Writing & Rhetoric MKE
  • Home
  • About
  • Blog
  • Social Justice
    • Antiracist Literature
    • Taking Action
  • Submit
  • #4C20
    • Welcome
    • Accessibility
    • Land/Water Acknowledgement
    • Lodging & Transportation
    • Local CCCC Events
    • VisitingMKE >
      • Museums & Tours
      • Outdoor Activities
      • Recovery Groups
      • Restaurant Guide
      • Social Spaces
  • Contact

BLOG

Milwaukee's Brewery Tours

3/4/2020

0 Comments

 
Joe Serio
Picture
The Miller Beer Cave, part of the brewery tour. Read more about it here: https://www.onlyinyourstate.com/wisconsin/underground-beer-cave-wi/
No town in America is as closely associated with beer as Milwaukee. Did beer make Milwaukee famous, or was it the other way around? Our brewing history extends to the mid-19th century, as does beer’s indelible effect on the city and its residents, culture, and image. Despite the vast and constant changes that have defined Milwaukee over that time, one thing remains consistent: Milwaukee makes beer! It’s no surprise, then, that the craft brewery explosion of the last three decades has breathed new life into that old tradition, and that Milwaukee now has a lot of breweries of all sizes. Touring one is a great way to engage with the essential Milwaukee as any other, and it’s a lot of fun to boot.
​

Now, you won’t learn all there is to know about brewing from a tour, or even much about it at all, so don’t go expecting a lot of technical detail (I’m a home-brewer, and I’m afraid I made that mistake). Instead, expect to be entertained while getting a little local history, a slice of Milwaukee culture, a few tasty samples, and a little knowledge about beer, anyway. Below I’ve provided a few links with many options and details, but I’ve selected a few options that are closer to CCCC and have weekday tours available. For those who prefer spirits, there’s also a local distillery tour listed below. Don’t drink but still interested? They all serve soft drinks as well. Most of these tours do not require reservations, but it’s a good idea, and most offer discounted group tours also.

Miller Brewery  (Biggest Brewery)
Picture
Picture shows the outside of the Miller Brewery (Source: Miller Brewery Tour)
Starting with the biggest, not the closest, there is of course Milwaukee’s most famous beer. Miller’s daily public tour (they offer a longer, more detailed one on Tuesdays) starts every 30 minutes and runs 80 minutes. This is an indoor/outdoor walking tour with 46 mandatory steps (and even more optional ones – this tour includes the cave seen above), so this isn’t the most accessible, but they do offer special needs tours if given 24 hours’ notice. The Tours run all week but take a weekday one to see the brewery in action.
​
  • 4251 W. State Street  Map
  • Phone: (414) 931-BEER
  • millerbrewerytour@millercoors.com
  • $10/adult over 21 with 3 8-oz beer samples; under 21 enters for free but no samples!

Lakefront Brewery  (Biggest Restaurant)
Picture
This picture shows the inviting sculptured faces outside of Lakefront Brewery (Source: Urban Milwaukee)
Though actually located on a riverbank, not a lakefront, this is one of my favorite local breweries, and the one tour on this list that I’ve attended. Lakefront is closer to CCCC, and they actually have many tour options available, so you’ll want to check out the site linked to above. Weekday tours are shorter than Friday-Saturday tours because they cannot go through some portions of the brewery during production. They even offer tours en Español! (If you’re around on Sunday and want those aforementioned technical details, they now offer that as well.)

Their tours are 45 minutes, and include 4 6-oz samples, a souvenir pint glass, and a rousing rendition of the Laverne and Shirley theme song. They also have a full-service restaurant that seats billions and a pretty good fish fry (the local staple food).
​
  • 1872 North Commerce Street  Map
  • (414) 372-8800
  • $10/weekday, $12/ Friday – Saturday, and $8/Saturday mini-tour
  • Contact page

Milwaukee Brewing Co.  (Closest to CCCC)
Picture
Picture shows the inside of the Milwaukee Brewing Company where brewing occurs (Source: Milwaukee Magazine)
This brewery is even closer to CCCC and has a few great beers as well! MKE, as they are called locally, runs tours from Friday to Sunday. They’re pretty new, so while I can say they make some tasty beer, there’s not much history to relate. Tours last “about an hour” and include unspecified (one site said “unlimited”) beer samples, a souvenir pint glass, and a token for a free beer at a local participating tavern.
​
  • 1128 N. 9th St.  Map
  • (414) 226-2337
  • info@milwaukeebrewing.com
  • Starting at $12

Pabst MKE  (Quickest Tour)
Picture
One of the many vessels at Pabst. (Source: Pabst Brewery)
While not the brewing powerhouse they once were, Pabst is still a big name in Milwaukee, so they should be included.  They’re a little more remote and a shorter tour at 25 minutes, and starting at 4 pm on weekdays makes for a short diversion before hitting the tap room. They’re just down the road from a more historically-oriented tour, however, so you might combine them.
​
  • 1037 West Juneau Avenue  Map
  • (414) 908-0025
  • $10 includes the tour, a pint glass, and one pour.

Best Place Beer History Tour  (No Actual Brewery Tour)
PictureThis picture shows the outside of The Historic Pabst Brewery (Source: Scooter’s Bar Guide)

Another Pabst option that could be coupled, if you like, with the previous one just down the street, this is the tour for those who want to learn about Milwaukee’s beer history in greater detail. By focusing on the founding and growth of the Pabst Brewery, this tour engages the most with the early history of Milwaukee and the importance of brewing to that history. Tours run throughout every day.
​
  • 917 W. Juneau Ave  Map
  • 414-223-4709
  • Adults $10.00. Seniors (60+), Military & Students (w/ID) $8.00. Kids 12 and under free.

Great Lakes Distillery (Least Hoppy)
Picture
This picture shows the outside of Great Lakes Distillery at night (Source: Sazs.com)
Maybe beer isn’t your thing, or you’ve already toured a brewery? Great Lakes Distillery produces vodka, gin, rum, absinthe, whiskey, brandy, and liqueurs! Their one-hour tour explains how they do that, and includes a flight of six samples. Reservations are recommended for this fully accessible tour.
​
  • 616 W. Virginia St.   Map
  • 414-431-8683
  • greatlakesdistillery.com
  • Tour and tasting $12.

More information and options are available at  these links:
Visit Milwaukee – Brewery Tours
Milwaukee Brewery Tours
OnMilwaukee Tour Guide
Milwaukee Magazine – 9 Unique Tours




Joe Serio is a PhD candidate in Rhetoric and Composition at UWM and presenter at CCCC. His work focuses on classroom play, community building, Technical Communication, and Media Studies. His dissertation involves analysis of emergent genres in tactical technical documentation created by members of online underground music collectors. He brewed his first beer – an Amber Ale – in 1990 and has been exploring beer styles and history while making his own beer, cider, and mead ever since.
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Categories

    All
    Activism
    African American Rhetoric
    Antiracism
    Archival Research
    Art
    Asian American
    Basic Writing
    Borderlands
    Bronzeville
    Campus Event
    CCCC
    Chicanx
    Code Meshing
    Code Switching
    Community Engagement
    Community Literacies
    Composition Pedagogy
    Creative Writing
    #CSPJustice
    Cultural Rhetorics
    Decolonization
    Digital Humanities
    Disability Studies
    Diversity Rhetoric
    East Side
    #EatingMKE
    Englishes
    Ethics
    Feminism
    Field Notes
    From The Editors
    FYC
    Historic MKE
    Hostile Terrains
    Immigration
    Indigenous Rhetoric
    Labor Issues
    Language Policies
    Latinx
    LGBTQ+
    LGBTQ+ Archival Research
    Lindsay Heights
    Linguistic Diversity
    Literacy Narratives
    #LoveIsRhetorical
    Milwaukee Film Festival
    MKE Neighborhoods
    Multimodal
    Public Writing
    Qualitative Research
    Queer Archives
    Race
    Resistance
    Restorative Literacies
    Rhetorical History
    Rhetorical Listening
    Riverwest
    Shorewood
    Social Justice
    Teaching
    Translation
    Translingual
    UWM
    Virginia Burke Awards
    WAC
    Walker's Point
    Writing Center
    Writing Programs

    Archives

    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    May 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018

    RSS Feed

  • Home
  • About
  • Blog
  • Social Justice
    • Antiracist Literature
    • Taking Action
  • Submit
  • #4C20
    • Welcome
    • Accessibility
    • Land/Water Acknowledgement
    • Lodging & Transportation
    • Local CCCC Events
    • VisitingMKE >
      • Museums & Tours
      • Outdoor Activities
      • Recovery Groups
      • Restaurant Guide
      • Social Spaces
  • Contact