Hello All, I need suggestions for picking two breweries to visit (one in Chicago and one in Wisconsin). I'm only saying one for each city because I will be traveling with people who couldn't care less about craft beer. So for them it will be mostly about the atmosphere and for me more about the beer. Thanks in advance. Cheers!
Lakefront in Milwaukee is a good one, and you can drink beer. The beers are okay. New Glarus is impressive, but it's a self-guided tour. However, it's impressive to experience the vibe of this place. You can drink beer on this visit too, and their beers speak very favorably for themselves.
If you are with people who don't care about beer if do Lakefront. I've done it with such people and they loved it. The tour is very entertaining and if you're coming from Chicago it's much closer. That being said New Glarus is amazing! Save it for when you have company who will appreciate the brewery.
Revolution has a good tour. Half Acre is another good one, but they only take 60 people and there usually is a line pretty early before it starts.
Lake Effect is good. I did that one two years ago. Samples were abundant. As unpopular as it might be on here, if the people you're traveling with aren't terribly into craft beer and they care about the atmosphere, you should consider the Miller tour. The architecture and history of the place is worth the hour long tour+beer garden time after. It will probably be more appreciated by your casual beer drinking companions too. Don't waste your time with Sprecher, unless you enjoy craft sodas. Two Brothers in the Chicago burbs is a great tour.
Has anyone been to Lagunitas yet? I'll be in Chicago on business in September and can't wait to check it out. Lagunitas is one of my favorite brewers.
For those who have done the Half Acre tour, how early do you recommend arriving? I will be in town next weekend (September 6) if that makes a difference.
In Chicago none really, all the breweries are pretty small and don't offer you anything special but if they are doing public tours at the new lagunitas facility its pretty impressive. In WI, MKE gives you a ton of beer (pretty much unlimited) which your friends will like, Lakefront has probably the only non-boring tour so they might like that, NEw glarus doesn't have a tour unless you sign up waay in advance but the brewery is immaculate and worth a trip, Potosi doesn't really have a tour but it does have a beer museum attached to it as does minhas, I thought the Potosi one was pretty cool. And Ill also plug in leines even thought he beer sucks its an impressive OLD mid-large sized brewery.
They have the hard hat tour of the production facility, but they also have the free walking tour of the top of the hill brewery. That one has some nice museum-type pieces in it, which isn't bad for a free walking tour.
The Lakefront tour is a lot of fun, hence why it's rated as the third best brewery tour in the country. Their beer is solid and honestly underrated. The new brandy-barrel aged pumpkin beer they just released is amazing. Milwaukee Brewing is great if you want to get smashed on a tour. They hand you a pint glass and let you go to town for a couple hours. They're finally starting to come around with more barrel-aged beers. Overall they have plenty of solid and high ABV brews. Right down the road is Great Lakes distillery, which is also worth checking out. New Glarus is probably one of the most gorgeous breweries in the country, but as others have said, it's self guided and you'll get through it in 15-20 minutes unless you get stuck in awe at how spotless the place is. If you want something super chill and don't mind driving to the middle of nowhere, it's a solid choice. As another choice, Central Waters has a great brewery. You'll have the best selection of super high rated beers at their taproom and they have a tour at 5pm on certain days. Their barrel room is really impressive. Exodus is by far the best sour in WI and it rarely leaves their taproom. Personally CW is my favorite brewery to go to in WI because of their phenomenal beers, but you'll have a hell of a drive since it's basically in the middle of the state. My suggestion is to do the "trifecta". Lakefront, MKE Brewing, and Great Lakes distillery all in one day. If you can't speak English after finishing all of it, then you did it right.
Their website used to recommend an arrival time. When I went, I got there 1 hr before and sat in my car until a line started to form. There were other people there when I arrived. They used to only allow 60 people and give beer during the tour. It lasts about 1 hr and dumps you out to the store to buy cans/bombers/growlers/swag. I would recommend it over Rev having done both.
