Dan and Deb Carey of New Glarus Brewing Company in Wisconsin brewed their first batch in 1993. With only a handful of upstart breweries producing in the Badger State at the time, nothing came easy—especially in a region where people seemed intent on quantity over quality. But with their cream ale, Spotted Cow, New Glarus asserted itself as a new kind of Wisconsin beer.
The Careys have enjoyed 15%-20% growth each year since, opening a $21 million facility in 2008 that let them scale to the 20th largest craft brewery by volume in 2015. Several household craft names rank higher than New Glarus on that list, but none of them pull it off while distributing to a single state.
Their new facility is a sight to behold. Clean, precise, almost Wonka-esque in its presentation, it lives up to the hype of a brewery that only sells its product in Wisconsin. Plus, not many beers taste better than a Moon Man Pale Ale straight from the source.