Road Trip 2013: Point Brewery and Irish Music

Thursday, 8/29: still camped in the Wright's driveway in Amherst, Wisconsin.

Another hot and humid day here.  Thank goodness I had an AC installed in the camper before this trip.  We planned three adventures for the day.  First was to visit the Point Brewery in Stevens Point for a tour.  Next was a jam session of Irish music with a group of friends that Dave and Ann meet with weekly.  Last on the list was an evening walk, after the temperatures cooled down a bit, to Skunk Lake with Dave's brother (who's nickname is Crow) and his Black Lab.

The Stevens Point Brewery is a regional, craft brewery.  It has been in continuous production since 1857, and even remained open during Prohibition by producing soda.  The three of us were the only ones scheduled for the 2:00 PM tour, so we basically had a private tour.  Of course, after the tour we had to sample.

Aging vats

Keg filling station

Fermentation vats

New bottles ready to be filled

Cans ready to be filled

Bottling line

Packaging line

Next up was the music jam session.  Dave and Ann love to play Irish music, as do a group of their friends.  Every Thursday they get together are one of the homes and play.  This session was at the studio of Rick Foris.  Rick is a potter who specializes in Raku ceramics.  I tried to upload a short video of a tune, but the file size was to big.  So I uploaded it to You Tube.  Here is the link to hear them play.

Irish music jam session

The final activity of the day was a hike with the dogs to Skunk Lake. The last time I was on Skunk lake was in January when Dave and I ice fished.   Crow's dog Buddy and Zoey raced and played for a good hour.

We ended the day by grilling steaks.  Stay tuned............