Why Fond du Lac lacks a brewery

Whitney, Rachel, Martin (invisible) and I celebrated MLK Jr Day with a trip to little Potosi, almost all the way to Iowa. A cute little brewery in a quaint valley abutting the Mississippi River, definitely a fun place for a road trip.

But if little Pososi has a brewery (not to mention the National Brewery Museum), why can't my hometown of 50 times more people have a brewery?

Fond du Lac, it turns out, has a long brewing tradition. It's just that it's disappeared.

A model train brewery kit is even modeled after what one FDL brewery used to look like.



Only one brewer, Bechaud Brewing, made it through the Prohibition. But only barely. Beer was last made in Fond du Lac in 1937. Their most famous brew, says the internet, was Empire Beer.



Cheers to that.

Potosi: New Favorite Madison Day-Trip

The Potosi Brewing Company, in short, is what you hope New Glarus is, until you realize that the New Glarus Brewery isn't quiet as quaint as you'd imagine it to be...

While the town of New Glarus (45 minutes southwest of Madison on 151/69) is cute to visit in its own right, the brewery of the same name lacks the charm you'd imagine from Wisconsin's favorite microbrewery. The beers, it turns out, are more special than where they're made.

Potosi, though, solves the dilemma. The village of Potosi (1 hour, 45 minutes southwest of Madison via 151/35/133) is scenic in its own right, and the brewery is something worth boasting, too. Great restaurant, neat museum exhibits - the perfect place for an out-of-Madison daytrip.

And worth a stop on the drive there? The Dickeyville Grotto. Wow.

Per Usual, It Wasn't That Good of a Knock-Knock Joke...

Broomball Oh-Ten

We Were Surprised When It Didn't Work...

Unfortunately I'm Not Anytime Soon...

Smith-Corona: Sterling

I have a new friend. My new friend gives my day meaning. My new friend cost $5 at the Oshkosh St. Vinnies. My new friend is a 1965(ish) Smith-Corona Sterling. A beauty. She works like a charm, without a single defect.


I take my new typewriter with me wherever I go. In December it was decorating half of Rachel's wall during an Ugly Sweater Party. New Years eve? Came up north with us to Nick's cabin. And there we set about, among other things, to understanding why the seven of us were in the room.

It started small:


But our ambitions grew:


Looking to make your own typewriter art? Great. Here's a suggestion, though. Instead of folding your paper over, use a square of paper with a diagonal that's just short enough to fit into the typewriter. Here's the formula:

Merry Christmas.

Just for you.