What's the best way to spend a Friday morning in Boston? How about a trip to the Sam Adam's brewery in Jamaica Plain, for a tour and some sampling from one of America's most popular craft beer brands.

One of the top 10 attractions in Boston at Trip Advisor, the Samuel Adams Brewery is a great way to kick start your weekend. The informative tour and incredible tasting are all free of charge, instead you are free to donate as much as you want (suggested $2+) to Sam Adam's charity efforts, including "Brewing the American Dream" which helps entrepreneurs in the food and beverage industry follow in Jim Koch's footsteps.

Click here to see the Beer Newb's photos from the brewery tour.

I wanted to beat the rush, so I got there nice and early for the second tour at 10:45 on a Friday morning. While there is some limited parking, the smart move here it to take the T (Boston's subway) to the Stony Brook station and follow the signs (they are huge, you can't miss them) for the short walk through a regular seeming neighborhood to the brewery. Before the tour starts, you can walk around and see a lot of cool memorabilia including every iteration of the Sam Adam's bottle, and some cool interactive displays about the brewing process and the company. The tour then starts with you walking through an old glass-lined brewing tank out onto the actual brewing floor. The tour starts with an overview and tasting/smelling of the actual raw ingredients that go into the making of Sam Adam's beers. This may seem like old hat to you if you are a beer aficionado or have read our intro to beer ingredients, but unless you are a home brewer, it's really a great experience to see the ingredients in their raw forms. After becoming better acquainted with the ingredients, our guide Jessica took us onto the floor to explain the actual brewing process and show us some of the equipment. Everything is pretty standard, but again, it's cool to see things in person.

The Brewery tour takes place in the live brewery, which is about a quarter the size of your average Barnes and Noble. In case you did not know, for the most part Sam Adam's is a contract brew with major facilities in Ohio and Pennsylvania, as well as other locations throughout the US. Of course, with modern science they can replicate the mineral content of Boston city tap water just fine, so don't worry, you're drinking the real thing at home. That being said, the small brewery is still where most of the creative magic and microbatching is done. While Sam Adam's has a pretty large selection of brews for sale across the country, famed Utopias and B-Town only Boston Brick Red are brewed on site here.

Now, everyone's favorite part… the tasting! On your way to the tasting room, you are handed a Samuel Adams sampling glass with one of the four steps in tasting beer printed on it. Mine had step one, "Color and Clarity". Now, I have to say I have had Sam Adams on numerous occasions, on tap, in a bottle, and in a boot, but having it fresh from the brewery was so incredibly fresh and amazing, and well worth the trip on the old, smelly T. Here is a little secret, the taps lines are changed on Friday morning, so if you go for one of the early tours not only will you beat the rush, but you will have the freshest Sam Adam's has to offer. There were plenty of pitchers to go around as we tried the like of the original Boston Lager, Noble Pills, and even go to sniff an empty Utopias (and yes, that actual something to note!). Let's just say I did a good amount of research for the Beer Newb that morning, but that's not the end of the tour…

After the tour, you can go to the gift shop where they have shirts, coasters, cutting board, and glasses for sale. Of course, if you didn't give a donation on the way in, I would recommend doing so now after you see what you were just given for free. But the fun doesn't have to stop at the brewery. Apparently, the party continues at Doyle's, which is about a half mile away and was the first bar to buy and sell Sam Adams! As if I needed anymore enticement to get something to eat after having lots of beer for breakfast, there is a party trolley which will take you from the brewery right to the front door for free. The trolley ride for the short trek was pretty fun – the driver was a real Boston character and he blasted Drop Kick Murphy's the whole way to get you pumped up. The trolley will also take you back to the brewery or to the T on a fairly regular schedule, though I did the staggering walk myself on a cool day with no problem. Doyle's actually turns out to be a really nice place with a good menu. I saddled up to the bar and order a Bison Burger and a Brick Red. As a thank you to the brewery for brining in customers, if you order a Sam Adams beer they will serve it to you in one of those fancy Sam Adam's glasses and you get to take the glass home with you for free in exchange for your tour ticket. The service was fast and friendly, the food tasted great, and the prices were pretty dang reasonable considering the prices I paid elsewhere in Boston.

All in all, it was a great experience. I got to meet some cool people during the tour, drink some incredibly fresh beer, have a tasty meal, and got to take home two glasses to commemorate the adventure. I would highly, highly recommend that if you visit Boston to take the tour and do the whole experience, you won't be disappointed.

The Sam Adam's brewery is located at: 30 Germania Street, Boston, MA 02130. For tour information, please click here.