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I'm still drooling over the Spotted Cow fresh out of the tap. If you are within a 2 hour radius of this place you gotta check it out. They are located in what looks to be a brand new facility and you are able to walk around and check out what's going on throughout the brewery. They have tastings at a bar that is located within the gift shop. I stopped in and sampled some of their fine brews and each one was frickin' outstanding.
Talking with the bartender, I was told that New Glarus Brewing only distributes in Wisconsin because they cannot keep up with the local demand.
I truly hope that they will soon expand their capacity without hurting their quality so I can get this stuff here in DC.
AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME
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Fantastic and free self-guided audio tour through the brewery. You can even taste different samples of toasted barley! Skip the parts that bore you; spend extra time on other parts of the tour if you're really interested. My only complaint about the tour is that the maximum volume on the electronic devices is just barely loud enough. The hard of hearing might not enjoy the tour.
After the tour, I was so intrigued by the description of the "Wisconsin Belgian Red" that I just had to buy a bottle of it. Can you believe they use an entire pound of Door County cherries in every bottle? Once I got home, I chilled the bottle and opened it that same evening. The experience blew me away. The first sip delivered an intense, very natural fruit flavor and a bright burst of carbonation, then finished with a gently astringent, mildly hoppy taste. Imagine the sensation of sparkling fruit juice, but with a faint beer taste and a subtle, champagne-like finish. I'm not a wine drinker, but I was very impressed with the fruity beer-wine combination of the Belgian Red. Pricey compared to ordinary beer, but worth every penny. My brother and I went through the entire 750-mL bottle in one evening, then wished we'd gotten more.
I cannot comment on the sampling -- I skipped it since I'm already familiar with most of NGBC's beers -- but it might be fun to do next time. Of note, the sales room does offer mix-and-match 6-packs, making it easy to take home some old favorites and something new to try.
My personal favorites: Spotted Cow, an unfiltered, cask ale; and Totally Naked, an organic lager.
This is to Spotted Cow, one of the best beers made anywhere.
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This place is unbelievable. I took their "Hard Hat Tour" which was over two hours long and was amazing! We toured the old location for the brewery (still in operation) and then headed to the new location, and we got to try beer FRESH out of the lines from holding containers .... just made that day. The tour was very informative, the owner walked around with us and gave us very helpful explanations of how beer is made in general and how beer is made at this brewery. Then we got to try unlimited amounts of beer with cheese and crackers. The brewery is one of the cleanest and most beautiful I have ever seen, and everything is local and they have a big push for reusing/recycling and other "green" practices. If you are EVER in the neighborhood, you NEED to drop by here!
We showed up less than 5 minutes before the tasting room was supposed to close, but they let us sample their 3 beers of the day anyway. We tried the Stone Soup, Coffee Stout, and Black Wheat, none of which we had tried before. Although we only had small samples of these beers, they gave us coupons for a free pint at one of the restaurants in the town, which we gladly accepted. The ladies who worked at the tasting room were very nice and tried to answer all of our questions since we had never been to New Glarus before.
Then they let us walk around the brewery. Although we were there about an hour before closing, it would have been nice to have had a more personal tour rather than walk around by ourselves while they cleaned up. But, for the price we paid ($3.50 plus tax each for those who sampled), we had a good time and are looking forward to visiting the brewery again.
The caveat is that I haven't been here since 2007 but I'm working on slowly building a new list of Microbrews (slow but sure) to visit across the US.
I drank New Glarus all the time when living in Madison -- it's inexpensive, solid with varieties, and above all, ubiquitous. The brewery however, at least in 2007 and based on one recent (2009) review, is not up to par with other local and national brewery experiences.
Beer on a brewery visit should not come from a bottle -- the idea is to get the freshest beer and have access to brews that you can't buy at Jenifer St. Market in Madison! Growlers?! Where are the growlers!? The tasting is super minimal and pricey for three small pours (again, from a bottle) so it might be more worthwhile to have your own tasting at home and invite your friends to sample an even wider and more economical collection of New Glarus brews. In terms of interaction with brewmasters and staff, I had a few homebrew specific questions that they weren't very anxious to answer, or even chat about.
For all of my complaints, the copper kettles are unique and beautiful. If you have a free afternoon on a beautiful spring day, it's worth the trip.
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This brewery serves up some delicious beer and they tell a great story of two small business pioneers, a husband and wife team, that made it from meager beginnings. The brewery tour is very thorough. The $3.50 tasting with complimentary take home glasses at the end is lovely. On this tour, they sampled the Organic Revolution, Uff-da Bock, and the Red. Then I went to the gift shop and spent $40 on beer. Whoa. Worth it!
Also, if you are an outdoors enthusiast such as myself, when the new brewery is complete, consider camping across the street at New Glarus Wods and walking or biking to the new New Glarus Brewery when construstion is complete.
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Spotted Cow. It's really that good.
I'm drooling a little bit right now, and I'm at work so I should think about something else.
Now they have an organic beer too!! JOY!!
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I enjoyed the tour a great deal more than I thought I would (being gasp! not a beer gourmet.) Well, I even thought the cheesy audio tour was cool, and I kind of found it amusing to stand behind the rope and watch the plant workers doing their jobs. The two copper kettle things were pretty awesome. It also smelled delicious throughout the brewery.
We got to sample a stout (forget which), the spotted cow, and a lighter organic one. I was very surprised with how much I liked the stout, and the organic was very clean tasting. Spotted cow is as good as ever.
The lady in the store said they were opening their new place by June, I believe.
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On a trip to Chicago to visit friends and family, Adam convinced me that we absolutely needed to take the two or so hour trek from the Illi to New Glarus and all the Swiss-inspired goodness that's there.
Well, that's all well and good, and I do love some cheese curds, but the real highlight was the tour of the New Glarus Brewery. Turns out Adam had tried one of their cherry beers at a random event in New York (Federal agents listening in on my conversation, they didn't ship it so it's not illegal) and desperately wanted to get some more.
The tour was interesting and I certainly enjoyed the town. But the beer tasting at the Brewery was the best as it gave us the chance to try three of their beers and see what we thought. For a guy whose staple is Coors Light, even I liked a lot of the beers they let us try.
And my New Glarus t-shirt earns me mad rep with the Wisconsin natives in New York (of which there are far more than you'd expect).
Great tour, great company, great beer. The self guided audio tour with corresponding numbers was cool to get all the details on the construction and constructing the building around the giant copper tub and the brewing process and history. It's neat to see the sign for Master Brewer's office and he's sitting there at his desk, beer celebrity. The sampler at the end was good, tried the Spotted Cow again after I had been drinking it all weekend in Madison but also squirrel and the cherry. The cherry was super cherry flavoured but not too sweet. But it definitely counts for my fruit group section of the food pyramid for the day.
I procured some cherry to bring back to Chicago to savor as it no longer crosses the border. If only I had a car for some import/export action...
This was quite an informative tour. I found it interesting that it was self-guided and since I sometimes have a short attention span, it was great because I could skip ahead if I wanted :) You can't beat the price, as others have mentioned because you get multiple samples and you can keep the little glass.
After reading various reviews for their Belgium Red I was excited to taste it....but sadly I didn't like it. I was so certain I would because I love really sweet drinks...but I didn't care for it. I do enjoy other brews from the New Glarus Brewery like the Fat Squirrel and Spotted Cow.
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Ahh, Spotted Cow. Wisconsin Manna.
New Glarus makes some fine beer, particularly these great dark brews: Uff-da Bock, Coffee Stout (what's better than alcohol and caffeine in one?). Check out the website for the seasonals and the random offerings.
My favorite though is the Belgian Red--great for summer months--refreshing, crisp, and just enough sweet. Can hold it's own with any of those european lambics!
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Best tour ever, and it's free! I feel like I know 300% more about beer after taking the self-guided tour. An amazing story about 2 really driven people that built this brewery from scratch. They are building a new building just a little down the road to expand their business.
I really enjoyed the brewery and the tour. Make sure to stop here if you are driving through Wisconsin... New Glarus is worth the trip!
Call me a rube but in all of my travels across this country, I've yet to find a city with as a consistently fantastic beer selection as Madison. From dives to the cigar bars, in every one, you'll find a great selection of local beer on tap.
Of these brews, New Glarus Brewery is easily one of the best. Locally owned and operated, Spotted Cow and the Native are two highlights but really, they're all fresh and tasty.
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My review is on the tour. The beer is generally very good.
The city of New Glarus is worth a trip. The brewing facility is beautiful, but overall the brewery visit was disappointing. I did not take the self-guided audio tour, but I was not interested in an audio tour. Sampling was $3.50 for only three small beers. You get to keep a glass. How about buying a six pack with two people for $7.50 and sitting outside and drinking it. At least you could try more than three (set) beers. They wouldn't even let you choose. And the best part - the beer was served out of a bottle. Way to go. I've been to tons of brewery tours, this is near the bottom. It's kind of as if they didn't even want us there.
Hopefully their new facility (almost open) will produce a quality visit. I can crack open a bottle and listen to a tape anywhere. New Glarus, please try harder!
Though not a big beer drinker, I have to say that Spotted Cow is by far one of the best beers I've ever had. I've never personally been, but my best friend, who is from Wisconsin, brought a six pack home with her after her last visit with her family. Sadly, you can only purchase this beer in New Glarus and they will not ship it to you. If you know someone going to that area beg them on hands and knees to bring you a six pack! It doesn't get any better than Spotted Cow!
I like going and taking self guided tour of the brewery and then having samples of the beer. It is one of my favorite beers and it worth the drive from Chicago. I can't wait for the new brewery to open.
My fave Wisconsin beer by far. How do I love thee? Let me count the ways...Spotted Cow, Fat Squirrel, Totally Naked and now Organic Revolution Ale! So, so delicious.
New Glarus really makes some fantastic beer. If only we could still get it in Illinois, but its worth the trip across the border. Their 2 fruit beers are fantastic (bottle in my fridge now), aged in giant wood barrels to give it some wild fermented flavor. I've never had anything less than interesting from them and their excellent flagship, Spotted Cow, can be found even in some of the diviest bars in Wisconsin. I stopped in for a tour this past summer and my only complaint is that they offer a kind of cheesy audio tour, but none by actual people, I just had to content myself with the free samples at the end.
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This was a treat to finally visit the New Glarus Brewing Co. There beers are amazing. It is worth the trip if you live within driving distance. My fiancee and I brought back a bunch of beer for ourselves and as gifts for friends. She was a big fan of there new light beer called "Totally Naked" my personal favorite is the "Spotted Cow." Locally owned and operated, how great is that!
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I love Spotted Cow. It's a very healthy, respectful love.
This is the birthplace of Spotted Cow and Wisconsin Red Belgian, so it might as well be my Mecca (as a Badger living in Chicago, you can't get the stuff south of the Wisco border). The brewery itself is a humble farmhouse located on the outskirts of New Glarus, and you're lead through the house by a (free) self-guided audio tour, where you learn fun things like how the husband-and-wife team behind the brewery bought its major equipment from an old brew house in Germany and then had it floated down the Eerie Canal to be delivered to South Central Wisconsin. (Oops! Spoiler!). Like any good tour, it dumps you in a gift shop / tasting room at the end, but for $3.50 you get to sample three 8 oz brews and get to keep the souvenir glass (I pout, cos mine broke on the way home). The friendly people at New Glarus also hand you a coupon book to receive a complimentary New Glarus brew at other restaurants and bars around town. Score!
The tour itself is OK, the beer is great. Their Belgian Red is the most unique beer ever. Their Fat Squirrel is awesome. Totally Naked was great. Driving out there is worth the scenic trip.
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