The Southsea Brewing Company

Southsea Brewing Company sits just across the water from Ryde, making it a decent afternoon stop if you're staying at one of the Isle of Wight holiday parks dotted around Hayling Island or further afield. This is a working brewery where you can actually see beer being made - tanks, fermentation vessels, the whole operation - rather than some sanitised visitor attraction pretending to be industrial.

They run tours and tastings, which means you'll spend a couple of hours learning what goes into their ales and lagers, then sampling the results. It's hands-on enough to keep adults engaged, though younger kids might find the technical chat a bit dry. The on-site tap bar is where it gets fun - proper staff who know their stuff, decent food usually available, and you're drinking beer literally metres from where it's brewed.

Worth checking their website before you go, as opening hours vary and tours need booking ahead. Admission usually costs something, but it's reasonable. If you're already on holiday at Mill Rythe Coastal Village or St Helens, it's close enough for a half-day outing without eating into beach time.

Best suited to adults and older teenagers who actually care about how their pint gets made. Families with small children might find it a bit specialist. Go mid-week if possible - weekends get rammed with locals who've discovered it's one of the better breweries on the south coast.