Chippewa Falls, Wis., is a town with about 13,000 residents. Drive in from the north, taking County Highway S to county Highway Q, turning south and driving past a couple of big parks and it doesn’t look that much different than Cameron on Bloomer or one of the other towns along U.S. 3. Maybe a little bigger.
Next, boom, a brewery complex, Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Co.
It’s a tourist attraction, for sure, and good for the town’s business. However it feels perfectly appropriate that the gift shop/museum may be new (much newer than other parts of the brewery) but is designed to look like a cabin from the nineteenth century and called Leinie Lodge.
Saturday Leinenkuegl’s hosted its eighth annual Leinie Lodge Family Reunion. Thousands attended. I expect many spoke with a distinctive northern Wisconsin/Minnesota accent (think Frances McDormand in “Fargo.”) And a PR person sent along this photo of Jake Leinenkugel autographing one attendee’s head.
You think it was staged? I don’t.
But I’m pretty sure that the man did not immediately tweet, “@jakeleinenkugel just signed my head. I may never wash it again.”
Nice vintage Leinie’s Limited t-shirt too! (or have they re-introduced that with the beer?)
Yes, it is a tourist attraction and that was intentional on the part of the Leinenkugels. They’ve had a tourist “attraction” at the brewery since the 1950s. They had to do SOMETHING to stay alive. And they’ve succeeded brilliantly, in my opinion (and for what it’s worth). The Leinie Heads are a devoted crew.
Hey, if Sam can do it, so can Jake!