Drink up

When the weather is bitter cold, what's a guy to do?

This past Saturday Dave and I decided to go on a Minnesota road trip, so we drove southwest to the town of New Ulm, a historically German settlement on the Minnesota River. We came in search of beer and the Schell's brewery, which is the second oldest brewery in the US.

( For those readers from PA, Yuengling is older.) The brewery is located on the side of a hill and the setting looks very European. I'm sure in the summer it's beautiful.

The Germans who settled here brewed good beer, and they still produce favorites today. Dave's favorite up here is Grainbelt, which Schell's acquired a few years ago. During prohibition, the brewery made near-beer and root beer. One of my favorite bits came from the gift shop, "When you are surrounded by 14,000 thirsty Germans, you better make a darn good beer." (August Schell)

The 3-dollar tour shows you a few highlights in the brewery and then takes you to the tap room to taste. Since the majority of tourists on our tour were college boys, the tap room was definitely the much anticipated stop.

The brewery hosts Octoberfest and then of course the upcoming Bock Fest, which Dave's friends (and maybe Dave) plan on attending.

I was surprised to see peacocks here and surviving the bitter cold. If you visit a plantation in the South, you'll no doubt see a few peacocks meandering through the grounds. I've always wanted a few. I like them. This gave me hope that peacocks can survive up here outside. Who knows, I may convince Dave that I can be the crazy lady in town who has peacocks in the yard. I would "proudly" wear that title.