Breweries to visit?

[mskyfshntchr]

My wife and I enjoy going and taking tours of breweries. Her for the interesting history and me, well for the beer

We have been to Schell's, Fitgers and Leinies. We are thinking of taking a trip this October and hoping to see a few more of these. They don't have to be big name breweries; we would like them to be older and that they offer a tour/history.

We live in southern MN and will have about 5 days for the trip.

Anyone have any breweries in the midwest we should check out?

Thanks!!

[Northlander]

A favorite Micro Brewery of mine is South Shore Brewery in Ashland Wisconsin. I love their Nut Brown.

[Whisker Trout Slayer]

You have to stop in to the "Worth Brewing Company" located in Northwood, Iowa. They are located in an old bank that is on the National Historic Register. All beer is brewed right there in the back and is great!! Peter has 3 beers on tap Slim Jim, Brown Ale (those 2 are my favorites), and Pale Ale. The fourth beer that he has on tap is a specialty beer that he taps on Friday at 5 andonce it is gone it is gone. He will have a new flavor the following Friday. He also has other beer there from other brewers from Europe. They also have appetizers and will let you order pizza and bring it in form the next door pizza place.

Hours are Wednesday 5 - 9 pm, Friday 5-11pm and Saturday noon - 11pm.

If you come down which isn't too far from your location let me know and I will meet up with you and enjoy a pint or 2!!

They do have a HSOforum which I think is against site rules to post but just use the first two words in their name, I am sure you can figure out the rest.

[redhooks]

There are lots of brewpubs in michigan and wisconsin. My wife and I stopped at the dunes saloon in Grand Marais ,Michigan while they were having a brewer's guild convention, great pizza excellent brews and a really good time. The U.P. has a bunch along superiors south shore Lower michigan also has some microbrews along the coast as well (Traverse city, Ludington comes to mind), and you might be able to time it with some fall colors and salmon/steehead runs. Ashland is on the way into the UP and down along the michigan coast and wind back through wisconsin(spotted cow rocks, capital brewery is good too)and I'm sure there are a few others along the mississippi/Lacrosse area, apples should be prime time also. I just did a quick search on michigans and wisconsin travel HSOforum and found lots of breweries to keep you busy,sounds like a fun roadtrip.

redhooks

[Bobb-o]

the Summit tour is pretty cool. They do them most saturdays and are free, but you need reservations.

[irvingdog]

Surly, Summit and Cold Spring.

Surly is small and doesn't have "history".

Summit. What can you say?

Cold Spring is fun. It used to be rot-gut, and is now a quite nice craft brew. Plenty of history. Cute river town.

[zamboni]

Check Boulevard in Kansas City. Their Unfiltered Wheat is some of the best beer I have ever had

[federline]

Holy cow! Go to Brau Brothers in Lucan, Mn near Marshall. They are on the web, google "Brau Brothers", give Dustin a call to say you want to visit, and they'll try to fit you in - personal tour. This is some of the best retail MN craft brew I've had in a long time.

[fishinchicks]

I am not a beer person, but I will second the Brau Brothers. I was there when they still had a restaurant, and they let us sample brews before we chose. I am a coffee lover, so I liked the coffee flavored beer they had.

[delcecchi]

Does "city brewing" in lacrosse do tours? (formerly g. heilman before strohs acquisition and bankruptcy)

[JollyT]

They list tours on their HSOforum, but not hours. You would have to call I guess.

[mskyfshntchr]

Whisker Trout Slayer- Northwood is under an hour. That trip might have to be done on a Friday night. Drop your email on here and I will get ahold of you when we come down that way.

The Brau Bros. will get done on a weekend sometime soon, hopefully. The inlaws are going to move to that area in a month or so.

Thanks for all the info. everyone. Sounds like the UP and N. WI might be the trip.

[Ralph Wiggum]

Cold Spring is fun. It used to be rot-gut, and is now a quite nice craft brew. Plenty of history. Cute river town.

That tour got me into trouble in college It was "study day" for finals and one of my roomates knew the owner of the brewery...

[Fishook]

Whisker brought a pint of Slim Jim when they came to visit us in Park Rapids this summer. I gotta tell you it is "smoother than a school marm's thigh" - really good stuff. You need to stop down to Northwood and pay them a visit.

[Matt C]

Visited the Leinies Brewery on Monday. Very cool place!

Also Summit is worth the visit.

[PDOGG]

My wife and I enjoy going and taking tours of breweries. Her for the interesting history and me, well for the beer

We have been to Schell's,

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!! Free Premo's!!

[AngelicFatum]

There are some breweries in Milwaukee with some history, I believe. Also if you wanna go a little farther, you could check out Bell's outside of Kalamazoo. I love their Two Hearted Ale.

[McGurk]

My wife and I made a Wisconsin Wine, Beer, and Cheese tour through Wisconson staying at 3 different Bed and Breakfasts along the way. A really fun 3-day weekend in the fall when the leaves are turning, but we hit the larger brewing facilities. If you want there are a lot of Micros at the bars in these towns, though.

Day 1) Starting at the Cities we went south on 61 to LaCrosse (where I lived for a year) and visited the City Brewery which still offers tours and a sampling. Lots of bar's and a great college night life on a Thurs or Fri night, too.

Day 2) Out to Steven's Point stopping at a couple of wineries and little town cheese shops along the way. Cashton is a cool farming community and the direct route will take you through a lot of twisty coolee driving with some good views. You could end with a tour at a bar in Stevens Point that had a few local selections. We missed the tour, so check ahead for tours

Day 3) The following day we made our to Leinies at Chippewa Falls, once again stopping here and there as we wanted. There's a great little truck stop in Caddott with Great fried chicken. Stayed the night at the Otter Creek B&B which was by far the best B&B we had stayed at so far.

Day 4) Last day; just made our way back to the cities.

Another up and comer is the New Glarus brewery (Spotted Cow). Enjoy!

[Whisker Trout Slayer]

mskyfshntcher,

Sounds good, [email protected]

What fishook was talking about is called a "growler" which is 64 ounces. You can buy the growler and take it back and fill it up to go.