Backyard Discovery: Milwaukee Brewing Company Tours

The Milwaukee Brewing Company is no newbie to the Milwaukee Craft Brewery circuit. You may be more familiar with their pub, the Milwaukee Ale House, where they serve their famous beers such as Louie's Demise and Pull Chain Pale Ale along with tasty grub alongside the Milwaukee River. So when the guys at Milwaukee Brewing Company/Milwaukee Ale House wanted to expand their beer manufacturing and spread the love (in beer form) to neighborhood taps, pubs, and bars, they opened the Milwaukee Brewing Company Brewery on South 2nd Street in Walker's Point. Inside, they're cranking out bottles, kegs, and their newest addition, cans, day and night.

You may think cans are just a throwback to old days, but they're quite eco-friendly. Cans cost less and are faster to manufacture, weigh less for shipping, and are more easily recyclable so in sum. Their carbon footprint is tiny compared to that of bottles. Milwaukee Brewing Co. also reuses enough restaurant corn oil to fuel their repurposed generators. Enough so they can function completely off the grid for several days straight. Well done, dudes.

On the tour, you'll see some of their sustainable production along with the steps of the brewing process. I enjoy the Lakefront tour immensely, but the Milwaukee Brewing Company tour is like the old Lakefront tours when you drank out of glass pints, got to see the equipment in use, climbed up to the mash bin, and were allowed to drink more than 4oz at a time. If you're into craft brewing or just darn good beer, this is the tour for you.

Tours for the public cost $7, run on Fridays 5pm and 6pm and Saturdays 3pm, 4pm, and 5pm, and come with a token for a free drink at certain neighborhood bars.

I was there a few weeks ago and caught a few iPhone photos. The tour was great and I not only got to drink plenty of my favorite Flaming Damsel beer, but got to try their new Godzilla beer running in limited seasonal batches. It's an Imperial Belgian wit steeped with Rishi green tea (!!!!) and chamomile flowers. A tea infused beer is amazingly good. Trust me on this. Or try it for yourself!