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.
Thursday, August 15, 2013
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.
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