the leinie lodge.

After A + A's wedding, Micah and I drove to Chicago with Kristen. We had decided that it would be fun to sneak in a few days of anniversary celebration in a new city. But, before I get ahead of myself and start talking about the amazing river cruise we went on and all the good food we ate, I need to mention Leinenkugel's. When I was in Birmingham, my friend MK introduced me to a beer called sunset wheat made by leinenkugel's. I'm not usually a beer kinda girl (I'd rather have wine), but this beer was pretty delicious and it has not so subtle hints of blueberry. Yes, I'm not ashamed to say I like fruity beers. So, anyway, proud of my recent foray into the beer drinking world, I told Kristen about my new discovery (which of course she already knew about). But, she mentioned that she had passed the Leinenkugel's brewery on her drive from Chicago to Minneapolis (so, of course, we would pass it on the way back). Brilliant! We would just have to stop in for a tour.

We had a little bit of difficulty getting there, but it was well worth the extra travel after happening upon the discovery that the simplest directions to get to the brewery failed to take into account a road that no longer exists. Anyway, we arrived and signed up for a FREE tour and we were given 3 FREE samples.

first round: Classic Amber, Berry Weiss, and Summer Shandy

I highly recommend the berry weiss if you like fruity beers, but do keep in mind that the summer shandy (half beer/half lemonade) is only around in the summer!

After our second sample, the tour embarked.

Leinenkugel's has been around since 1867, which according to their website makes it the 70th oldest brewery in the U.S.

Unfortunately, you can't take photographs inside the brewery, so all I have are the buildings from the outside.

The oldest "building" on site.

Micah paying close attention to what our knowledgeable tour guide was saying.

One impressive factoid we learned was that the huge containers that are used during the fermentation process are so big that in order for a person to drink all of just one's contents, he/she would have to drink a 6-pack a day for 55 years. Micah's response: "challenge accepted."

Once the tour was complete, we headed back into the lodge for our third and final sample. All of us decided to mix it up a bit and try the combination drinks. I had half berry weiss and half honey weiss which was appropriately named "the honey bear."

And here's a picture for the Christmas card this year.

So, go visit Leinenkugel's, the pride of Chippewa Falls, WI.