Milwaukee, WI home of beer. Where the High Life and Pabst started, Shlitz was foundere here as well and where Miller still calls home. I visited Milwaukee a few years back (probably 7 or so by now, geesh) with my brother to visit my good friend Craig. Craig was working/living there and he showed us the town. It took 5 minutes. I kid, but really maybe 8 minutes. After the exhausting cultural tour of Milwaukee, we toured Miller or tired to - it was PACKED with Nascar fans. We promptly snuck into the cave though and the tasting room, by passing the tour. I bought a Miller High Life shirt and we moved on.
That's when we ended up at Lakefront. I recall Craig saying they were known for the tour and the wooden nickle you receive for beers. You drank while you toured, then drank some more. He was dead on. The tour alone was worth the visit. Lakefront is situated well - lake front. You can walk there from some other down town locations - which helps with the tour aspect. They charged $5 (I think) which gave you three wooden nickels for beers and the tour as well as a souvenir pint glass. I just drank from the glass last night. The tour was fun, filled with jokes and useless knowledge, as well as beer insight. I really enjoyed it. The beer was great too. I recall really enjoying their Pale Ale and Stout. I do remember also leaving there slightly buzzed, which might be why I enjoyed it so much.
I like to concept of Lakefront for lots of reasons, but mainly when I envision a brewery tour, this is one I'd model mine after. Fun, engaging, yet informative. I mean, it is a brewery, not a museum. I loved that we filled up before the tour began, then had a chance to again half way through. I also like that they are a staple in the community and on the water front. They hold Friday fish frys (big in the area) and the Palm Room is a great space for hanging out post tour as well for events. I'm not sure if I'm accurate, but it seems they started small/local and are now distributing in the upper-mid west and some in the mid-Atlantic region. It wasn't like that 7 years ago, but goes to show how a solid product and focus on strategy can keep you small but still grow over time. I was there once, but never forgot it. Most of the tours I take I try to take in best practices, as forever in my head, even before I've started discussing and now blogging it has been on my brain how "I want this." Lakefront was definitely a starter seed.
I still have a wooden nickel in my suitcase from that trip, a weird keep-sake true - but stranger that it is still in my suitcase.
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