Amanda and I had a very busy weekend, and we capped it off by taking today off of work and stopping by Leinenkugel's Brewery for their brewery tour this morning before we came home.
It was fantastic! First off, it's free, second off, we got vouchers for 3 beer samples each. Not 3 full glasses, but 3 small sample glasses - the size you usually get for a beer chaser with a bloody mary. But still - free is my favorite price!
We had the dogs with us, so we dropped them off at a dog daycare in Eau Claire, we drove 15 minutes to the brewery in Chippewa Falls.
We started in the gift shop - which was HUGE and filled with Leinenkugel's swag. We grabbed the 10 AM tour so there was just the two of us and a family of four. It wasn't a long tour (45-60 minutes-ish) and there were parts of the brewery that we couldn't go into because it was a tour of the operational brewery. I'm fairly new to brewery tours, and this is the first where we were in the areas where they were actually doing the production. It was really cool!
Then we headed back to the gift shop and spent a bunch of money. It helps that I like several of their beers, you can find them all over the place, and that the only beer Amanda drinks is their Berry Weiss. I "joined the leinie lodge" which I believe means I get a newsletter. Amanda picked up a Berry Weiss pint glass and we got some clothes.
Highlights from the tour - found out they use corn in more than just a couple of their beers, which I didn't know. Their beer takes about 28 days from the beginning of production until it gets shipped out. Their kegs have a shorter shelf life than cans or bottles. They have distribution to 48 states (which has been helped since they became associated with Miller Brewing Company). They're still run by the Leinenkugel family. Leinenkugel's no longer makes their Apple Spice. Berry Weiss is no longer a seasonal beer.
I wish I'd asked it on the tour, but I didn't think of it until afterward, but I want to know why the cans and bottles have a longer shelf life than the kegs. Is that true of all beer?
When we got back to the gift shop, I started out with their Red, which I like, and Amanda had Berry Weiss (no surprise). I followed with their Oktoberfest (which I also like), and Amanda had a "pink lemonade" which was a mix of Summer Shandy and Berry Weiss. I had a sip and it was good - but not very beer-like. It tasted more like a wine cooler. I finished with a "black bear" - which was their Creamy Dark and Berry Weiss. I liked it - better than either of those two beers alone. Amanda finished with another Berry Weiss.
On the way home Amanda said we need a kegerator. I love her.
No comments:
Post a Comment