If there is a better way to spend an hour or so on a Saturday afternoon than a tour of Flying Fish Microbrewery we’re open to suggestions. For 15 years, the local brewery has been turning out award-winning beers and this is your chance to get a taste of why they were one of only 40 breweries from around the country selected for a gourmet beer and wine event in D.C. And why they were the only NJ brewery invited to show up for the Oregon beer fest, the largest in the U.S.

With so much success, the brewery has grown over the years, but the owners still have that loosey-goosey, informal approach that makes a visit so fun. Each tour is a little different, depending on what is happening in the brewery and who is guiding you through. You’ll get to see all the tanks, equipment and cold box and they’ll explain the whole beer-making process from grain to glass -- how they use the raw ingredients, how everything is processed, brewed and fermented. You’ll even get to see the labels being slapped on the bottles and the packing process.

Best of all, you can count on getting up to four 4 oz. samples (that’s the legal limit). And it is all for everybody’s favorite price -- free. Oh, and the brewery is wheelchair accessible.

At the end of the tour, you can purchase up to two six-packs of your favorite brew (again, another legal limit), as well as Flying Fish gear -- hats, T-shirts, etc.