New Glarus Brewing Company
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The New Glarus Brewing Company is an American
brewery A brewery or brewing company is a business that makes and sells beer. The place at which beer is commercially made is either called a brewery or a beerhouse, where distinct sets of brewing equipment are called plant. The commercial brewing of be ...
founded in 1993. Located in
New Glarus, Wisconsin New Glarus is a village in Green County, Wisconsin, United States at the intersection of Wisconsin Highways 69 and 39. It has a population of 2,266 according to the 2020 census. The village, and the town that surrounds it, were named after the ...
, it is an independently owned craft brewery, whose products can only be found in
Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...
. New Glarus Brewing Company is the 15th largest craft brewer and 25th largest overall brewing company in the United States, by sales volume.


History

The New Glarus Brewing Company was founded in 1993 by Deborah Carey as a gift for her husband, Daniel. Before starting the New Glarus Brewing Company, Dan Carey was an experienced diploma master brewer. The brewery began in an abandoned warehouse with used brewpub equipment. In 1997, Dan Carey acquired the copper kettles from a brewery in Germany that was slated to be demolished. When the retiring German brewmaster learned that his kettles could be repurposed, he sold all of his equipment worth an estimated value of $1 million to the Careys for its scrap value of just over $24,000 US. New Glarus Brewing Company brewed its first beer in October of that year and began selling its product in December. Today the company brews a variety of beers, with its Spotted Cow label leading in sales. New Glarus brewing employs about 90 people today. The brewery made the choice to pull out of Illinois sales effective 2003 leading to the sale of New Glarus beer 'Only In Wisconsin' today. The move was made due to insufficient capacity to fill both Wisconsin and Illinois markets. In May 2006, New Glarus Brewing Company broke ground on a new $21 million facility on a hilltop on the south edge of the village of New Glarus. The facility was designed to look like a Bavarian village and has become a destination for tourists who visit New Glarus. The original facility drew an estimated 25,000 visitors annually, but the expanded facility likely will draw up to 150,000 people a year. Production at the company's old facility had topped-out at over 65,000 barrels a year. The new facility was expected to increase production, and in 2014, New Glarus Brewing was on track to brew 165,000 barrels. A new cellar could give the facility the storage space to brew 300,000 barrels in a year. The expansion will enable the company to increase production of its "Thumbprint", fruit, barrel-aged, and R&D beers. Construction was completed on schedule, and the Hilltop brewery opened in 2008. In 2014, the brewery released its first beers from its wild fruit cave, a specialized addition to its original facility (commonly referred to as the Riverside Brewery) that incorporates wild yeasts and other microorganism used in brewing.


Spotted Cow

The company's best-selling brand is Spotted Cow. First brewed in 1997, Spotted Cow is a cask-conditioned farmhouse ale. New Glarus brews about 45,000 barrels of the beer a year, which accounts for about 40% of all the beer New Glarus makes a year. Spotted Cow has been the best-selling draft beer in the state for a number of years and is considered one of the most well-known beers in Wisconsin. Spotted Cow is one of New Glarus' unfiltered brews, meaning the
brewer's yeast Yeasts are eukaryotic, single-celled microorganisms classified as members of the fungus kingdom. The first yeast originated hundreds of millions of years ago, and at least 1,500 species are currently recognized. They are estimated to constitu ...
is still in it. The brewer's yeast will sometimes settle at the bottom of bottles. Spotted Cow has a 4.8%
ABV Alcohol by volume (abbreviated as ABV, abv, or alc/vol) is a standard measure of how much alcohol (ethanol) is contained in a given volume of an alcoholic beverage (expressed as a volume percent). It is defined as the number of millilitres (mL) o ...
. New Glarus owners Deborah and Dan Carey said the name Spotted Cow was actually inspired by sheep on a trip to
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
. The beer reached #1 on the list of the top 100 beers of all time by the Cold Cans podcast.


Other beers

The ''Wisconsin Belgian Red'', a fruity Belgian
lambic Lambic () is a type of beer brewed in the Pajottenland region of Belgium southwest of Brussels and in Brussels itself since the 13th century. Types of lambic beers include gueuze, kriek lambic and framboise. Lambic differs from most other beers ...
-style
ale Ale is a Type of beer, type of beer brewed using a Warm fermentation, warm fermentation method, resulting in a sweet, full-bodied and fruity taste. Historically, the term referred to a drink brewed without hops. As with most beers, ale typicall ...
brewed with Montmorency cherries from
Door County, Wisconsin Door County is the easternmost county in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census, the population was 30,066. Its county seat is Sturgeon Bay. It is named after the strait between the Door Peninsula and Washington Island. The dangero ...
, has won awards in beer competitions around the world, and has ranked in the 100th percentile (highest possible average rating) among the critical beer drinkers at RateBeer.com. The ''Uff-da
Bock Bock is a strong beer in Germany, usually a dark lager. Several substyles exist, including: *Doppelbock (''Double Bock''), a stronger and maltier version *Eisbock (''Ice Bock''), a much stronger version made by partially freezing the beer an ...
'', which is a bit stronger than most bocks, is also popular. New Glarus Brewing Company brews five beers that are available year-round. In addition, the company produces seven seasonal varieties, including a winter Coffee Stout, lighter summer offerings like Dancing Man Wheat, and a fall Staghorn
Oktoberfest The Oktoberfest (; bar, Wiesn, Oktobafest) is the world's largest Volksfest, featuring a beer festival and a travelling carnival. It is held annually in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. It is a 16- to 18-day folk festival running from mid- or ...
. "Thumbprint Series" beers are released at the brewers discretion (usually 4 times per year). These are limited-release brews by owner/brewmaster Dan Carey. There are also limited brewery only releases called the "R&D Series" sold in 500 ml. bottles. Some of their beers have rather unusual names, like Stone Soup, and Pumpkin Pie Lust.


Distribution

New Glarus beers are distributed exclusively in Wisconsin by 17 independent wholesalers. Many grocery and convenience stores in Wisconsin carry Spotted Cow and a few other varieties, and many Wisconsin bars have Spotted Cow on tap. Wisconsin Belgian Red and Raspberry Tart are available only in four packs of 12 oz bottles; the remaining brews are sold in standard 12-
fl oz A fluid ounce (abbreviated fl oz, fl. oz. or oz. fl., old forms ℥, fl ℥, f℥, ƒ ℥) is a unit of volume (also called ''capacity'') typically used for measuring liquids. The British Imperial, the United States customary, and the United St ...
(U.S.) bottles, in six- and four-packs or cases, and in quarter- and half-barrels. From 1998 to 2002, the company's brews were also sold in
Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...
, with a majority of its sales in the Chicago area. New Glarus actually pulled Spotted Cow from Illinois shelves in 2002 because the company was struggling to meet demand for it in Wisconsin. Deborah Carey also said the often messy "
pay to play Pay-to-play, sometimes pay-for-play or P2P, is a phrase used for a variety of situations in which money is exchanged for services or the privilege to engage in certain activities. The common denominator of all forms of pay-to-play is that one mus ...
" approach, sometimes the only route to get a beer on bar/restaurant taps in major U.S. markets, further supported the brewery's limited distribution. In 2009, a
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
bar was raided and fined for illegally selling Spotted Cow. In 2015, a bar in
Maple Grove, Minnesota Maple Grove is a suburban city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 70,253 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. making it Minnesota's 11th most populous city. Maple Grove serves ...
, also was caught illegally selling Spotted Cow after the establishment's owner allegedly purchased kegs in Wisconsin and took them back to Minnesota for retail sale.


Awards

New Glarus Brewing Company has been one of the most award-winning brewers of its size. It won two bronze medals at the 2009
Great American Beer Festival The Great American Beer Festival (GABF) is an annual beer festival hosted by the Brewers Association, held in Denver, Colorado. Typically held in late September or early October, the event is currently held at Denver's Colorado Convention Center. ...
in Denver. Spotted Cow has won a variety of awards over the years, including Best Drink in Wisconsin in 2009 by
Bon Appetit ''Bon'', also spelled Bön () and also known as Yungdrung Bon (, "eternal Bon"), is a Tibetan religious tradition with many similarities to Tibetan Buddhism and also many unique features.Samuel 2012, pp. 220-221. Bon initially developed in t ...
magazine.


See also

*
List of breweries in Wisconsin Breweries in Wisconsin produce many different styles of beer. Some breweries package their beer in bottles or cans for retail sale. Some breweries produce kegs of beer, to be sold on draft at taverns and restaurants, or at the brewery's own ...
*
Barrel-aged beer A barrel-aged beer is a beer that has been aged for a period of time in a wooden barrel. Typically, these barrels once housed bourbon, whisky, wine, or, to a lesser extent, brandy, sherry, or port.New Glarus Brewing Company
{{Coord, 42, 47, 40.19, N, 89, 37, 56.59, W, type:landmark, display=title American beer brands Beer brewing companies based in Wisconsin