It was Six-forty-five in the morning when I stepped out of the house, an early hour for me. There was frost on the grass and on my car left parked outside the garage. It was the first frost of the fall, I think, because the morning glories died after that.
We met at McDonald's in
When we arrived at Miller Brewery shortly after 10 AM, there was a short line at the door but only because they were just opening; by the time we parked, the line had dissipated and we walked directly up to the counter for our passes for the first tour at 10:30.
The next three pictures are from inside Miller Brewery. The copper lauter tuns are where the grains are soaked in hot water to turn the starch to sugar, and then the sugars are rinsed from the grains to produce the sweet wort. There were 56 steps (I counted them) from the street up to the room where these pictures were taken. The wort is cooled, transferred to the brew kettles (stainless steel tanks) and yeast is added. During fermentation, yeast eats the sugar and produces CO2 and alcohol.
The girl in the Brewer shirt is Maggie, our tour guide. She made the tour funny as well as informative. She said that they make 1/2 million cases of beer a day and that 96% of it is shipped out in trucks, 250 a day!
At our next stop, Lake Front Brewery, our tour guide there said that Miller Brewery probably spills more beer than Lake Front produces! Whether true or not I wouldn't hazard to guess.
From the 8th floor overlooking the brew kettles, we walked back down, crossed the street and walked another block or so to the old underground caves. Before refrigeration, the caves were packed with ice in the winter and barrels of beer were stored in the cool underground. Miller was big enough to employ a full time cooper, a man that made the wooden barrels. I didn't notice during the tour that these barrels along the wall leading to the cave had displays inside. Only afterward looking at the pictures did I notice the 
miniature display of a barrel maker at work inside the window on this barrel. My other photos inside the cave didn't turnout too well, so you'll have to take the tour yourself if you want to see more.
Finally, there is the sampling at the end of the tour. Miller gives you 3 (8oz?) samples. For a free tour, that's a pretty good deal!
Lakefront Brewery
A few miles over toward the Lake, we arrived at Lakefront Brewery. Lakefront was started by a
couple of homebrewers that really got into their hobby. In my opinion, the operation still reflects that. There is a jumble of tanks of all sizes and a general look of a business with growth in progress. I thought the 3 stooges painted on the end of some tanks was a nice touch and in another photo, you see the fermenting beer with the CO2 being vented into a bucket like any homebrewer would do (Miller captures their CO2 and sells it as a by-product).
In spite of their small size, Lakefront attracts crowds of people. We arrived 
shortly after they opened Saturday Afternoon and again we walked right in but later as we were leaving, the line to get in was out the door. They offer a good tour and I think the 'ball room' is nearly as big as the brewery room. Maybe some people just show up because it's a pretty cheap place to drink? $6 dollars gets you 4 beer samples, the tour, and you get to keep a really nice glass. Being a homebrewer, I liked Lakefront's beer better than Miller's. I settled on Riverwest Stein Lager an amber beer with a touch of unmalted barly! There's an idea I've never thought of... unmalted barly! I'll have to try that.
What could top the tour of two breweries but a stop at Usinger's meat market in downtown Milwaukee. Sandy and I bought some Old World Summer Sausage, bacon, and some beef stix. After that, we pulled into the Old Country Buffet in Brookfield, stuffed ourselves, and then made one final stop at the Delafield Brewhaus.
Stuffed to the max! We left Delafield at 5:45 and were back in Lake Delton by 7:00 pm. I wasn't really watching the time anymore, but it was a fun day. I trust everyone else enjoyed themselves as well.
I have many more photos but I must have reached some kind of limit for this post, I don't seem to be able to up-load anymore.
Oh! One last thing, in the first photo, I'm sandwiched between two cute babes. The one on my left (your right) is Sandy my wife, the one on my right (far left) is our really cool Lakefront tour guide Katie. Thanks Katie for just being you and doing a great tour! And thanks for standing in the photo with the DUFF Homebrew club from up near Wisconsin Dells. Also, thanks for signing my "Wisconsin Beer Guide - A Trave Companion" book, I'll treasure it always!
Cheers!
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