Not being able to make it all the way from Nelson to Franz Josef in one day, the buses stop in Greymouth for the night. There isn’t much to do in Greymouth but wander around. Someone had mentioned it wasn’t a very pretty city and I can’t say that I was impressed with any of it. Neptunes, the hostel we stayed at, was quite nice and we were stuffing our faces with free, fresh, baked good before we had even checked in. A couple of us threw on the running gear for a quick jog out to the water and then we were off the Monteiths Brewery.I hadn’t expected much from the tour but everyone else was going and I hadn’t planned anything else. They bussed us all to the brewery in a sketchy black van that looked like it transported kidnap victims around in its spare time. After about 40 people arrived for the tour we headed off through the maze of buildings and machinery. It seemed the damp, dark hallways would never end but finally we found the start of the process.I have a feeling that few people were listening but were just waiting for the beer at the end. I have to say that I was. Back in the bar in front of the taps we lined up anxiously waiting a taste of the brew we had just heard so much about. They had 6 types on tap and after hearing we had 30 minutes to drink as much as we wanted the energy level in the group increased five fold instantly. The tour guide even let us pour our own after he tired of helping!My favorites where the Raglands which had a distinct limey taste and the Golden which was fairly tame and went down easy. The Black and Red were most interesting though. They both had unique strong flavours but were a little too much for my taste.After we couldn’t fill our stomachs with any more we headed over the Railway hotel for the included dinner. We washed down sausages, onions and some salad with more Monteiths beer and then were let loose on the bar. A ride back to the hostel in a police car finished our night off only a few hours before the bus arrived the next morning.So if you’re ever in Greymouth definitely check out the tour![gmap]