Brennen & Brown
Brennen & Brown
4.5
This location was reported permanently closed
About
Brennen & Brown Distillery welcomes visitors to the distillery to enjoy guided tours and create their very own gin. Ginspirational Gin Lab: Join us to make your very own 70cl bottle of gin to take home. You will be assisted by our distillers to pick from a range of 30 botanicals. A full tour and sampling is included. Gin Lab experiences run from 2pm until around 4.30pm, for more information head to our website. Gin Tasting: An evening of gin tasting that will take you and your taste buds from the beginnings of gin to today's modern methods of production and styles. Learn about different garnishes and how they change what you can taste in your G&T. The gin tastings run from 5:30pm until around 7pm on Thursdays, Fridays and the occasional Saturday. For more information head to our website.
Duration: 2-3 hours
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Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.
Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as wait time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.
Popular mentions
4.5
189 reviews
Excellent
139
Very good
30
Average
8
Poor
9
Terrible
3
cathy s
Yate, UK77 contributions
Oct 2022 • Friends
Fun and informative gin making experience. Our host Jo is the chief gin maker who was very welcoming. My second visit and would highly recommend. Went in group and we came away with fabulous unique gins to our own recipes.
Written October 9, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Louise B
3 contributions
Feb 2022 • Couples
We did gin tasting with Jo and we would highly recommend.
Jo was so knowledgeable and passionate- we really enjoyed learning about gin and tasting it.
We are now wanting to go back to make our own gin in the near future.
Jo was so knowledgeable and passionate- we really enjoyed learning about gin and tasting it.
We are now wanting to go back to make our own gin in the near future.
Written February 27, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Laura
Worcestershire, UK5 contributions
Sep 2021 • Friends
We had a fantastic afternoon at the Gin Lab experience, we were guided to create our own Gin, choosing the ingredients and learning how to find the flavours that complimented each other to create a Gin that we would love. We were also taken on a tour of the distillery and given different samples to try. Jo was a brilliant guide who made it fun! Everyone was friendly and at the end we were given the chance to enjoy our homemade G&T. It was a great experience.
Written September 4, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Deborah S
6 contributions
Oct 2022 • Couples
Fabulous evening learning about gin botanicals and tasting 4 different gins. Jo was knowledgeable and passionate about creating unique gins, and offering guidance about garnishes and mixers. Jo engaged us all with her friendly discussions about everything gin, and happy to answer any questions we had. Even shared with us the tonic that they use, which was less gassy and more subtle than our usual one.
Written October 15, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Andy S
1 contribution
Oct 2022 • Couples
Jo is very passionate about what she does and doesn’t mind admitting that she has the perfect job ! .A great educational tour and well worth the money . Well organised and likes feedback and questions. Oh and the best bit ……. those gins !👍
Written October 15, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Mikal P
Bridgwater, UK4 contributions
Jan 2022 • Couples
Make Your Own Gin: great experience! Friendly guide, good explanation on the process and a wide range of botanicals to choose from. It's really fun working at your own still, (they're all named :) )...and you end up with a bottle of your own beautiful gin to take home!
Written January 16, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Nick H
12 contributions
May 2016 • Couples
My wife and I attended a session last week courtesy of a gift from some very kind and dear friends who would be mortified to hear that we did not enjoy ourselves but I feel that the need to be honest about this outweighs my wish not to upset my friends. I was very disappointed by the general lack of thought and attention given to making this an "Experience". I am really surprised at the high level of ratings this venture has attracted despite evident shortcomings in the service noticed by several other reviewers and conveniently ignored by the "Fantastic, everything was great, highly recommend!" school of pithy content free reviews one sees on all sites. Various reviewers refer to Dan's "laid back" approach and I would suggest that sloppy and ill prepared or even indifferent is perhaps another way to put it. He failed to introduce himself, made no attempt at a welcome speech or explained the day. Discussion on the botanicals - the herbs and spices which make different gins different and the essence of the day - was cursory and bizarrely related to some rock band of the 70's and was of no use in determining how to approach one's blank canvas. His history lesson was a barely credible attempt to fill in time whilst the gin distilled upstairs and focused more on the history of the folks who set up this venture. The tasting room was awful, a crappy dining room table, assorted seats/stools of which only Dan's appeared to offer any comfort. This was a further indication of the intent to take people's money without really investing too much, The gin that is made here and which we got to taste was really excellent which just highlighted the paucity of the "Experience". The best Gin competition was settled by Dan with no discussion or explanation of the relative merits of our various attempts which could have been really good fun and the prize award ( 2 or 3 small bottles of tonic!) was over before anyone had noticed again with no words of praise for the winner or on the excellence of the attempt. It felt rather like we had our bottles of Gin and as far as Dan was concerned that was the day over so best clear us out once the obligatory photo opportunity to put on their promotion wall was completed. Opportunities such as these to make this a fun experience were missed wherever they existed. In short he gave the impression of someone going through the motions and the constant references to the price of the machines and to the cost of setting up the business gave me a very strong indication this was a cynical attempt to offset their startup costs without actually delivering much value. I note a number of people had got their tickets through Groupon at enormously discounted prices and I would highly recommend that you not pay anywhere near full price for this poorly executed experience. I have been on a number of tours at breweries and distilleries and this was the only one I have not enjoyed and was the worst by an awfully long distance. How can it be possible to not create a genuinely fun day in a brewery for heaven's sake.
Written June 7, 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Rich Bamber
Hi Nick,
I'm sorry you didn't enjoy the experience. We have made lots of changes since you have been, hence the delayed reply. It is a shame however that you wouldn't talk to us direct about your experience with you having refused our phone calls or not mentioning anything to us on the day. As far as I am concerned you were well looked after and I went out of my way multiple times to find you specialist ingredients like limes for your Thai inspired recipe. I also spent a decent amount of time giving you one on one advice.
Quite a few of your points have helped us to improve the experience. The way I introduce the botanicals hasn't changed. I still stand by using the analogy of using Queen (that 70's rock band) to help people understand how we use the botanicals. It helps to simplify how they work as so they don't feel so overwhelming. I have started to go into more depth about the "drummers" and "bassists" as to further help people in understanding the botanicals.
The majority of the history is based on gin rather than the company. The talk starts with the alchemists in the 1500s and carries on through to the prohibition Moonshiners in the 1920s. I do include a bit about our history and where we have come from as I imagine every distillery/brewery tour you have been on would have. This is of interest to most people and I do keep it brief. In regards to the furniture it has been all removed and upgraded with similar lab tables to those upstairs and old lab stools from a school. This however is in the process of changing as we are building a brand new tasting room next door as I type as ultimately you were sat in our distillery room which was built with functionality not comfort in mind.
I have ceased the competitions in order to explain to each individual what I can taste in the gin and advise which tonic/garnish I would pair with the drink. The cost of the stills is a question that will be asked to me every experiences without fail so I pre-empt it.
The experiences were not created for a "slapdash cash making venture" we have a genuine desire for people to learn about gin and its production. We feel that there is a great lack of education within the world of gin. People don't understand terms like "Old Tom", "London Dry" or "Heads & Tails". I am myself a very practical leaner and by offering people these experiences we give them a chance for a unique opportunity to make their own gin while learning more about their favourite drink. I however do feel that there was very little we could have done during your experience to change your mind on how you felt.
Regards,
Dan
Written September 19, 2016
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Nickie A
Cheltenham, UK37 contributions
Jun 2017 • Couples
I visited recently with my husband, I had been given a voucher by my daughters for Mother's day.
What a disappointment. Dan who hosted the evening was rude and disinterested. They gin tasting and tour was so rushed the whole event was finished in under an hour! The actual distillery area was in a mess, not a sight that would encourage me to buy their gin.
Brennan & Brown have developed a gin with a local restaurant and Dan was quite openly rude about them, not good business practice.
I emailed Brennan & Brown to complain but to date have no received a reply.
Definitely would not recommend to anyone.
What a disappointment. Dan who hosted the evening was rude and disinterested. They gin tasting and tour was so rushed the whole event was finished in under an hour! The actual distillery area was in a mess, not a sight that would encourage me to buy their gin.
Brennan & Brown have developed a gin with a local restaurant and Dan was quite openly rude about them, not good business practice.
I emailed Brennan & Brown to complain but to date have no received a reply.
Definitely would not recommend to anyone.
Written July 18, 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
AG1953
Cardiff, UK52 contributions
Apr 2018 • Couples
This could be a great marketing opportunity, but it didn't strike a chord with us. 4 single gins, so an expensive tipple. Sat in a transport caf type of room, given 4 different gins and shown around the "distillery". Thinking about a similar experience in Edinburgh with whiskeys, this was a poor second. Not worth the money.
Written April 5, 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
rutherama
7 contributions
Mar 2017 • Couples
We went on the gin-making day and thought there were some definite areas for improvement:
No refreshments (soft drinks) were offered or even made available. There was also no welcome and run-through of the format of the day.
Although we got several different botanicals to smell, with small jars full of the top notes (?) and big jars full of the body flavour, there wasn't much information about the pairing process and how you blend and bring through different flavours. We had a sniff of the various jars and chose up to 3 flavours from the little jars and then one from the big jars. Dan checked them all and duly removed half the ones we wanted as they would have been overpowered - fair enough, but it would have been good to demonstrate how flavours worked together and how you adjust strength, so we could tailor the gin to our own taste.
Dan tells you the amounts you need, which means you don't really have much to do except weigh things - with a full room of people this meant a bit of waiting around.
The gin tasting / history of gin element was interesting but went on a bit too long - it would have been better to focus more on tasting the gin and how to identify the flavours etc - like at a wine tasting.
Back in the lab, we poured our gin into bottles and were given sticky labels and sharpies. I was expecting something a bit more professional - particularly as the flavour form asks for your gin name. It looked very DIY.
We were told we could taste our gins at the end, but it felt like an afterthought and lots of people were already drifting off - "glasses were in a box and there was some tonic we could use".... What about ice? Garnishes? There could have been a fun chance to all try each other's gins and swap successes and flavours. Instead we ended up leaving our warm glasses of gin as they tasted like warm glasses of gin!
This day has potential but definitely needs improvement in my book.
No refreshments (soft drinks) were offered or even made available. There was also no welcome and run-through of the format of the day.
Although we got several different botanicals to smell, with small jars full of the top notes (?) and big jars full of the body flavour, there wasn't much information about the pairing process and how you blend and bring through different flavours. We had a sniff of the various jars and chose up to 3 flavours from the little jars and then one from the big jars. Dan checked them all and duly removed half the ones we wanted as they would have been overpowered - fair enough, but it would have been good to demonstrate how flavours worked together and how you adjust strength, so we could tailor the gin to our own taste.
Dan tells you the amounts you need, which means you don't really have much to do except weigh things - with a full room of people this meant a bit of waiting around.
The gin tasting / history of gin element was interesting but went on a bit too long - it would have been better to focus more on tasting the gin and how to identify the flavours etc - like at a wine tasting.
Back in the lab, we poured our gin into bottles and were given sticky labels and sharpies. I was expecting something a bit more professional - particularly as the flavour form asks for your gin name. It looked very DIY.
We were told we could taste our gins at the end, but it felt like an afterthought and lots of people were already drifting off - "glasses were in a box and there was some tonic we could use".... What about ice? Garnishes? There could have been a fun chance to all try each other's gins and swap successes and flavours. Instead we ended up leaving our warm glasses of gin as they tasted like warm glasses of gin!
This day has potential but definitely needs improvement in my book.
Written March 20, 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Can anyone recommend a hotel in walking distance from the distillery
Written November 25, 2021
Hi what is your availability on either 12/13/14 of this month for 3 and the cost please
Written April 5, 2018
Rich Bamber
Cheltenham, United Kingdom
hi,
please give the office a call on 01242 370400.
Regards,
Rich
Written April 6, 2018
Hi,
Coming over in June and wonder is we should make reservations. Also how detailed are the instructions of making the gin?
Thanks
Rhonda
Written May 6, 2017
Rich Bamber
Cheltenham, United Kingdom
Hi, We give you a walk through talk at the start, and we are on hand to answer any questions, we give you a little guidance so that you can make something drinkable. All of our experiences require that you are pre-booked, you can do this from our website.
Regards,
Rich
Written May 6, 2017
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