13 replies to this topic

[Big Nake]

My wife and I went on the "hard hat tour" of New Glarus Brewery on Friday 12/14. This little town is about 2 hours NW of Chicago... northwest of Janesville and southwest of Madison. The brewery used to distribute to Illinois and other states but eventually got fed up with distribution issues so now only sells their beer in WI. The brewery is run by a husband and wife team that employs about 80 people. The brewery is beautiful and clean. The beers are outstanding and I occasionally drive through the cheddar curtain to bootleg some of it back to Illinois. The brewmaster Dan Carey likes to brew session beers, generally although there are some higher ABV offerings. He says that he loves to drink beer but hates the feeling of being too drunk to have more beer... an idea I have embraced for years. I have attempted to duplicate a number of their beers including Moon Man (a 5-hop pale ale) and Two Women (a deliciously malty German Amber Lager) and they are growing in sales and size. Here's the brewery...We had a two-hour tour of the whole place. Mashing, lautering, whirlpooling, boiling, fermenters, filters, bottling and kegging lines, quality control, etc. At the end they took us up to the tasting room where they had 6 different beers available. They gave everyone a tasting glass and there was Wisconsin artisan cheese and crackers out. Then down to the gift shop (I picked up more glassware) and then the bottle shop (5 or 6 sixers of their beer and a cool wooden beer crate). Very fun. Also, the town itself is very cool and totally old-school. It has this Swiss/Central Europe thing going on with chalet-style buildings, hearty food (schnitzel, schnitzel everywhere) and lots of little pubs and bars with 8 to 10 New Glarus draft offerings. For those in Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, possibly Indiana and obviously Wisconsin, this is a great trip. There is also Minhas brewery in nearby Monroe which we did not go to but maybe next time. If you non-Midwesterners ever get the chance to grab some New Glarus beer, check it out. Cheers.

[BlKtRe]

Look at that beautiful place! I keep saying when we go to the Great Taste we will make time for this. Never have....

[Big Nake]

Beautiful and spotless inside. Old-school on the outside, technologically advanced on the inside. Great people running the place and really good beer too.

[SchwanzBrewer]

All you gots was one picture? Where is the brew kettle humping? You fail.

[Big Nake]

I know. There was a good-sized group and believe it or not I was the ONLY homebrewer on the tour. Any question I asked was WAY over the rest of the group's heads and so I just listened and behaved myself. I took a couple of other pics but this one was the best. Epic fail.

[positiveContact]

if I had a brewery that is pretty much what I would imagine it looking like. at least in an ideal world.

[Hines]

SESSION BEER! That's my goal with most beers that I make. I want to be able to handle 2 or 3 in a sitting if I desire. I often desire that.

[JMcG]

I was really impressed by Dan when he spoke to our tour. He said when they decided to open the place their objective (besides great beer) was to be a good neighbor in the community and provide their employees with jobs that gave them the chance to have a house, a spouse, insurance and savings for retirement.All the merchants we spoke with in that town had great things to say about the Careys and the business practices of the brewery. They have been partners with the community in many ways. Beautiful facility.Good people!

[positiveContact]

sounds like they are really doing things right. it must feel great.

[Big Nake]

I was really impressed by Dan when he spoke to our tour. He said when they decided to open the place their objective (besides great beer) was to be a good neighbor in the community and provide their employees with jobs that gave them the chance to have a house, a spouse, insurance and savings for retirement.All the merchants we spoke with in that town had great things to say about the Careys and the business practices of the brewery. They have been partners with the community in many ways. Beautiful facility.Good people!

Yes, I failed to mention that but it was hammered home by our tour guide, people who visited the brewery and locals constantly while we were there. My guess is that New Glarus tourism is up because of the brewery and there's nothing wrong with that. The town itself is worth a visit but now more people know about it because of the brewery. Unfortunately, Dan & Deb were preparing for a company meeting while we were touring and I was not able to ask any questions of Dan. I have been told by others that he answered any and all questions from homebrewers but I have also emailed with Deb about how competitive the beer industry is and how they cannot share anything about their beers or processes with others. I also heard that Dan was never a homebrewer so he doesn't really feel that "kinship" and as a result, doesn't really cough up a lot of info. Either way... I wasn't disappointed as I figured any information would be cryptic or minimal... and I don't necessarily blame them.

Edited by KenLenard, 18 December 2012 - 05:32 PM.

[ncbeerbrewer]

Awesome looking pic Ken and it sounds like the tour was a lot of fun. Awesome looking brewery I do say. Being a former long time Ohioan I remember hearing about how awesome NG is...now if only I will ever get to try some of that great beer!

[djinkc]

Looks like a cool place. I have a buddy of the street that will have to clone the Belgian Red for his wife. Only beer she will drink. She used to buy it once a year in IL. Distribution can be a big PIA for us.Anyway, he's good enough to do it, and I can supervise as needed.

[shaggaroo]

went on that tour a few years back. great time. had pfeffer schnitzel at one of the restaurants in town. delish.

[Mindblock]

This is ONE of the reasons that it is GREAT to live in 'Skonnie