Schram Vineyards
Waconia, Minnesota
The first time Ashley Schram met her would-be husband, Aaron, he told her it was his lifelong dream to operate a winery and vineyard. She wrote it off as a fantasy, but she soon found out that Aaron was very ambitious and that it is very possible to grow grapes in Minnesota.
In 2008, the couple purchased 12.5 acres and started planting vines and getting facilities ready for wine production, as well as for hosting the public. Schram Vineyards opened in July 2013 and now produces a dozen different wine varieties.
When the couple bought all of their start-up supplies from a South Dakota winery, the purchase included equipment used to produce sparkling wines, which, fortuitously, can also be used to brew beer. At the insistence of a partner passionate about beer, the Schrams considered adding a brewery to their repertoire.
“We said, ‘Let’s go for it. We’re going to be the first winery and brewery in the state of Minnesota,’” Ashley said. “It’s been a really unique venture.”
The brewery opened this summer and has produced about a dozen different small-batch beers. With a cramped operation, Schram Vineyards expanded its facility in September, opening a new building for winemaking with dedicated tasting and tap rooms.
Tours with tastings are available by appointment and can be customized to the type of experience a group is looking for.
Miller Brewery
Milwaukee
The last bastion of what made Milwaukee famous, the venerable Miller Brewing Factory still pumps out nearly 8.5 million barrels of beer in the historic Miller Valley complex, which was founded in 1855 by German immigrant Fredrick Miller when he purchased the Plank Road Brewery. From that structure, the nearly 160-year-old company has produced the country’s second-largest brewing operation.
Today, Miller Valley has a replica of the Plank Road Brewery where it all began, which guests visit while touring the iconic facilities. The tour also leads visitors through the state-of-the-art packaging center, where they can watch from a balcony as hundreds of cases of beer zip by, and then to the gargantuan distribution center, which is the size of several football fields and usually houses around half a million cases of different beers produced on-site. Visitors are also given an overhead view of the dozens of massive kettles used during the brewing process.
Tour highlights are a visit to Miller Caves, where visitors see restored pieces of the original brewery where beer was kept before refrigeration was invented and a sampling of Miller products in the Miller Inn.
Tours are available Monday through Saturday — the best time to see production is during the week — and groups of more than 15 can reserve ahead of time.
