Brewery Tour at Carlingford Brewing Co.

What to Expect

Carlingford Brewing Co. brews at The Old Mill in Riverstown, on the Cooley Peninsula just outside Carlingford village, and runs guided tours of the brewery with tasting built in. The tour takes about an hour and a half, or closer to two hours if you add the wood-fired pizza the brewery cooks on site. It covers the brewing process itself and the tasting that goes with it, plus the stories behind the beers: the brewery names its range after Carlingford landmarks and after Donn Cúailnge, the Brown Bull of Cooley from the Táin.

The scheduling is worth reading carefully before you plan around it. The published tour slots are Thursday and Friday from 5pm and Saturday and Sunday from 1pm, but the brewery states that its current brewing schedule means tours are running on Saturday afternoons only. There is also a minimum of twelve people, so this works as a group booking rather than a drop-in: a hen or stag group, a club outing or a set of families going together. There is no online booking form. You arrange the date and the price by email or phone directly with the brewery. Because the times and availability shift with the brewing calendar, confirm before travelling out to Riverstown.

Good to Know

• Next likely date: Saturday 15 August 2026, tours from 1pm
• Duration: one and a half hours, or allow two hours if you add wood-fired pizza
• Venue: Carlingford Brewing Co., The Old Mill, Riverstown, Carlingford, A91 D850
• Minimum group size: 12 people
• Price: not published. Agreed at booking
• Published slots are Thursday and Friday from 5pm and Saturday and Sunday from 1pm, but the brewery currently runs Saturday afternoons only
• Book by email to events@carlingfordbrewing.ie or by phone on 042 939 7519
• Over 18s for the tasting

Getting There

Riverstown is on the Cooley Peninsula a short drive from Carlingford village on the R173 road towards Omeath, roughly twenty-five minutes from Dundalk and twenty from Newry. Coming from the M1, exit at junction 18 and follow the R173 through Grange and Carlingford. There is parking at The Old Mill. There is no useful public transport to Riverstown itself, so a group booking usually means a minibus or taxis from Carlingford or Dundalk, which is the sensible arrangement given the tasting.