So, naturally, when Mike and Amanda asked if I wanted to go to New Glarus Brewery for a (self-guided) tour and (more important) their tasting room I couldn't resist. Sarah had roller derby all afternoon (and had already been to the brewery) and let's be honest...New Glarus brews some tasty beers. Can't hurt to see how it's all put together.
New Glarus is a healthy (~45 minute) drive from Madison, through the countryside. The ride passes pretty quickly and you arrive at the small, quaint town of New Glarus, which is apparently Wisconsin's "Little Switzerland." New Glarus was having a small fair or some type of town celebration, which was cool. Considering none of us had eaten lunch, we decided to stop at a local tavern for some food. We settled on Puempel's Olde Taverne, which was apparently established in 1893. There was a very cool feel to the place, though we didn't have any drinks there. I got a brat, which was delicious (definitely recommended); Amanda got a BLT, which she said was good; and Mike got a grilled cheese from a stand next to the restaurant, which was apparently very tasty, though Amanda looked like it was prepared "without regard for the consumer's health." Overall: tasty food, and a neat atmosphere...they had tons of dollar bills tacked to the ceiling, and apparently they donate the money to local charities once they collect enough. There were about 3-4 cool oil paintings on the wall all around the place; see attached picture.
At any rate, we headed out from lunch to the brewery, which is off the highway and looks like a glorious beer castle from afar. Amanda had to pick up a dress for a wedding from the next town over, so Mike and I got dropped off and headed on into the brewery. The brewery itself is a really neat looking set of buildings that are sort of mashed together. It looks like various styles of houses just kind of slapped together, but it gives it a neat little feel.
So, apparently there are "hard hat" tours on Fridays that you have to sign up for where you get the real deal of tours, but considering this was a Saturday, Mike and I were on our own. The tour starts out with a walk through a hallway where you can look into the New Glarus micro labs, where they develop all of their yeast strains and mixtures. That was pretty neat, although you can't really get too into it when you don't have someone to explain things, and it's a bit tough to tell what's going on. At any rate, cool feature. Next was a small room in the hallway that housed various New Glarus awards, pictures, commemorative decorations, and some random miscellaneous items (tap heads, etc.). Next up, through another hallway, were the large copper boilers. The area was roped off so you couldn't get too close, but it was pretty neat to see such large boilers and all of the tubing that leads to the fermenter tanks and whatnot. Continuing on from there you could see the fermentation tanks, and some separate rooms that had smaller brewing equipment. You then come to an area that has a stairway leading upstairs (dubbed the "Stairway to Heaven"); Mike remarked that, of course, we would have to go up to see what was up there. At the base of the staircase was an individual 30 liter brewing set. I imagine that's what Dan Carey (master brewer for New Glarus) experiments with on a regular basis. It would be nice to have that type of equipment just to mess around with. So, I digress, but we headed up the "Stairway to Heaven" and found that pretty much everything up there was marked "Brewery Employees Only!" so we didn't get to see much. What we did see was a separate "Weiss Only" fermenting room. While I'm not positive, I postulated that this room was separate from the rest because Weiss-style beers are typically unfiltered, and maybe that's why it was set aside from the other fermenters.
Next, we headed back down the stairway to head over to the next section of the brewery. This section was the sterilizing and bottling section of the brewery. We ran into a brewery worker who seemed eager to discuss things with us. I asked him a few questions about the Weiss fermenting room, their next Thumbprint Series release, and some other things. He seemed genuinely lost and didn't know the answers to any of these questions. He then offered to describe his area (the bottling, etc.) of the operation. Mike and I listened to his description of the area, which was pretty neat in a few ways. The most interesting thing is that apparently New Glarus can clean and fill 60 kegs per hour, and they typically run 10-12 hours a day. For those of you keeping score at home thats 600 - 720 kegs PER DAY. That figure just completely astounded me, considering New Glarus only serves Wisconsin. At any rate, the employee recommended that we watch the video on a nearby TV for a walkthrough of what happens there on a day-to-day basis. First, quite laughably, the video looked like (according to Mike, and I concur) it was recorded on a cell phone. It was very grainy and had no sound. We lasted about 30 seconds watching the video and headed back down the wrap-around hallway to go back to the gift shop (which has very nice steins and some interesting products) and to the tasting room.
(Picture of the front of the Brewery)
So, apparently, you can get beer in a few different places (depending on how busy they are) at the brewery. One place is in the gift shop itself. Another is the "tasting room", which is essentially just a long, bare room with some high-top tables to stand at and a bar at the end. The last is the "Beer Garden" which is a tent set up outside with some taps. Mike and I headed for the tasting room, where they had a wide selection of NG brews on tap. They had the usual for the season: Totally Naked, Spotted Cow, Fat Squirrel, Moon Man, Two Women, etc. They also had two specialty beers on tap: Belgian Red and R&D Golden Ale. Of the bunch, the only one I had not tried that I had an interest in was the Golden Ale, so I went with that. Mike didn't feel so hot, so he declined to get anything. The normal beers are $6 for the first beer (because you get to keep the commemorative glass) and $3 for refills. The specialty beers are $9 for the first one and $8 per refill. You can also purchase a three-beer sample for $3.50, where you get a small sample glass (that you get to keep) and you can try any 3 of the beers (normal or specialty). I opted for a pint of the Golden Ale to start (see picture below).
While I won't review the beers I had there, I will give a general impression of the Golden Ale. It was quite good, a bright body that was very hazy (must be unfiltered?) that gave it a translucent look. The taste was solid and was quite hop-forward (surprisingly so). I am going to try to buy this beer locally to do a formal review on it. I also tried out Totally Naked, Spotted Cow, and Moon Man. I was considering throwing Totally Naked into the good "session" beer category. After having it (I've had it before, but it has been a long time), I don't think it's anything too special. It is a slightly tastier domestic light beer. I will try to get this locally as well and provide a review.
At any rate, the brewery has a fun feel to it; you can buy beer by going in the "Beer Depot" and the Beer Garden is a fun little summer place to hang out. You end up getting a good ways out of Madison so it feels like you've really GONE somewhere, but you're not too far. I would highly recommend making the trip. They had a nice little local brick-oven pizza stand that was very solid. There are cornhole game setups and plenty of tables to sit at and hang out with your friends. Well worth the trip and hopefully I will organize a group to go a few more times this summer.
(Back of the brewery & beer garden)
(R&D Golden Ale, after I have started enjoying it)
Here's to hoping a trip to New Glarus is in your near future!
Cheers,
Hurls
