Visit New Ulm: Brewery 3 of 4

Looking for a fun place to visit this summer? Head down to New Ulm and visit both a winery and brewery!

This building first housed the Schell family and is now the brewery office. Although New Ulm was evacuated during the Dakota Indian War, the Schell Brewery buildings were left unharmed, likely due to the friendship the Schells had with the indians.

Brewery Tours are held daily through the summer for just $3 a person.

Tours last about an hour. Leave time for sipping a beer while wandering through the family gardens. The mansion is still occupied by family members and isn't open to tours.

SCHELL’S BREWERY

The next day we set out for the August Schell Brewery the second-oldest, family-run brewery in the nation and the oldest in Minnesota. It was established in 1860, just two years after Minnesota became a state. There isn’t a big sign to follow; you’ll want to turn by the Target and head up the hill.

Turn right before the Target onto Schell Road.

Schell’s specializes in brewing 14 of its own German-style lagers, and has also been brewing Grain Belt and Grain Belt Premium since 2002. The tour is less of a brewery tour than a beer tour. We spent about 10 minutes getting the history of the company and then traipsed through the grounds. There are only a few buildings (and a pretty garden with a pair of peacocks), so it didn’t take too long. Then it was on to the Rathskeller Tap Room — a place reminiscent of old-world, German-style Rathskellers. We all sat down at these long tables and got educated on beers.

The tour includes a very limited section of the production area.

Where the magic happens.

Oooo! Peacock!

Time to get educated on various types and flavors of beer.

Each table left a stack of bottles like this after the tasting. We got to try a little bit of everything!

We learned the difference between pilsners, ales and lagers. I’m not a big beer drinker (prefering wine), but I liked several of their selections. I prefer my beer to be meaty, and this stuff was. I especially loved the Stout, which leaves behind a coffee/dark chocolate taste. Yum. The way the tasting worked went like this: Our tour guide talked about the type of beer while her cohort from the bar passed out a bottle on each side of the table. The people in the middle got left with quite a bit to drink! We each filled up a glass partway and tasted. Then before we could hardly finish what we had, we tried another. On and on it went. We tasted over 10 types of beer. And THEN we could have 2 MORE full beers! That was well worth the $3 tour fee. Those who didn’t want beer could get 2 glasses of 1919 Root Beer.

Schell’s is a wonderful Minnesota business story. Four generations after August Schell started the company, his relatives are still at the helm. They made it through an Indian War and the Great Depression, as well as several other economic downturns. After August died, the company passed down to his son, Otto. When Otto died unexpectedly, it went to his sister’s husband, George Marti. His wife, Emma, took over when he died in 1934 and then passed down management to her son, Alfred. It was Alfred Marti who sponsored a group known as the Schell’s Hobo Band which still entertains the young and old around New Ulm. Warren Marti succeeded his father in 1969. It was Warren who expanded the company to include the soft drink, 1919 Root Beer. I don’t know about you, but that’s my favorite root beer! Ted Marti runs the company today, and it has been under his leadership that the company has introduced its own line of speciality beers such as Pale Ale to Weizen. Two of his sons are currently serving overseas in the military.

August and Theresa Schell, the couple who started Schell Brewery in 1860.

This wagon was used in parades for years.

History of the wagon.

They endured winter, starvation, an outbreak of cholera, ravenous locusts, outdoor plumbing and bad shoes. Brewing was so much simpler back then.

No visit to Minnesota should be complete without a tour of Schell’s Brewery. And now we are searching out Schell’s beer to keep on hand at home — even me, the non-beer drinker!

CURRENT BEERS:

• Seasonal —

Bock, Maifest, Heifeweizen, Zommerfest, Oktoberfest, Snowstorm, and Schmaltz’s Alt

• Original –

Schells and Schell’s Light

• Year-Round —

Firebrick, Pilsner, Hofenmalz, Stout, Dark

• Grainbelt —

Premium, Nordeast, Light

Schell’s Brewery

1860 Schells Rd.

New Ulm, MN 56073

(507) 354-5528

schells@schellsbrewery.com

Gift Shop hours: Daily, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Brewery Tours: September to December — Friday 3 p.m., Saturday noon, 1, 2, 3, 4 p.m., Sunday 1,2,3,4 p.m.

January to May — Friday 3 p.m., Saturday noon, 1,2,3,4 p.m., Sunday 1, 2:30 p.m.

Summer (Memorial Day to Labor Day) — Monday to Friday 1,2:30,4 p.m., Saturday noon, 1,2,3,4 p.m. and Sunday 1,2,3,4 p.m.

(Tour times are extended during these New Ulm festivals: Bavarian Blast the third weekend in July and Oktoberfest the first and second weekends of October.)

Tour fee: $3 for adults. 12 and under free.

Pose with the gnomes while you wait for your tour to start.

Stroll through the garden before leaving Schell's.

OTHERS IN THIS SERIES

#1 - Visit New Ulm (Holiday, Otto's Restaurant)

#2 - Morgan Creek Winery

COMING

#4 - Wanda Gag House