Miller Brewery Tour, Milwaukee Wisconsin

If you happen to find yourself in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and are searching for something to do, and free beer is not unappealing, then stop by the Miller Brewing Company for their tour.

The tour is free, but you do need to check in, and those under drinking age are so marked. Before you even enter the building, be sure to walk through the Miller bus where you will find plenty of memorabilia and examples of each bottle design. Inside, while you wait for the tour to begin, the lobby area is full of more memorabilia including oversize bottle cut outs that provide great picture taking opportunities. To begin your tour you are led into a theater, introduced to your guide and shown a movie hat lasts about 15 minutes. An overview of the history of the company, it is quite interesting. Then it's off to see how beer is made, and this is truly a working factory, with the whole operation seen as you walk down hallways and can view each step through huge walls of glass. You stop periodically for short informative highlights, but the most fascinating aspect is watching the process from start to finish.

You then view the distribution area, which is amazingly huge, and you realize that yes indeed, we consume a lot of beer in America. You will also learn about the Miller family of beers, which includes many well-known imports as well as some great smaller brewery beers.

After all that walking you are pretty thirsty, so it's off to the Miller Inn where you are treated to full size drinks of specialty flavors. On our tour we had two choices, both by Leinenkugel, Summer Shandy and Sunset Wheat. and both were very good, crisp and refreshing. Your beer is served on great little coasters, and these are wonderful to snag for scrap booking or a memento.

After viewing an underground area that was an original part of the brewery, we headed across a street to an outdoor area and had yet another full glass of beer. There were several choices on hand, and I discovered my favorite beer, which is a Leinenkugal, called Berry Weiss.

After you're done enjoying your beer and the lovely area it is served, you may head back into the first building and pick up some items in the gift shop. The design of the Girl in the Moon is prominent and is on a bunch of different things in many price ranges for nice souvenirs or gifts.

The tour is a very nice, and economical, way to spend a couple of hours in Milwaukee.