Most of our travels involve beer (read: beercation) so it’s no surprise that the first full day of my Madison trip involved visiting a Wisconsin brewery.
Not exactly in Madison (but close) is New Glarus Brewing Company located in New Glarus, Wisconsin, which is a Swiss settlement.
Renowned among craft beer lovers outside of the state as a rare and delicious thing, New Glarus distributes exclusively in Wisconsin due to production demands. The brewery has a lineup of beers for every palate, from the crisp and hop forward Moon Man, the fruity Wisconsin Belgian Red made with Door County cherries and the easy & ubiquitous (in WI anyway) Spotted Cow. They also brew a variety of specialties and seasonals throughout the year.
We headed over to the brewery on a hot Sunday afternoon. The drive in from Madison consists of 30 miles of verdant, scenic farmland. After driving up a winding hill and passing a trolley and cyclists, we approached a very new building in the styling of a simple Swiss chateau and entered through the gift shop. The public areas consist of the shop, a tasting room and an outdoor area where guests can play corn hole, picnic and relax with an ale. A self-guided tour of the brewery is also open to the public, which I recommend once you have a full Spotted Cow in hand.
Admission is free and tastings are generously inexpensive. A small branded souvenir glass and three tastings are just $3.50. For a full serving and beautiful branded glassware for you to keep, pay just $6. Refilling your glass is just $3.
After spending a bit of time at the brewery and tasting all there was to offer, we headed into town with the coupon book that came with the tasting. In it is a voucher for a free New Glarus beer at nearly any bar in town. The village is quaint and touristy with plenty of restaurants and shops where you can grab some Wisconsin cheese or ice cream. I opted for an ice cream cone but I dropped it so that was a massive failure.
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