Brewery Tour Road Trip Begins!

Hello friends,

Today was the first of my many upcoming brewery tours: New Glarus.

Mind you, this was not my first brewery tour. In fact, my inspiration for starting to home brew was from the brewery tours I took in Wisconsin this past summer: Leinenkugel's, Stevens Point, Sand Creek, and Minhas. A brief summary of those tours is provided in the next post, as well as the tours I took of Granite City, Capitol, and Lakefront Brewery between then and now.

Why so many brewery tours?

Well, frankly, I think it's one of the best ways to get to know the beer you are drinking. Sure, when you receive that gentle pour into your pint glass, you might appreciate the swirl of color and smells; and when you gulp down the contents you might appreciate the refreshing and soothing nature of this sublime liquid. But it's understanding the hard work, motivation, and history that came together to bring you that beer that grants you that exquisite next-level experience of your senses and a fonder appreciation.

I hate to use a cheesy example but in "French Kiss" there's a scene where the French guy, Luc, tells Kate, played by Meg Ryan (an indication that this is cheesy), about where the wine she is drinking comes from. As a result, she develops her basic description ("it's a nice red wine") into a higher level of detail about the components -- she even detects something as subtle as the lavender in the wine.

Our society agrees that wine is complex and interesting. I argue that beer is just as complex and interesting -- and, moreover, fun! Brewer's yeast is probably the most badass food component that exists. Hops hail from the same family as marijuana (Cannabinacea, if you're curious). And the process itself (brewing the wort, fermenting, and carbonating) is just phenomenal. When it comes down to it, brewing is art morphed with science to produce a tasty beverage. This works well for a right-and-left brained person in good thirst like myself.

So I hope you enjoy my tales from my brewery tour road trip as much as I enjoyed taking it. :)

Cheers,

Beer Geek