is geared towards adults with Anheuser-Busch history and Brewery details.  That said, while my kids lacked interest in history and facts, they found the Brewery to be visually interesting.  If you are unsure as to whether or not the tour will be a good fit for your child(ren) then please contact the Tour Center.  The Tour Center employees are wonderful and will be able to answer your questions and address any concerns.  

I am truly grateful to Anheuser-Busch Brewery in Merrimack for hosting my family.  We had a wonderful afternoon exploring, touring and meeting some beautiful animals.  Each of the members in my family walked away with a favorite aspect of our visit. For my children, the best part of their day was time spent with Mark, Diamond and Bud.  That said, for both my husband and me it was the people of Anheuser-Busch that really made an impression.  From the moment you enter the Tour Center you are greeted with a smile and kindness.  Anheuser-Busch’s employees seem to truly enjoy their jobs and to be passionate about sharing the Anheuser-Busch story, culture and values with their guests. Special Thanks go to Andrea, Carla, Mark, Alecia, Taylor and Emily for a great visit!

Here are Some Ways Your Family Can Experience the Anheuser-Busch Brewery in Merrimack:

Photos with the Clydesdales: On the first Saturday of every month you can join Anheuser-Bush for a photo opportunity with one of their World Famous Budweiser Clydesdales.  Afterwards, you can stay for a free tour and enjoy some great samples in the Hospitality Room!

Photo Opportunities At the Tour Center: There are many lovely photo opportunities located throughout the Anheuser-Busch Brewery in Merrimack.  Pack a picnic lunch and spend some time exploring the property with your family.  Pictured below are a few of my favorite spots!

 

Complimentary Brewery Tour: Learn how Budweiser is crafted following it through the steps of the brewing process.  Visitors of all afes are welcome to experience first-hand how Budweiser brews and packages.  Those who are 21 and older will have the opportunity to partake in two full size samples in the Hospitality Room at the conclusion of the tour.  Soft drinks and snacks are also available.

Anheuser-Busch Beermaster Tour: This tour provides a “behind-the-scenes look at the brewing of Budweiser.  On the Merrimack Beermaster Tour you will visit the Brew House, Hop Room, Primary Cellar, Lager Cellar, Packaging Favility, Quality Assurance and Finishing Cellar, including a sample directly from a Finishing Tank.  The Budweiser Clydesdale Hamlet is also available to visit.  Reservations are requied and the tour costs $25 for visitors ages 21 and older and $10 for visitors ages 13-20.