5 informative and fun manufacturing tours in New Hampshire

Learn how Granite State businesses—from moonshine makers to 19th-century box manufacturers—make their products on these factory tours.

Have you ever wondered how to make whiskey from grain, turn milk into cheese, or bend local wood into an authentic Shaker box? These five New Hampshire manufacturers provide back-scene tours of their production processes. You might get the opportunity to milk a cow, make your own chocolate candy, and experience what maple syrup tastes like when poured on fresh, white snow as part of your visit. 

1. Frye’s Measure Mill

Location: 12 Frye Road, Wilton

When: Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sunday by appointment. Self-guided tours begin in the spring but the mill is open and operating all year. It’s best to call (603-654-6581) ahead before a visit in case the mill is closed due to bad weather

Cost: Free, but donations are welcome to the mill’s restoration fund

Duration: At your own pace

Before we had glass and plastic measuring cups and spoons, we had wooden measure boxes to parse out and store flour, sugar, and other dry goods. For the past 166 years, this water-powered mill, which is on the Register of Historic Places, has been making round and oval wooden boxes, wooden measures, and piggins, small wooden buckets with a long handle used for dipping liquids, with much of the original water-powered machinery. Some of the earliest pieces made here are in museum collections throughout the country and their colonial and Shaker boxes are still sought after by collectors today.

The mill has a seven-room gift shop packed with new crafts and charming antiques, a blacksmith shop, and a firehouse. There is a self-guided tour through the mill’s museum, but because it’s in an unheated 19th-century building, it’s only open in the spring through the fall. But there’s still plenty to visit throughout the year, and if you’re lucky, you can talk to one of the craftspeople and watch them construct these stunning containers as they have been made since before the Civil War. Plus, the makers are always happy to explain the process of producing these Granite State gems.

Frye’s Measure is the last water-powered mill in the state. (Stacy Milbouer)

2. Ben’s Sugar Shack Maple Tours

Location: 8 Webster Highway, Temple

When: Saturdays and Sundays in March from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Cost: Free

Duration: About 20 minutes

It won’t be long before the sap runs through New Hampshire maple trees. That means it’s officially Maple Season. If you want to witness firsthand the alchemy that turns this magical liquid into sweet, sweet syrup head to Ben’s Maple Shack on a March weekend, and take a free tour of this annual ritual in process.

You’ll learn that sap isn’t technically syrup until it reaches 219 degrees, that it takes about 40 gallons of the liquid to produce one gallon of syrup, and so many other cool syrup facts. And yes, you get to sample the sweet stuff, too. Visitors will take a wagon ride to the original sugar shack in the woods, where you’ll see a demonstration of the process, taste the goods, and then head back to the new Maple Station Market, where more maple sugaring is done.

The Market carries a variety of pure maple syrup products. It also has a coffee bar, ice cream stand, and a deli where you can try maple ice cream, a maple latte, and maple frosted donuts. This is a great destination for children, which makes sense considering that Ben Fisk, the owner, was inspired to make maple syrup his life’s work when he went on a sugar shack tour when he was 5 years old.

Visitors to Ben’s Sugar Shack tour can see maple trees being tapped. (Courtesy of Ben’s Sugar Shack)

3. Live Free Distillery

Location: 1000 E Industrial Park Dr #4, Manchester

When: Saturdays and Sundays 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Cost: Free 

Duration: Varies

Live Free Distillery is owned and operated by 41-year-old André Marcoux, a former employee of the steel industry. He made his first batch of whiskey for fun at home, using his wife’s stockpot and a turkey fryer, which resulted in a “God-awful” tasting drink, he’s shared. But he loved the process, and after refining his craft, he opened Live Free Distillery in an industrial plaza in 2018.

Tours of the facility include a close-up view of the sleek metal equipment, which Marcoux made himself, and the handcrafted wood-wrapped barrels he created with his master woodworker father. In addition to barrel-aged whiskeys and flavored moonshine, Live Free makes vodka, white and toasted rum, corn whiskey, and honey whiskey. 

At Live Free Distillery in Manchester, you can watch as spirits are made. (Stacy Milbouer)

4. Van Otis Chocolates

341Elm Street, Manchester

When: By reservation

Cost: $15 per person

Duration: One hour

Channel your inner Willy Wonka at Van Otis Chocolates, an iconic presence in Manchester since its beginnings 90 years ago. That’s when resident Evangeline “Van” Hasiotis took a two-week Fanny Farmer candy-making course in Boston and opened a small store in the apartment building where she lived. There, she crafted a recipe for Swiss fudge that is still one of the shop’s bestsellers. 

The store now has a large retail location in downtown Manchester where visitors can smell chocolate the moment they walk in the door. For a closer look into their process, Van Otis offers tours and classes. Visitors can view chocolatiers handcrafting truffles, fudge, and other products sold at the store, then dip and sample their own treats. If you can’t make it to a tour, Van Otis can bring a demonstration to your home, office, or community center if you fill out an online form.

On your tour of Van Otis Chocolates, you can see how treats like these are made. (Stacy Milbouer)

5. Huckins Farms

Location: 52 Magoon Road, New Hampton

When: You can visit the farm anytime. For an in-depth tour, call or email for an appointment

Cost: $20 for a family (up to 4 people), $5 for each additional person

Duration: One hour

This 200-year-old, family-owned and operated micro-dairy produces raw milk, cream, yogurt, kefir, and aged cheese. Products are made in small batches onsite, and the farm tour walks visitors through the entire process.

The tour starts with meeting the farm’s Jersey and Guernsey cows—who each have names and social media presences—as they graze in open pastures. You’ll see how the cows are milked (visitors can also try their hand at milking) and learn how that milk is turned into the products sold at the farm store, its website, and several New Hampshire stores and food cooperatives. Huckins Farms is also a picturesque locale, situated between the Lakes Region and the White Mountains on 132 acres of rolling countryside.

This article first appeared on Good Info News Wire and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.