Comparing two 'New' breweries: Belgium and Glarus

This summer my family and I embarked on a 5,000+ mile road trip from Chicago to Oregon and back, camping for 11 of the 21 days we were gone. We hit a few breweries, including Lucky Labrador and Mash Tun in Portland, and Crux and Deschutes in Bend.

They are all worthy of their own blog posts, but there’s an interesting contrast between New Belgium Brewery, which I visited on the way back to the Midwest, and New Glarus Brewery, which I visited as part of a subsequent overnight camping trip this summer, mostly because I was jonesing for more camping after being home from the road for a few days.

Craft brewer New Belgium has inspired many breweries to come in its wake and aspires to be one of the biggest in the U.S., while maintaining employee ownership. New Glarus, however, is content being an exclusive Wisconsin brewery (also employee-owned) with zero ambition to expand beyond cheeseland borders.

Here’s my take on both:

Fat Tire art in the brewery

NEW BELGIUM, Fort Collins, Colorado.

One has to make reservations months in advance to go on the brewery’s free, 90-minute tasting tour. We missed the opportunity, but arrived at the brewery at 11:30 on July 19 hoping for the best. We sweet-talked the tour guide to put us on the waiting list for the noon tour, in case someone didn’t show. Sure enough, my wife, Jill, two kids (10 and 8) and I got in due to no-shows and thoroughly enjoyed the tour through the grounds and buildings, canning and bottling lines included--we saw it all. The female tour guide was simply delightful. The brewery’s most recent acquisition: dozens of wooden barrels in which to age sour beers.

Along the way, we tasted four beers: Eric’s Ale Peach Sour (very good, and priced around $18 for a 22 oz), Cocoa Mole, Shift Pale Ale and Tripple. After the tour, we sat outside in the renovated AirStream trailer, played the rolle bolle game and munched on sausages from the food truck parked in front. In all, New Belgium projects a family (and employee) friendly vibe, and encourages patrons not to tip the bartenders. Instead, they suggest, buy another round to support the company overall.

We could’ve spent all afternoon there, but other nearby attractions--including a swim in the Horsetooth Reservoir--took us away.

Gorgeous summer day in Wisconsin.

NEW GLARUS, New Glarus, Wisconsin.

Jill and I got a chance to camp one night sans kids later in August, so we headed to New Glarus Woods State Park south of Madison, which also happens to be an uphill bike ride away from the brewery. The park and campground is woody and small (and we encountered brazen raccoons at night), but the location couldn’t be beat.

New Glarus is idyllic and eccentric: the brewery is open from 10 to 4 p.m. only, patrons must purchase a souvenir glass for their tastings, and there is no food available. The first beverage purchase also includes a coupon for a free small beer at participating taverns and restaurants in the nearby, Swiss-inspired town of New Glarus. The subtle message is: eat dinner in town and support the community as a whole.

Aside from those details about the brewery’s quirks, the grounds are stunning: brewery buildings were designed to resemble barns and ruined rock walls with seating areas are scattered among the hillside’s boulders. A bavarian aesthetic is made complete with a beer garden and views of the surrounding hills and dairy farms.

Four of the brewery’s classic beers were offered on tap in the tasting room (including Moon Man IPA, one of my favorites--I don’t particularly care for Spotted Cow), but as Illinoisans who can’t get the beer except for north of the cheddar curtain, it was still a treat.

The self-guided tour is actually fascinating. Visitors can wander through the inner workings, brushing shoulders with production employees. While we were there, we stood 10 feet away and watched a half-dozen employees struggle to fix a problem with the bottle-filling machine.

The package beer in their store is priced higher than at the gas station down the street, furthering the idea that the brewery doesn’t want to undercut the local businessman selling their product. You have to respect that, but would be a fool to buy it at the brewery.

At 4, we biked down the hill and into town. We redeemed our free beer coupon at one of the taverns and dined on bar food, relishing the small town, slow-paced feel. The camping may not be much, but the brewery and town more than make up for it.