This Is Not Your Ordinary Beer Tour

For nearly twenty-five years, the edgy importing company Shelton Brothers was a key tastemaker on the U.S. craft beer scene, partnering with many of the very best breweries in the world and influencing the palates of countless American drinkers along the way. Sadly, it closed its warehouse doors in 2020, at the onset of the COVID pandemic.

This is where Inner Circle Beer Tours comes in.

Founded by Joel Shelton one year after the closure, Inner Circle aims to reconnect adventurous beer fans with the inspiration and thirst for discovery that first drove the Brothers to travel the world, seek out the most passionate brewers, and share their beer — and their stories — with anyone who would listen. Where Shelton Brothers first achieved this aim by making hundreds of hard-to-find lagers and ales available to American drinkers (and later by presenting its hugely influential annual event The Festival), today Inner Circle comes full circle, bringing curious beer and travel enthusiasts directly to the source. The result is a singular experience that’s both illuminating and wickedly fun. Check it out here.

Inner Circle’s unique trips are led by some of the most knowledgeable and savvy guides possible: former Shelton Brothers staff, who bring a wealth of beer and travel experience to the table. ICBT’s importers-turned-tour-guides still retain close professional and personal ties with brewers from every corner of the planet. This means that not only do guests get an “insider” welcome to an extremely wide range of breweries — from the most uber-traditional, 1000-year-old monastic to the most eccentric farmhouse tinkerer — but also elevated insights into why each is equally important in the grand scheme. Asked what she appreciates most about leading the tours, ICBT guide (and BJCP beer judge) B.R. Rolya says “While it’s exciting to keep up with new breweries, there's something equally special about revisiting the very traditional ones. They have direct links to the regional brewing histories that originally inspired the craft movement.”

Every Inner Circle tour is co-led by Joel Shelton. Joel brings a quirky, personable and often irreverent feel to the journeys, but his high regard and affection for the breweries is evident — and reciprocated. “We have known and appreciated Joel and his fantastic team since we started brewing,” says Brasserie de la Senne’s Yvan De Baets. “We’ve witnessed their sincere passion and in-depth knowledge, and fully share their values. We proudly call them friends, and are always extremely happy to host them and their groups each time they honor us with a visit.” Read about your Inner Circle guides right here.

An all-around travel fiend, Joel also makes it a priority on each trip to immerse guests as much as possible in “non-beer” themes — language, regional cuisine, indigenous wines and liquors, historical sites, outdoor activities and most of all, a great group dynamic: “I believe our tours are as eye-opening for the casual or non-beer drinker, or the general travel lover, as they are for the beer fanatic. For me the deep enjoyment of drinking great beer — at brewpubs, biergartens, kellers, tasting rooms, festivals, wherever — is most special when done with like-minded people who fully appreciate the atmosphere of daily life in a foreign land buzzing around them.” And what would Joel Shelton say to people who think they wouldn’t ever go on a group jaunt? “Rethink that! There are some amazing experiences you just won’t have on your own. And this is absolutely not your ordinary beer tour.”

THE TOURS: ’23 AND BEYOND

While its core destinations are Europe’s historical and still-enticing brewing meccas — Belgium, Germany and the United Kingdom — ICBT’s global reach means beer and travel fans should also be on the lookout for future trips to places like Portugal, New Zealand, Argentina, the Alps and the Baltics, to name a few. Join the mailing list here.

But why wait? Limited spaces are still available for amazing summer and fall ’23 tours (below), and you can inquire right now for these and one very special advance ’24 trip right here.

FRANCONIA: “The Motherland of Beer”

July 26-August 2 2023
Many German beer tours stick to mainstream destinations — Munich, Oktoberfest, the odd monastery — and might spend a day in the amazing beer city of Bamberg. Inner Circle’s tour focuses on Bamberg and its rustic Franconia region, where there are more breweries per capita and square kilometer — and a better range of real, world-class lagers — than anywhere in the world. There are biergartens and private kellers you might otherwise never see, and two raucous beer celebrations — Annafest and Kulmbacher Bierwoche — with hardly a tourist in sight. (ICBT has VIP seats to both). Unforgettable summer fun and, according to Michael Merrifield, owner of Florida’s Progressive Distribution, “an immersive experience unlike any I've had. This tour to Franconia will redefine what you think when you hear the term "German beer.”

Check out the Franconia tour here.

CATALONIA: “Barcelona and Beyond”

October 22-28 2023
Joel Shelton remains the only U.S. importer to have offered a wide range of rare artisanal Catalan drafts to the U.S. market; now he’s a bit of a folk legend in the region’s tight-knit craft beer scene. Join him as he visits some of the most enthusiastic and dedicated new artisanal brewers you’ll find anywhere — amidst an exotic atmosphere of medieval alleyways, mountaintop monasteries, ancient wine caves, castles, and Mediterranean ports. There’s a wine and beer dinner, mouthwatering tapas, and a post-tour chance to attend Spain’s most cutting-edge craft fest, MASH. According to Joel “this tour reveals a beer culture that few are aware of.”

Check out the Catalonia tour here

SCOTLAND: “Draft & Drams”

EARLY-BIRD June ’24 PRE-REGISTRATION!
Inner Circle’s first dual beer-whisky tour is sold out for ’23, and spaces are already filling up for ’24! The ’23 edition focuses on the Highlands, and Speyside distilleries; the ’24 is expected to feature The Islay region. The highlight of both tours, however, is Scotland’s premier beer event, Fynefest, which ICBT’s Kevin Brooks calls one that "British craft brewers make a point of attending every year — not because they need to, but because it's fun."

Check out the Scotland tour here.