Month: March 2019

By David G. Firestone

Ah yes, The Great Light Beer Corn Syrup Debate of 2019 rolls on. For those who have been living under a rock for the last few months, let’s catch up. During the most boring Super Bowl of all time, Bud Light did a commercial where they talked about how Miller Lite and Coors Light use corn syrup in their beer, and made the point that they don’t use it, and are more open about their ingredients. See for yourself:

This seemingly innocuous commercial really got under the skin of MillerCoors, who openly defended their use of corn syrup. This also got the attention of the National Corn Growers Association, who prided MillerCoors for using their product, and blasted Bud Light. Eventually, MillerCoors abandoned a partnership with AB InBev, Bud Light’s parent company. Granted the partnership was shakier than a fault line during an earthquake, but the whole bitterness between MilerCoors and AB InBev based on this commercial is what killed it.

Since I’ve done both the Budweiser and Miller Brewery tours one year apart to the day, I decided that I would decide which of the two is better, Budweiser in St. Louis, or Miller in Milwaukee. I will break my analysis down into three parts: overall cost, tour experience, and other experiences.

We’ll start with overall cost.

Miller has a one-size fits all tour. It’s $10, and I discussed it last week. Budweiser has a number of different tours.

*First is The General Brewery Tour, which features the seven-step process in making beer. It’s 45 minutes, and tickets are free if available, or $5 reserved.

*The second tour is the Day Fresh Tour, which adds 30 minutes worth of additional features, including the canning facility. It also comes with samples, and a free bottle of beer that is freshly bottled. This costs $10.

*The third option is The Beermaster Tour, which I did last year. This is a 2-hour long tour, which, in addition to all of the locations of the Day Fresh Tour, also includes the museum, and a sample from the finishing tank. This costs $35

So based on the values and experiences, I would have to give the nod to Budweiser’s St. Louis tour for overall cost.

Next is tour experience. As I mentioned, I took the Beermaster tour when I was in St. Louis, and the Miller Tour in Milwaukee. Based on what is discussed, and what is shown on both tours, giving Budweiser the nod here is the only way to go. The Miller tour is good, but too short, and doesn’t cover the entire brewing process. Budweiser’s tour is much more inclusive, and goes deeper in the brewing process. Even the General Brewery tour covers more of the brewing process than Miller’s does. Next, we come to other experiences. When I got to Milwaukee, I was stunned to discover that Miller doesn’t have a true bier garden. You can have some growlers filled, but you can get that at any brewery. While the Miller Inn does act as an indoor version, it just seems odd in this respect that there wouldn’t be a true bier garden at a brewery founded by a German immigrant.

Budweiser, on the other hand, has an impressive bier garden. They have a decent brew pub menu, and the food I tries was good. They also have a great selection of beer. You can try what is called “The Underground Menu” which consists of whatever is being worked on in the Research Pilot Brewery. On the day I was there, the choice was Backdraft, a chocolate stout made by the St. Louis Fire department. One could spend an entire day in the bier garden alone…which I did.

Above and beyond that, aside from the general tour, there really isn’t as much to do at Miller. You can go to the gift shop, but that isn’t that great. The one thing I expected was a make your own six pack with Miller products. That doesn’t exist, for reason I can’t understand. So, aside from the tour, Miller really isn’t that fun.

Budweiser also offers some other experiences. The Clydesdales are included in all of the tours. Also, there are some experiences for those who want to educate themselves about brewing. The first is Beer School, which I did last year. It’s a 45 minute class, and you sample several kinds of beer, and learn about the on the ingredients and brewing processes, as well as food pairings. This costs $15 The newest experience is the Where You Brew tour, which takes you through the beer making process, in a hands on experience. You will then have some appetizers, and discuss beer and food pairings. You will then also receive a 32 ounce custom growler full of beer. This costs $50.

The Beer Museum Tour takes you to the Old Lyon Schoolhouse building on the brewery campus. Inside, you will find a complete history of Budweiser, told in the form of over 400 items, ranging from giveaways, to factory equipment, to sports memorabilia, to research examples. This can be accessed with any tour for $5, but if you want to check it out by itself, it will set you back $15. It should be noted that the Old Lyon Schoolhouse building was, for a while, the Anheuser-Busch corporate headquarters. So for other experiences, Budweiser again gets the nod. So all in all, Budweiser provides the better brewery experience for a tourist or local. Miller is good, but it could be a lot better. Beer enthusiasts like myself would enjoy both though, so check them out.

Next week, back to the regularly scheduled podium caps.

By David G. Firestone

I had planned to talk about some winner circle hats this week, but we’re going to put those on the back burner for a bit. My cousin and I had the opportunity last week to go to the Miller Brewing Company and take their brewery tour, so I did. I hadn’t planned on really traveling this year, but when the opportunity arose, I took it.

The drive from Chicago to Milwaukee is not a difficult one, and it gave us a chance to hang out. Once there, we found the visitor center, albeit with a lot of difficulty, as the signage there can be pointlessly confusing at times. The cost is $10, and for that, you get a 1 hour tour, four samples of beer, and a souvenir pint glass.

Aside from Miller, Milwaukee has a great deal of beer history. Brands such as Schlitz, Pabst, Blatz, and Milwaukee’s Best can all trace their history back to 1800’s Milwaukee. Milwaukee’s proximity to Chicago is a major factor in the success of the breweries. Beer is so attached to Milwaukee, that their baseball team is named the Brewers. There are also some well-known craft breweries in Milwaukee, including Sprecher Brewing, Lakefront Brewing, and Milwaukee Brewing.

The brewery was founded in 1855 by Frederick Miller. Miller was a German brewer who moved to Milwaukee with the lessons of German brewing, and a special strand of brewer’s yeast. He moved in to the Plank Road Brewery on Watertown Plank Road, and began producing beer in what is now known as “Miller Valley.” The business was a family one until 1966, when the family sold it to W. R. Grace and Company. One acquisition after another led to MillerCoors, which runs the business today.

The tour starts in the lobby, where there is a history of the brewery on the wall, some artifacts, and the gift shop.  The tour is every half hour, and you start by watching a movie discussing this history of the brewery. You then head down to “the caves.” The caves are a set of man made caves dug into the valley. These were used to store beer in a cold environment. Barrels were stacked into the 600 foot deep caves, and ice was packed around them to keep the beer fresh. With the advent of pasteurization, the caves were not needed. All but one of them were filled in, in order to help the structural integrity of the valley. The next stop on the tour is the Miller Inn. This 1800’s Bavarian inn has a lot of old world charm and a lot of Miller memorabilia. Your stop here includes a sample of beer, I went with Blue Moon Mango Wheat. You don’t have to drink, because for those who choose not to drink, or those under 21 can have some soda. During the first half of the tour, the history of the brewery is the focus. The next half of the tour focuses on the brewing of the beer, You go to the brew house, and you go up to the lauter tun. A mash made of barley, water, barley malt syrup, corn syrup, yeast, and hops is transferred to the lauter tun, which converts the mash to wort. The wort is then transferred to the brew kettle, which separates the liquid from the solid.

The rest of the brewing process is then diagrammed on the wall near the brew kettle.The next stop on the tour is the packaging plant, where you watch a movie about the packaging process and history. You can see the plant in action from the safety of the balcony. As you exit the top balcony, you approach the storage area, and you see what I consider the highlight of the tour: That is a Rusty Wallace Ford Taurus circa 2001, with the Winston Cup, and Busch Pole decals removed. That was a nice surprise. The tour then concludes back at the visitor center, where you get your final sample, and your free pint glass. It’s not long, but it’s fun nonetheless.

By pure coincidence, I had taken the Budweiser tour one year ago to the day I took the Miller tour. I thought next week, I would compare the two tours.