New Glarus is Hell Bent on Not Taking Over the World: Paste Interview

I've visited the brewery several times as it is 3 hours from my house. Last time I was there I asked them about expanding into Illinois. They said no, Wisconsin only. And the reason is they only have 2% of the Wisconsin beer market! They can grow sales every year without leaving their home state. Can't blame them.

 

New Glarus has an amazing track record of quality. Most other top name breweries in the upper midwest have some clunkers, but I can honestly say that I've never had anything less than a good beer from NG... and most are a lot better than good. How many other breweries don't have a regular IIPA and then hit it out of the park two consecutive years with specialty releases (Thumbprint IIPA last year, Scream IIPA this year)? It doesn't matter if they haven't brewed a style before, or only do one rarely... if they brew even once, it is good-to-great.

For those coming up from Chicago, the Mars Cheese Castle is your friend - the Woodman's along 94 isn't nearly as reliable at having Thumbprint releases, and it also doesn't have tons of cheesy goodness to buy along with your beer.

 

I do miss the days of buying them in Chicago, but I have to respect their lack of agenda and its purpose for keeping their beer local.

 

New Glarus is, perhaps, the best brewery of all - in my humble opinion.

Thank God I have @Duff27 as a trade partner.

Interesting indeed that their head brewer apprenticed for Ayinger. That makes so much sense.

 

Is correct to assume that New Glarus mainly does wild ales, sours, and lambics? Of course not everything because I have had Spotted Cow and that's the best amber ale I have had.

 

originally from san francisco??

hey dan how about sending some brews to your roots.

awesome beer from these folks for sure

 

Hooray for NG. Good people and top notch beerzzzzz. Pasted!!

 

I could really use a Wisconsite New Glarus hookup. With all my heart I could. Top 3 brewery for me.

 

woodman's is awesome! The Binny's of the Dairy State.

 

I travel to Wisconsin twice a year and it is always a pleasure to stock up with New Glarus beers. Recently I bought a case of Cran-Bic, should have bought more.

 

And at on average 6.99-8.99 per 6 pack.

 

I loved Cran-bic so much I had my brother in WI pick me up a full case last week. Can't wait for my trip to WI at Christmas so I can get my hands on them!

 

That grass roof/cave built into a hill thing is just fucking radical.

 

It's not such a little niche; they're bigger than Great Lakes, Oskar Blues, Rogue, Founders, Victory, etc! And good for them. I always wonder why more breweries don't see making really great lagers and converting folks to their brand that way as a viable option for growth in their local markets. Create the local go-to beer for folks that don't want a mouthful of hops ...

 

As good as their "normal" beers are, you haven't really had New Glarus if you haven't had their fruit beers. Simply amazing.

 

Agree. Im not a big fan of fruit beers (other than Leinie's Summer Shandy), but the Cherry Tart, Strawberry Rhubarb and Serendipity are amazing.

 

Bigger than Great Lakes? Not sure I agree with that one...

 

You lost me as soon as you compared NG fruit beers to anything that ends in Shandy from Leinie's.

 

LOL Not saying theyre in the same league.

 

Be in disbelief all you want, but New Glarus produces more beer per year than Great Lakes.

http://www.brewersassociation.org/press-releases/brewers-association-lists-top-50-breweries-of-2013/

New Glarus is #18 amongst US craft brewers. Great Lakes is #20. This is made all the more amazing by the fact that New Glarus only distributes in Wisconsin.