Trifecta Dos - 3/13/2010

The Miller tour is free. They can afford to give out free beer because they are a billion dollar corporation. Lakefront Brewery doesn't have that same financial payroll going for them. So they charge people $5 a head for taking the tour and sampling their beverages. It is a small price to pay for the glory that is this brewery tour. But $5 only gets you 3 samples of their beer. I have a foolproof method for getting more beer than the allotted 3, but I'm afraid that if I tell you what it is, then you will exploit it and put me out of business. And then I will no longer be able to get wasted off of $5. So unless you are willing to pay my way to "free" beer every time that I go to Lakefront Brewery, my secret is safe with me. But the 5 people with me on the Trifecta Dos know my dirty little secret, and they benefited from the knowledge that resides in my brain. And we had a great time because of it. But we still had another brewery to go to. You can't have a Trifecta without the 3rd, so bring on Sprecher Brewery!

My favorite thing about the Lakefront Brewery tour is that they let you sample the beer before, during and after the tour. If that doesn't get your motor running then you do not love beer. Thankfully I hang out with people like Jenny and Kanz who do.

Aside from drinking some very good beer, you get a fair amount of knowledge on the Lakefront tour. Too bad that I'm normally too tipsy to retain any of that information. Hopefully Aaron was paying attention because I will soon need that level of expertise.

The Lakefront Brewery is hands down my favorite brewery tour of all time. I am picking out of a small sample size seeing as I only have toured 5 breweries in this great country (with The Budweiser Brewery in St. Louis and the City Brewery in LaCrosse being the other 2 outside of the 3 we have in this fine city.) But Lakefront is the best. Go there one time and see it for yourself. You'll be doing it our way.

Besides the delicious beer, my favorite part about the Lakefront Brewery is that they bought Bernie Brewers' Chalet that used to reside high above the bleachers at County Stadium. I can't believe that no one big higher, but I'm glad I still get to see it on occasion.

Joey Kanz works at Miller Brewing Company, so he knows his beer. But even he would cheat on his own brand with a tall pint glass of Riverwest Stein. It's irresistible, even to a man with extreme brand loyalties. Which is why he was here with us today.

The people who started the company and brew the beer are the same people who give the tours, which makes them so much more credible when they are dishing out the brewing process. Plus they seem to love what they do, which is what I envy the most.

The Brewers are a big part of my life, and I spent some of my formulative years at old Milwaukee County Stadium. Seeing Bernie's Chalet surrounded by beer making equipment makes me all warm and fuzzy inside. This is where it is meant to be.

Every time that I ask someone to take my picture, I repay the favor by taking their picture. Only I do it with my camera and then include it on here with the rest of my pictures. I don't know who these Asians were, but they were my latest victims in my photo scandal scheme.

We had a pretty sweet group shot at Miller, then we turned to the side and did the prison shot. And we took it in front of this oversized beer mug that was foaming with frosty goodness. It seemed like the right thing to do, and it turned out for the best.