New Glarus Brewing Company Hard Hat Tour- The Ultimate Brewery Tour Experience
If you love brewery tours, you’ll want to get the Ultimate Brewery Tour experience at New Glarus Brewery in New Glarus, Wisconsin. New Glarus Brewery Company is legendary, especially around these parts of Minnesota. New Glarus Beer is only available in Wisconsin. Exclusivity makes you want something you can’t have it, right? Whenever we cross the border from Minnesota to Wisconsin, it is guaranteed that we will be coming back with our favorite beer, Spotted Cow. New Glarus Brewing Company was ranked #16 in all of the US breweries.
We registered for the hard hat tour 9 months prior! The tour calendar fills up fast but it’s worth the wait. We found the first date that was available and made it work for us, then planned a trip to Madison around that date. Sure, New Glarus Brewing company has self-guided tours but we got a 3-hour tour along with beer & cheese samples on the Hard Hat Tour.
New Glarus Hard Hat Tour- the Ultimate Brewery Tour Experience
The owners of New Glarus Brewing are Dan & Deb Carey. Dan, is a Master Brewer. Becoming a master brewer is the equivalent to becoming a doctor. Fewer men are Diploma Master Brewers than have walked the moon. Wow!
Couple Dan’s brewing talents with Deb’s artistic abilities and mind for business, and we all get to enjoy New Glarus Brewing Company Beer! As a couple, their entrepreneurial spirit is a force to be reckoned with. Being entrepreneurs ourselves, it was fascinating to hear little stories along the way about how they built their brand, especially how they went “all in” on their decision to start New Glarus Brewing Co.
The town of New Glarus, WI is, without a doubt, charming. It looks like a tiny, Swiss village. There are window boxes and chalet-like buildings throughout town and the New Glarus Brewery fits right in, even the new location.
The buildings below are part of their original property. They’ve outgrown this property and it’s where the tour starts.
Beautiful building that is on the original property of New Glarus Brewing.
The original property of New Glarus Brewing Company
Beautiful barrels of beer at New Glarus Brewing Company
The New Glarus Hilltop Brewery is a Bavarian-style Hilltop Brewery was built in 2008 but looks like it’s been here long before that.
Copper Brewing Kettles at New Glarus Brewery
The Stairway to Heaven at New Glarus Brewery
A look down from the Stairway to Heaven at New Glarus Brewery
The bottling production line was hopping.
Production area of New Glarus Brewery Company
The production facility is state of the art and is a brilliant mix of stunning architecture and working brewery. The two photos above were taken through glass walls! The facility is nothing if not pristine. Everything is shiny and sparkling and on display! From the offices, to the lab where they test, you can get a behind-the-scenes look of everything at the Brewery. There’s also a gift shop and tasting room. The tasting room leads out to a beautiful patio with lovely scenery of the New Glarus hillside.
After the tour was complete, we were invited into the employee lunch room which over looks the new patio and the hillside of New Glarus.
Bottled beer on display at New Glarus Brewery
Cheeses to sample during the beer tasting portion of the Hard Hat Tour. All cheeses made in Wisconsin!
To say we enjoyed the tour was an understatement. We leisurely sampled beer and cheese and were able to talk to others on the tour or ask more questions of our tour guides. It truly was, the ultimate brewery tour experience!
Beer & cheese samples on the New Glarus Hard Hat Tour
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- Style: Bavarian style hefe-weizen. Flavor: Rich, spicy cloves with cinnamon notes
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- Style: Nut Brown Ale Flavor: Hazelnut brown ale
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- Style: Oatmeal Stout Flavor: Smooth molasis & dark chocolate
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- Style: fruited sour ale Flavor: ale with apples, cranberries & cherries
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- Style: Reinheitsgebot Lager Flavor: assertive pilsner
Yes, you really wear hard hats on the Hard Hat Tour! From left to right- Kelly’s sister, Stacy, Kelly (me), Dusty, Stacy’s husband, Jason
In the photo above, we’re standing over the outdoor beer patio which has a fireplace and an outside bar and beautiful fountain. The patio hosts live music in the summers.
If you are impatient and don’t want to wait for a date on the Hard Hat Tour, New Glarus also offers self-guided tours. We were happy to wait for the Hard Hat Tour. The enthusiasm and knowledge of our tour guides added to the tour experience. Every employee we encountered had passion for their jobs, the owners and the Brewery. Might this be another reason their beer tastes so good?
New Glarus Hard Hat Tour
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- Fridays at 1pm
- $30 per person
- Tour limited to 15 people
- length 3 hours
- Ends with a private beer & cheese tasting
- Google Maps gives goofy directions once you get to town. The meeting spot for the tour is on the main drag through town.
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Stacey Billingsley
July 11, 2017 at 10:33 pmThis looks like such a cool tour! I especially love the hard hats. I’d love some of that Wisconsin cheese, too!
Kelly & Dusty
July 14, 2017 at 11:46 amStacey, you would love it! The hard hats were so fun 🙂 The cheese…..yes!
Greta @ Pickles Travel blog
July 10, 2017 at 3:18 pmThis is so awesome! You guys have amazing adventures! I don’t like beer, otherwise I would be totally jealous of this one- it looks absolutely INCREDIBLE!
Kelly & Dusty
July 14, 2017 at 11:46 amGreta, I think you’d enjoy the adventure of the tour- it’s absolutely stunning! The town of New Glarus is adorable, too!
katesparkleandthecity
June 1, 2017 at 12:45 pmI like the fact that you give a lot details about this brewery trip! It seems very interesting. Maybe, i will put such a trip in my to do list 😉
Duster
June 2, 2017 at 9:58 pmThank you! It was very fun. We definitely think you should add it to your list. A suggestion- go in the summer time when you can also visit Madison- they have the largest farmers market in the US- it is like a half-day event easily! So great.
Wahidin Wong
June 1, 2017 at 12:36 pmI’ve just knew that brewery facility is that “complicated”, full of pipe. However, the “Stairway to Heaven” is just so true. Haha!
Duster
June 2, 2017 at 9:59 pmThere is definitely a lot of pipe but it is really well-organized. Totally a stairway to heaven!!
Claire - StartACraftBlog
June 1, 2017 at 12:24 pmmy husband would love to visit this brewery! I think he’s been round all the breweries in Ireland and the Bushmills distillery. I’ve never been interesting but it sounds pretty fascinating. great post 🙂
Duster
June 2, 2017 at 10:00 pmHe should definitely add it to his list! It’s just beautiful and a fun way to spend a couple of hours! We would love to know how it compares to the other awesome tours he has been on.