There are a few things that are best done in the state of Wisconsin, including football, progressive politics, and meat packing. However, there is one distinction the Badger State has over everyone else in the United States, and that is the sheer number of pubs, bars, breweries, and other drinking establishments in every town and city in the state. The best place to check out brewery tours and brewing history, however, is in Milwaukee, which holds the nickname Cream City for its prodigious production of beer throughout its history. While the list below is not exhaustive, it certainly highlights a weekend’s worth of great brewery touring and dining and also gives visitors a great tour of the city of Milwaukee along the way.
Probably the best known Milwaukee brewery tour on the national level is at the Miller Brewing Company facility in Milwaukee (www.millerbrewing.com ), the original Miller brewing facility originated in 1855. The free Miller Brewery tour lasts an hour, with a combination of video and guided walking tours taking visitors through the history of Miller Brewing, beer making in general, and the company’s relationship with the city of Milwaukee. After the tour, visitors can enjoy several free samples of Miller’s lineup of beers and take a look at the Miller Inn and beer garden. While the Miller tour is the cream of the crop of brewing tours, visitors may feel that the atmosphere is a bit too corporate and may want to check out a few of the other smaller breweries in Milwaukee.
One such small brewery is the Lakefront Brewery (www.lakefrontbrewery.com) on Milwaukee’s East Side. This family owned micro brewery features creative storytelling tour guides and a comfortable atmosphere for visitors to the city of Milwaukee. The beautiful Lakefront Brewery is one of the anchors of a redevelopment of the Eastside’s Commerce Street and it offers a place for visiting groups to have a good time, take a quick tour, and get their fill with some delicious sample beers. For $5, a person gets the half-hour tour and six sample beers, which include a dozen distinct brews that should feed the appetites of even the most fickle beer aficionado. On the tour I took last fall at Lakefront Brewery, I sampled a delicious Pumpkin Lager, which was light and had a hint of pumpkin flavor, as well as the Eastside Dark, which is a strong beer.
Another small brewery in Milwaukee is the Sprecher Brewery (www.sprecherbrewery.com), which was the first brewery to be licensed following Prohibition. Its long history, as well as its collection of beers and sodas, has made it a favorite of visitors with families and young children. On the Friday and Saturday tours year round, Sprecher guides take visiting groups around the Rathskellar Museum, the brew house, as well as the bottling line and warehouse. The end of the tour features four samples of beer and a sampling of all seven sodas (including the famous Sprecher root beer) and Sprecher trivia contests. Milwaukee’s Sprecher Brewery is perhaps the most family friendly of the three brewery tours mentioned above if only because they have more for kids and teenagers to do.
There are also several options for visiting groups and families who want to combine an interest in the brewing process with the need to enjoy Milwaukee’s fine food and dining experiences. The Rock Bottom Brewery and Restaurant (www.rockbottom.com) is one of downtown Milwaukee’s most popular dining venues because it allows visitors to take a look at their small micro brewery while enjoying drinks and having lunch and dinner. Another downtown Milwaukee brewery and restaurant is the Milwaukee Ale House on bustling Water Street (www.ale-house.com), which has live music, beer, and great food. The Ale House has the added benefit of overlooking much downtown Milwaukee and offering a selection of more than six handcrafted beers with great burgers and sandwiches. For those who have taken in a day’s worth of brewery tours and want to cap it off with a truly unique Milwaukee dining experience, both the Rock Bottom and the Ale House are great options.
All of these breweries and alehouses have their own unique atmosphere and a visitor to Milwaukee would be hard pressed to tour only one brewery while they are in town. Like a potato chip, it is tough not to sample more than one brewery tour within a day, much less within a week’s worth of time spent in Milwaukee. They all offer a unique perspective on the brewing process, the history of Milwaukee, and an interesting insight into the cultural influence of beer hall culture on many cities in Wisconsin and the United States.
