New Glarus Brewing Company, New Glarus, WI

I've been on a number of formal and informal brewery tours in my days, but hands-down, this one is right up there at the top, if not THE top brewery destinations. It's a fanciful mix of location, landscaping, buildings, people, and (huzzah!) beer.

You have to head a little bit outside Madison to get there, maybe 40 minutes drive or so. You will notice a small (original?) brewery of theirs in town on the north side, then see what basically feels like a castle rise out of a hill once back outside of town (heading further south).

You have to wind-up a back road to see the property and park in their main visitor parking lot. But, to their credit, they know that this place is a draw for the town and area and they have planned that this location is the place to host the visitors coming en masse. Basically, they can handle your carload of drunks.

Like many "small" businesses in WI, they have had to add onto their original buildings as they've grown, over time becoming a patchwork of buildings and architectural styles, some purely for function, some with a sense of design.

A big theme in this Swiss-themed town is the chalet style building... not to be ignored at NG either.

Once in beerland, you pretty much have four options (at least in winter) - take a self-guided tour, hit the gift shop, buy beer in their store, or slam some beers in the Tasting Room. I'm not sure the order really matters, 'cause you're gonna do it all, right?! 

We happened to go Gift Shop > Tour > Tasting Room > back to Gift Shop > then barely made it into the Store. Everything closes at 5pm on Saturdays, so give yourselves plenty of time (I'd say at least a couple hours if you like beer). Another popular routing option seemed to be Tasting Room (to grab a brew) > Tour > Gift Shop > Store. Sure, fine, go for it.

Now, unless you get on a formal Friday tour (led by a NG employee), you may not learn a ton about the beer making process, but what you still get on their "self-guided" tours is an incredible look at a brewery that makes a LOT of beer, but still feels relatively small and family-run.

It seemed as if nothing was off limits from your eyes at least:

(don't jump in that hatch... it may not bee full of beer) - We heard these copper kettles above (which are multiple stories tall and continue under the floor) were from a defunct brewery in Germany. NG arranged to buy them at scrap value from the German brewer and pay to have them shipped to the US - always recycling in beerland.

 We decided not to ascend these stairs as it felt a bit sacrilegious.

In brewing, for sure.

"Schla-meel, schla-mozzle...hassenfeffer..." - Who's with me?

They have a bit of an Awards Room tucked into the Tour, and deservedly so:

Amen! 'Merica!

We had a nice time in the tasting room, and like most things here, they have it dialed. You start at the cashier and pay for either a small-glass, 3-beer flight OR a single, full-sized beer glass. Both get you a free "coin" for a beer in the local area bars and souvenir glass (yes!). With the flight, you get a small wristband - it includes 3 little "chits" the bartenders remove with each round of tasting you have poured. Pretty slick. Plenty of people watching in the Tasting area too, lots going on.

Their cherry-flavored ale... crisp!

I will not divulge what I purchased in the gift shop (ahem!) and/or beer store after my flight, but you might get the beer-paraphernalia bug too if you go back into the stores. It's real easy to buy something... and the beer is only sold in WI (cans travel best).

Steins

(This would really complete your holiday ensemble, wouldn't it?)

And now the beers on sale in the store!!!

I was floored by the amounts and selections at this place - gifts, glasses, openers, steins, t-shirts, other clothing, and almost all beer varieties!!! It's also possible I was ever-so tipsy by this point too. Grab some brews to bring home and get out of Dodge.

If you haven't picked up on this yet - I would HIGHLY recommend this brewery as a destination stop, almost anywhere from IL, WI, or further out. It was a cool place, tasty beers, and tons to see and bring home (beer). From the Tasting Room's view into the parking lot, we witnessed a family bringing 8 cases of 12-pack, Spotted Cow bottles to their SUV on dollies. I mean, this shit is serious here, folks.


Finally, I think they also have a few areas to improve, but I sort of suspect these are already in the works in the coming months and just haven't been completed yet:
- Tasting Room - It needs more tables & chairs. Something to fill the space and make it look like a medieval Swiss beer hall, would be nice. It could also use some sound-deadening in the space to make it less cacophonous as well.
- Self-Guided Tours - NG, can you set-up signs for reading at each of the main process areas? In fact, is there an app yet for museum tour uploads? Can't we just listen to something on our cellphones as we walk around the spaces? Could be pretty rad.

UW Men's Basketball WIN vs. Purdue @ Kohl Center, Madison, WI

It was a positively HUGE night in the 2018 UW Men's Basketball season (IMO). Let's break down the evening and see how the night went...

Don't forget to warm-up first!

Anthem - great singer.

Perhaps this biggest news of the night started well before the game - it was rumored you had to be "in your seats" by 5:40pm for a 6pm game time. It was the night chosen to retire former UW player, and current Charlotte Hornet, Frank Kaminsky's number in the rafters of the Kohl Center. It appears through his four years he grew very much as a man and player. The UW Athletic Dept was bestowing this honor on his as a thank you for his contribution to their program, school, and city.

 Classy towels on everyone's seat to have for the game and your collection of "Frank the Tank" memorabilia.

They played a bunch of "Frank Highlights" during timeouts and other points of the game, and then had a big ceremony during halftime:

This guy was dressed to impress in an all red suit, and high-tops. Classy.

Banner, up!

Frank gave a wonderful speech to the whole crowd, thanking the University, his teammates, the fans, and his family for his true growth period at UW. Class act in my book.

Finally, to really seal up a fun night, the UW men beat 6th-ranked Purdue in one heck of a "defensive struggle". It was a very tight game through the first half with the barn-burner of a score tied - 21-21. The 2nd half was equally as "offensive" and late into the half, UW pulled away and Purdue could not get back. The last 2 minutes were a bunch of fouls and clock usage drills. Job well done, UW, kudos!

I will finish this post by mentioning something I can't help but notice - this was my third UW Athletic event in my time in Madison and all of them have been spectacular "products" - Men's Hockey, Volleyball, and Men's Basketball. Great games, great crowd, great venues. Nicely done, UW!
(which kills me to say as an Illini)

Chief's Tavern, Madison, WI

Any place that has a WiFi password of 4BIGBEERS is alright with me... or so I found on Superbowl Sunday 2018. I'd decided to check out a bar merely down my street a few blocks and take in the "big game".

What a local WI treat this place is. Decor that looks like a 70's or 80's basement, almost no sunlight, patrons and a sassy bartender that swear out loud, enough snacks and food to keep you happy, and a nice dozen or so beers on tap, plus bottles of even more varieties.

My gastronomic portion of the night went like this:
Spotted Cow - this is a WI classic
Spotted Cow
Pretzel w/ "Cheese" - bartender apologized for "too much cheese", uhhh, this is WI, lady!
Bell's Amber, sure - why not?
Free Superbowl Sunday Pulled Pork sandwiches with chips n dip, baby carrots, and crudites - huzzah!!!
And for dessert a nice cold Atwater Brewing VJP (Vanilla Java Porter) on nitro pour - very good, imo

I think I spent about $25 in total, should have tipped more. Sorry, Sam. It was a good game, fun visit and I've already been back more than once (ok, only twice).

(Bundle up, Sam)

Notes 2 Know:
 - This bar is Cash-Only, which goes perfectly with the overall theme, imo. They also have an ATM inside too, phew.
- The kitchen has a small menu that's served until a bit after dinner time most nights.
- They have an "anytime menu" that you can get at any hour, but it's more like snack items - hot pretzel, nachos, etc.
- The have a system set-up with a local pizza place across the street to have patrons order their own custom pies and have them brought to your table/barstool. Lots of options on size and toppings. Delivered hot too.
- They have live music pretty often. Started at 6:30pm on a Friday when I was in.
- The Men's john is out the back, between the outer & inner doors. Trust me, this one's worth gold.

Here's a few more shots from the subsequent trips too:

Bacon n Black Olive, try it.

Glass Blowing @ Madison Glass Academy, Madison, WI

This is my 2nd foray into the world of decorative glass blowing and I was stoked to try again.

To be clear, and from what I gathered, this teaching studio is inside of The Vinery Stained Glass Supply Company. There are no signs for or any indication on the outside of the building that this is the spot for the "Madison Glass Academy" - Ok. Luckily, my spidey-sense told me it was the place though... glass-glass. I'm sharp.

I walked in and went right over to my "professor" for the night, who I had all to myself for the duration (I was the only student, but they can have classes up to 6 people and are usually full). It was pretty evident that my instructor made a living not only from teaching, but making glass "pipes" on his own time. That being said, he was very personable and pleasant to learn from.

This class was basically a "monkey-see, monkey-do" type of lesson. He showed me one time how to make a glass ornament, then I made about 8 of them over the one-hour course.

The process is pretty simple. They have pre-made glass tubes that you place crushed, colored glass, called "frit", into. You then heat it all up, melting the outer glass "bulb" and frit at the same time. They melt "together" and turn into a single substance. Once it's melted and red-hot, you blow through the tube on the end of the "pipe" and make a circular shape, hopefully.

Below is a look at the torch with no safety glasses on first, then with a blue-tinted safety glass in the second image. The glasses protect your eyes from any glass explosions and also allow you to see the glass heating up much more easily (though it is harder to see the flame... getting close to your fingers, for example).

When the glass gets to that hot-pink color (above), depending what frit color you place inside, you know it's time to blow. The blowing is a lot like blowing a bubble with gum, but more forceful, and it could explode molten glass all over you (ha!).

Once the blown glass cools down (maybe 15 minutes time), you score and then snap off the blow tube, add a ferrule for hanging an ornament string, and you're done. Viola!

To be honest, it was pretty interesting, semi-remedial, and fun too. If my first foray into glass blowing was a 8 or 9 out of 10... I'd give this a solid 4 to 5, and perfect for a beginner. For me, the "experienced glass artist", it wasn't amazing or Earth-shattering. Then again, for the $49 price on Groupon, it was a fun way to spend an hour and I came away with almost an entire Christmas tree worth of ornaments (or presents for the whole family - hint, hint).