Because of scheduling conflicts I can't make this, and I know there's short notice on signing up - but I wanted to share this anyhow. This is a tour that's well worth taking.
When: Saturday, 9/21/13 10 AM - 5 PM
How Much: $80 for Discovery World members, $90 for the rest of us.
The tour takes a luxury Badger coach bus around the Lower and Upper Eastside, Haymarket Square, Schlitz Park, Brewers Hill, Riverwest and Murry Hill. It includes lunch at Stonefly Brewery (and a tour of it with the head brewer), beer samples, a tour booklet, a beer brewed in Discovery World's THIRST lab (The one I got on the tour I took was good), and other stuff.
You have to be 21 and if you park at Discovery World you get a special rate of $8
Sign up in advance.
I took a tour with this group a couple years ago, and I desperately want to do it again - scheduling just seems to be my problem.
Check out their website for more information:
http://www.discoveryworld.org/programs/legacies-of-milwaukee-brewing/
If you go, tell me about it!
Tuesday, September 10, 2013
Sunday, September 8, 2013
Common Courtesy
This summer has been of doing things, which hasn’t left me the time to write as much as I’d have liked, but getting out and about more than I have the last few years has reinforced a couple points of common courtesy when it comes to going out for drinks (or participating in events where drinking is expected to play a role):
Don’t Be a Drag
- Don’t get self righteous. If you’re not drinking and everyone else is, don’t talk about it. Nobody cares. Not really. What you end up doing is making them feel like you’re judging. And if you are judging, then you might want to think about why you’re even there.
- Don’t hide that you’re not drinking. Nobody likes a fake.
- Don’t be the odd man out. Sometimes non-drinkers can make everyone else uncomfortable. drink non-alcoholic beer - the alcohol content is negligible and you fit in even if everyone knows you're drinking NA. If NA beer isn’t your thing, find something that is - something like a Shirley Temple, or if all else fails, a tonic or coke with a lime wedge.
Buy a Round
- Don’t be cheap. Buy a round once in a while.
- Take Care of Your Friends
- We’ve all been short on cash. As long as your friend isn’t a mooch, buy a drink for him if his money’s tight and you’re all having a good time
Take Care of Your Bartender/Waitress
- Tip. Just do it. And if you like the person taking care of you and want to make sure they take real good care of you, be polite, be patient and tip well. You’d be surprised how often it pays off.
Be the Designated Driver
- Don’t always take advantage of friends that don’t drink.
- Don’t get smashed if everyone else expects you to drive. If you start as the driver, expect to end as the driver unless someone specifically says they’ll drive everyone home at the end of the night.
- If you’re the sloppy drunk, make sure you’re the DD every so often to thank your friends for all the times they took care of you when you were too far gone to take care of yourself.
- Don’t drive drunk. If you have a couple drinks, drink water and stop early - give yourself plenty of time to sober up.
Thursday, August 15, 2013
Lakefront Brewery Tour
On my vacation this summer, one of the things I hit up were tours I’d been meaning to take - including Lakefront Brewery. It’s close to home and I’ve heard from friends that it’s their favorite brewery tour, but I had just never made the time for it.
I rectified that.
Honestly, it’s a small tour, but a good one. The brewery is in a single building, with a gift shop, a large tasting room, a room overlooking the brewery floor, and the brewery floor itself.
You’re given tokens for four 6-oz beers, and your guide encourages you to fill up before the tour starts. Then they talk about the start of the brewery, and the basics of brewing (which you get on every tour of every brewery you visit) and then there’s a break to cash in more tokens for more beer. Then the tour moves down to the end of the bottling line where they talk about bottling and kegging and such.
When it’s all done, you can trade in your sample cup for a Lakefront Brewery pint glass.
The whole thing costs a mere $7.00.
What really makes the tour a step above the rest is that it’s relaxed, fun and funny. I think they pick their tour guides carefully, because I’ve heard the same from other people who’ve taken the tour, and I don’t think we’ve all had the same guides.
Most tours I’ve taken have been interesting, filled with information and led by people who are passionate about the history of the brewery or the crafting of good beer. My Lakefront tour guide was passionate about drinking, funny as hell, and had a sense of humor somewhere between a 12 year old and a college co-ed. Really, the guide made the tour great. It doesn’t hurt that I have yet to have a beer from Lakefront that isn’t good.
My suggestion - take the tour. Do it. You won’t regret it.
I rectified that.
Honestly, it’s a small tour, but a good one. The brewery is in a single building, with a gift shop, a large tasting room, a room overlooking the brewery floor, and the brewery floor itself.
You’re given tokens for four 6-oz beers, and your guide encourages you to fill up before the tour starts. Then they talk about the start of the brewery, and the basics of brewing (which you get on every tour of every brewery you visit) and then there’s a break to cash in more tokens for more beer. Then the tour moves down to the end of the bottling line where they talk about bottling and kegging and such.
When it’s all done, you can trade in your sample cup for a Lakefront Brewery pint glass.
The whole thing costs a mere $7.00.
What really makes the tour a step above the rest is that it’s relaxed, fun and funny. I think they pick their tour guides carefully, because I’ve heard the same from other people who’ve taken the tour, and I don’t think we’ve all had the same guides.
Most tours I’ve taken have been interesting, filled with information and led by people who are passionate about the history of the brewery or the crafting of good beer. My Lakefront tour guide was passionate about drinking, funny as hell, and had a sense of humor somewhere between a 12 year old and a college co-ed. Really, the guide made the tour great. It doesn’t hurt that I have yet to have a beer from Lakefront that isn’t good.
My suggestion - take the tour. Do it. You won’t regret it.
Milwaukee Brewfest 2013
Amanda and I went to our fourth Brewfest on Saturday, July 27. Since we’d tried buying VIP tickets after they’d sold out last season, Amanda bought them for me as my Christmas gift. It got us an extra hour, access to a few beers that weren’t available to everyone else, access to a roped off section where there were more port-o-potties and some picnic tables with dishes of pretzels. I know some people wouldn’t think it’s worth the extra money, but I’m glad we did it. Happy enough that I think we’ll probably do it again.
Yet again, it was impossible to try everything. I suppose that’s a sign that I should be willing to dump more beer, but I’d rather interpret it as the event doing a good job bringing a wide variety of beers for sampling. We hit the tables hard, and got through a good number of them, though, and there were only a couple beers that I wanted to try which ran out before I got to them. Cider Row was improved, which made Amanda (who’d not the most enthusiastic beer drinker) quite happy.
For the most part, I didn’t really have any beers that I didn’t like, and I tried beer from a lot of breweries in a lot of styles. I confirmed that I’m a fan of bourbon barrel aged beer, though, and that when you’re doing a scotch ale, sometimes less is more.
The one beer we tried that stood out was by Rogue which created a beer based on Portland, Oregon’s Voodoo Doughnuts “Memphis Mafia” doughnut. Chocolate, Banana and Peanut Butter. The Banana was pretty strong in this ale. Amanda liked it (which is a good sign, because she likes Bananas, but not fake banana flavoring), but I have my reservations. Unlike Amanda, I wouldn’t drink this by itself, but I think it would do well as a beer float.
All-in-all this was a great time, and the perfect Christmas gift.
Yet again, it was impossible to try everything. I suppose that’s a sign that I should be willing to dump more beer, but I’d rather interpret it as the event doing a good job bringing a wide variety of beers for sampling. We hit the tables hard, and got through a good number of them, though, and there were only a couple beers that I wanted to try which ran out before I got to them. Cider Row was improved, which made Amanda (who’d not the most enthusiastic beer drinker) quite happy.
It was a fantastic time and I ended up learned several important lessons:
- Pacing yourself is everything. You’d think this would be common sense, but some of us have to learn the hard way. This year I did a good job pacing myself, and made it from open to close.
- Pacing is easier if you have friends. We met up with a bunch of guys we knew from the Milwaukee Blitzdkrieg men’s roller derby team, and chatted with them between beer stops.
- If you have a friend, it’s better to let them hold your glass than to lose it. I ended up having to get a new one because my original glass walked off.
- A pretzel necklace will increase your stamina considerably. A pretzel necklace with beef jerky is even better. A pretzel and jerky necklace with Wint-O-Green Lifesavers will let you end the event with fresh breath.
- And my most important lesson: I don’t like barley wine. Not at all. No apologies, but after trying it both last year and this year, I can say for certain it’s just not for me. I’m sure there’ll be people who are appalled to hear that I’m such a philistine, but I’d rather spend my trying beers I’m likely to enjoy than trying to convince myself I need to acquire a taste for barley wine.
For the most part, I didn’t really have any beers that I didn’t like, and I tried beer from a lot of breweries in a lot of styles. I confirmed that I’m a fan of bourbon barrel aged beer, though, and that when you’re doing a scotch ale, sometimes less is more.
The one beer we tried that stood out was by Rogue which created a beer based on Portland, Oregon’s Voodoo Doughnuts “Memphis Mafia” doughnut. Chocolate, Banana and Peanut Butter. The Banana was pretty strong in this ale. Amanda liked it (which is a good sign, because she likes Bananas, but not fake banana flavoring), but I have my reservations. Unlike Amanda, I wouldn’t drink this by itself, but I think it would do well as a beer float.
All-in-all this was a great time, and the perfect Christmas gift.
Tuesday, July 16, 2013
One Thing Off The Bucket List
I’ve wanted to check out the Delafield Brewhaus, and I finally made it there for lunch the other day. I haven’t gone so far because their location is a little inconvenient for me. But I had the day off and made the most of it.
The decor is an odd mix of German beer hall, brew pub and random brewerania. Having old brewerania hanging on the walls is pretty common in brew pubs, but it’s a little of an odd mix with the German beer hall elements. They make it work, though. I ordered their Das Laker (fried Walleye sandwich), which was quite good, and a beer sampler.
The sampler included:
It’s not surprising that their amber is their biggest seller. I’ve heard it said that every state seems to have a style that is the staple of most brew pubs and micro-breweries. If that’s true, then it’s the amber in Wisconsin. But their amber wasn’t at the top of my list. In fact, they all ranked about the same in my book - drinkable but not particularly noteworthy. The Leisure Beer is their lightest - I’d consider it a lawnmower beer - and I thought it was their best. For me that’s a pretty clear mark that I won’t go out of my way to visit again.
If they were more conveniently located for me, the food is good enough that I’d go back for their food and get a beer, but I think brew pubs need to be better than just okay. It makes me wonder about the awards their beers won, though. The taste of their beers has likely shifted since they won the awards - it happens in all craft breweries - but was the shift that big? Or do I have different criteria for judging a good beer than beer judges? I’d like to learn more about picking out different flavors in beer, but I think the most important test is the one that any beer drinker can do. “Do I like this? Would I come back for this?” If the answer is no to either question, then it’s time to move on.
The decor is an odd mix of German beer hall, brew pub and random brewerania. Having old brewerania hanging on the walls is pretty common in brew pubs, but it’s a little of an odd mix with the German beer hall elements. They make it work, though. I ordered their Das Laker (fried Walleye sandwich), which was quite good, and a beer sampler.
The sampler included:
- Leisure Beer, a light-bodied lager which won a 2012 World Beer Championship Bronze
- Summerzeit Hefe Weizen which won the 2002 World Beer Championship Silver
- Delafield Amber, their biggest seller and winner of the 2002 World Beer Championship Bronze
- Pewaukee Porter, which won the 2011 World Beer Championship Silver
- Fruhlingzeit Maibock
- Nagawicked Pale Ale
It’s not surprising that their amber is their biggest seller. I’ve heard it said that every state seems to have a style that is the staple of most brew pubs and micro-breweries. If that’s true, then it’s the amber in Wisconsin. But their amber wasn’t at the top of my list. In fact, they all ranked about the same in my book - drinkable but not particularly noteworthy. The Leisure Beer is their lightest - I’d consider it a lawnmower beer - and I thought it was their best. For me that’s a pretty clear mark that I won’t go out of my way to visit again.
If they were more conveniently located for me, the food is good enough that I’d go back for their food and get a beer, but I think brew pubs need to be better than just okay. It makes me wonder about the awards their beers won, though. The taste of their beers has likely shifted since they won the awards - it happens in all craft breweries - but was the shift that big? Or do I have different criteria for judging a good beer than beer judges? I’d like to learn more about picking out different flavors in beer, but I think the most important test is the one that any beer drinker can do. “Do I like this? Would I come back for this?” If the answer is no to either question, then it’s time to move on.
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