19 Jun 2023 - New Glarus Brewing Company

 

This morning we drove about 26 miles southwest of the campground to New Glarus WI to visit the New Glarus Brewery.  This brewery is fairly young as brewery's go.  It was established between 1992 and 1993 after Daniel Carey passed his Master Brewer's exam  at the Institute of Brewing in London.  While he was doing that his wife Deb raised the start-up capital.  They investigated several locations in the United States and after visiting New Glarus WI they decided this would be the place.  They converted an old abandoned warehouse into the New Glarus Brewing Company and they rolled the first barrels out in 1993.  

The tour is self-guided which starts with a movie, a walk through some historical displays, a walking tour through the actual brewery, a visit to the tasting area/souvenir shop and then last stop at the store where you can buy their beers if you choose.

The historical displays

The Brewery

The Brewing Process

A lot of the brewing process happens out of view inside stainless steel containers and the product is transported through hundreds of miles of shiny stainless steel piping.  It seem like it goes on forever!

Towards the end of the process, after the beer has been brewed, is packaging, and it is almost mesmerizing to watch.  One section fills kegs.  One section fills and labels bottles.  One section fills and packages cans.  Some pictures:

Keg filling

Kegs being filled

Bottling and Labeling

The bottling line

Inspecting the bottles before they are filled

Bottle filling and capping

Full bottles heading to be labeled and packaged

Can Filling and Packaging

Can filling

Can packaging

Once we finished our walking tour of the brewery it was time for a little tasting.  As a Veteran I was offered a free tasting and you could choose either a "tasting" or a "pint" and I chose a pint of Spotted Cow, one of New Glarus Brewing Company's iconic beers.  Doreen is not a beer drinker so she first had a root beer. 

The tasting area

Many different New Glarus beers to choose

Mine was free

As I enjoyed my pint of Spotted Cow we walked around the gift shop and I bought a couple koozies which is my normal souvenir.  We then went back to the tasting room and tried the Raspberry Tart which came highly recommended. 

 

Raspberry Tart 

We headed out into the courtyard and sat down to enjoy our beverages.  It is evident this place gets very busy, but they are set up to handle the crowds.

Huge courtyard where you can sit and enjoy

"Two Women"  Yeah, not so much.  That is the name of one of their beers!

Raspberry Tart and Root Beer

We stopped in the New Glarus Brewery store and brought home some Spotted Cow and some of the Raspberry Tart.  

The rest of the day was uneventful.  Liberty was feeling poorly so we hung around the RV and took care of a few tasks here.

Tomorrow we will head into Dodgeville and replenish a few supplies.  This may likely involve a stop at the local cheese shop!!  Tomorrow evening we head to Mt Horeb and dinner with my cousin Mike Abernathy and his family.  We will also take care of our night-before-departure tasks as we will leave here and drive to Cedar Falls Iowa on Wednesday morning.