Leinenkugel's brewery tour

[Sepolevne]

Has anyone ever been on the Leinenkugel's brewery tour? Me and some friends were considering road-tripping up, but I kind of want to know if it's worth it to drive the 6 hours from suburban Chicago to get there. Also, if we go for an afternoon tour, is there anything else to do in Eau Claire/Chippewa Falls, or would it be better off to just drive back.

[SeriesFinale]

I had to go to Chippewa Falls for work once several years ago and had a Tuesday afternoon free. I remember the "tour" took about ten minutes and then I spent about an hour or so drinking free beer and chatting with the old duffer behind the bar. I highly recommend it.

[mothershipconnection]

It's a pretty good time, though not a really long tour. The Leinie's Lodge was just built a couple years ago and is pretty nice with a ton of stuff to buy. The area around the brewery is nice in the summer and there's a sizeable park next to it with a small zoo, which is free. You'll want to reserve a tour spot ahead of time or you may end up waiting quite a while.

[colbyjack]

I don't know if I would say that the tour is worth the 6 hour drive. It's a nice brewery and a nice tour, and the lodge is nice as noted, but you only get two drink tickets for the lodge, although the tour is completely free. If you only have a day, I would say hit some of the breweries in Milwaukee such as Lakefront and/or Sprecher while hitting Friday's at MP for lunch.

 

As for having stuff to do in the Chippewa Falls area, it depends what time of year you go. If you go this time of year, there isn't much to do unless you want to do some bar-hopping.

 

If you go in the summer, Leinie's is right down the road from Lake Wissota where you can camp, rent a canoe to go out on the lake (relatively calm lake with limited boats), go fishing, hiking, etc. There is a nice bike trail that goes through this area as well if you and your friends like to bike. The Northern Wisconsin State Fair is also held just down the road from Leinie's in mid-July I think.