Wisconsin's County Roads

Saturday, two of the guys from beer school and I went on a field trip to New Glarus, WI. What started as a day trip evolved into an awfully big adventure involving free drinks, the Troll Capital of the World, and karaoke--everything that a good Wisconsin excursion ought to.

New Glarus is a small town in the southwest corner of Wisconsin, about two and a half hours from Chicago. Like Frankenmuth, MI, Leavenworth, WA, and Fredericksburg, TX, it fashions itself as a small Old World village, in this case a Swiss one. For craft beer fans and brewers, New Glarus is a 'beer destination' because it's also home to New Glarus Brewing Co, one of the most beloved and award-winning breweries in the world.

After a short drive to get out of Chicagoland, Alex, Andrew, and I found ourselves cruising along the small, county roads of rural Wisconsin. Southern Wisconsin may not be synonymous with striking scenery in many folks' minds, but it is one of the more idyllic landsapes I've seen in the US: rolling hills, farmhouses, spotted cows, and, at this time of year, splashes of gold from the tamaracks and maples. (In fact, the roads just north of New Glarus got a write up as a great biking escape in the New York Times last year: http://travel.nytimes.com/2008/08/29/travel/escapes/29Trempealeau.html)

The fact that you spend a good hour on two lane country roads, no matter what way you come, only adds to the "rarity factor" that makes a New Glarus beer so good. The brewery's motto is "Drink Indigenous," and their logo a thumbprint of Wisconsin: despite demand from major markets and beer lovers across the US, New Glarus beers are only available in Wisconsin. If you want to drink their beers, you have to seek them out.

So, it was with lots of anticipation that we finally made it to New Glarus--all of us excited to see the new state of the art brewhouse that had opened back in June and ready to have one of those hard-to-get beers. But our plans were nearly thwarted.

Our plan had been to leave Chicago around 11, take the tour, have and buy some New Glarus beers, and be back in Chicago by 8 or 9. We managed to hit the road by 1:30, and as we pulled up at 4:30, we found the parking lot nearly empty, and one of the brewery employees was cordoning off the steps leading to the gift shop and brewery. Alex and Andrew parked while I was sent off to try and charm our way into a closed brewery on a Saturday afternoon. "Just get your foot in the door," Andrew said, "and the rest will fall into place I bet." Fortunately, Marisa, who works part time in the gift shop and beer depot, was an easy sell and before long we were meeting Adrian, one of the brewhouse operators and being shown the fermentation room, bottling line, and beer depot.

The new brewhouse is stunning and rivals New Belgium's space in Fort Collins as the most beautiful brewery I've ever visited--unlike many breweries it feels welcoming and visitor-friendly rather than industrial. Once I clear some space on my computer for new pictures, I'll upload shots of the brewhouse, which is actually enough of an aesthetic marvel that even non-beer geeks find themselves impressed.

Of course, we were still late, and we did not want to push the limits of our hosts' generosity. After some quick purchases at the beer depot and in the gift shop, we decided we would head to town and seek out some New Glarus on tap. Adrian and Marisa both told us that we should head to the Glarner Stube, a bar and restaurant in New Glarus village--to boot they said that that's where they were going after closing and Marisa, in an act equal in generosity and strategy, gave us each tickets for a free round of New Glarus beer at the Stube.

The new brewery, called the Hilltop Facility, is located atop a glacial drumlin just south of town, so it took us a few minutes to get to the Stube. Though New Glarus is a sleepy town, the Stube was packed full in both the bar and restaurant. Featuring eight of the brewery's beers on tap, the Stube seemed like the place to be in town, though given the wait, Alex, Andrew and I decided that we'd enjoy our free beer with Adrian and Marisa and then leave.

When we came in, the Clemson-Miami game was in its final moments, and Alex, a Clemson alum, grabbed us a spot near the TV. We watched as Clemson drove downfield in the final seconds of the game, but when the team and coaches, seemingly inexplicably, waited fourteen seconds to call a timeout on a second down, Alex and I both shouted at the TV, "What are they thinking?" "Yeah," a voice next to us said, "I can't believe he just did that."

We were standing next to Rick and Nadine, tourists visiting New Glarus from Illinois for the weekend, and before long, we found out that Rick actually coached prep football himself. "I don't get it; you have time to run one more play and get closer, then you take the field goal." Clemson did score, and as we waited to watch the overtime playoff, we all introduced ourselves.

They responded, "you guys are going to be brewers? That is so cool! We really like beer, but we don't know anything about it, and we want to know more." And that was when our plans for the night started to change.