Like our earlier piece on fall color, this post will be long on photos and short on text!
One of our favorite things to do on a cold winter day is to visit some of our favorite spots along the Mississippi. As the ice slowly freezes, the bald eagles that range along the river bluffs finally move south. The ice isn’t quite thick enough for fishing huts like the ones which will pop up on nearby lakes soon. But the cold, clear air and the striking blues of sky, ice and river make places that are usually filled with people look pristine.
The Mississippi River as view from Grant River Recreation areaMississippi River viewed from Potosi Point
A beaver dam as seen from Potosi Point
Of course, it’s really not as pristine as all that… you can find plenty of beaver dams, occasional deer running into the woods, and a few remaining waterfowl. But what I love the most is the deep blues of the water as it freezes.
These photos were all taken between (or in) the Grant River Recreation Area and Potosi Point.
A few remaining geese coming in for landing….
… and they’ve landed!
The road out onto Potosi PointWho says you can’t take pictures into the sun?
The Soo Line Railway (a subsidiary line of the Canadian Pacific) running along the Wisconsin shore. It crosses over from La Crescent, Minnesota up at La Crosse.
Looking north from Potosi PointOne last look south from the Point before I head home.
If you’re already taking a trip to Potosi, maybe to the Potosi Brewery as written about in our last article, why not keep going and drive out on to the Mississippi? I mean that literally: Potosi Point, one of my favorite places to go for some beautiful views, peace, and quiet, is less than a mile outside of town.
The Mississippi River shoreline as viewed from Potosi point in mid-November. Photo by Terry Burns.
How do you get there from the Potosi main drag?
Just keep driving down South Main Street, and the road will literally take you out to a boat launch on the Mississippi. The trick is, you have to take a little jog in the road as it goes out of town.
Cross the railroad,
go under the culvert,
and drive straight out!
You’ll see some railroad tracks running along the river, and need to take a left off of State Road 133 (which was the same as Main Street, but now separates off to the north.) Drive under a little culvert, which as you can see from the photo sometimes gets flooded) and be careful to watch for water. On the other side of the culvert, you’ll be on road that runs right out into the river.
You won’t have to search very hard to see wildlife ranging from cranes waiting for dinner or beavers building dams.
By late fall, beavers will be building dams on either side of the road. It’s also a good place to view cranes and other sea birds.
If you follow the road to the end, you’ll be at a little boat launch and viewing spot in the Upper Mississippi Wildlife Preserve called Potosi Point.
At the end of the road, you’ll be several hundred yards out into the Mississippi, near the main channel.
That’s all there is to it. Oh, and if you want some shade or forgot binoculars, there’s a nice little viewing pavillion where you can look downstream. Enjoy your trip!
Viewing pavilion faces downstream, the earlier photos faced upstream.
Wisconsin is known for beer. Part of what makes our beer so great is the expertise of the brewers who came here, but, as those brewers have said in many places, another reason is the purity of the water and the way its filtered through the unique geography of the area. It also doesn’t hurt that the same properties that make the area’s rolling hills also make it easy to store and chill beer barrels in the many caves throughout the area.
We have breweries all over, but there is one that really stands out as a pillar of the community its a part of: the Potosi Brewery. that is, unless you don’t find brewing for charity, town-wide taste testing, or beer raining from the sky terribly interesting! If you’re like most Wisconsinites, I know you’ll enjoy Potosi Wisconsin and their brewery.
Potosi Brewery (the brick building in the background nestled into the hill, as viewed from a local park.)
The brewery began in 1852 by Gabriel Hail Sr. and his sons, Gabriel Jr. and John. Though they were brewing in 1852 they didn’t have an actual brewery building until 1854 when they had one built. Potosi was a perfect place to start a brewery back before refrigerators and modern transportation for several reasons. The building was built with direct access to the inside of a cave that was naturally around 46 degrees. It was a perfect place to store the beer. Potosi also has a stream of spring water that they could use for brewing. They stopped using the spring water several years ago and then they switched back and people have said that the beer is crisper and more flavorful. In addition to all of those amenities for brewing, Potosi is also very close to the Mississippi River which allowed them to ship their beer easier back when the brewery was starting up thanks to the Potosi steamboat.
The “world’s largest beer” in Potosi, Wisconsin, located across the street from the pavilion in the preceding photo.
The brewery changed owners around 1882, it was then bought by Adam Schumacher in 1886 and exploded in popularity due to his skills in brewing German lager and it officially became “The Potosi Brewing Company”. The brewery went through prohibition, and then some growth and changes until sadly in 1972 they closed their doors. That wasn’t the end however, in 2008 they reopened their doors thanks to the hard work and dedication of the citizens and now it stands as a major tourist attraction and home to the “National Beer Museum”. They also donate their proceeds to charities such as a Platteville scholarship fund, local boy scout troops, and other organizations.
A photo of my father and I before the tour started. Photo by Lauren McMicking.
One weekend this fall, I decided to invest a mere $13 to take a tour. As soon as my father heard about it I was obligated to bring him along! Then my brother heard and encouraged his girlfriend to also come with so he could have the house to himself and enjoy his new video game without interruption. So then, after having paid for both of them and myself, we set off. Lauren brought her camera and my father brought his winning smile.
Tours are every
weekend and include a look at the production facility, town history, and most
importantly…free beer. For the responsible adults there was a fine selection
of craft beers to choose from and you could responsibly sample a few. However
of course, we were irresponsible adults with no need to be anywhere for the
rest of the day so we decided before we even got there that we would try
everything we could see. Then we were given a free pint of whatever we wanted
to take with us on the tour and they shoved us on the tour so we wouldn’t drink
them dry.
Potosi’s long history meant there were plenty of fun and interesting facts. For instance, in 2007 before they reopened, they had a small but important problem. The facilities had burned down and the recipes were lost. So, the town bravely banded together and drank from batch after batch until they had settled on what they believed was the original recipe. The beer in question is called “Good Old Potosi”, which is described as “a Golden Ale with a delicate malt flavor and sweet finish. Light in body, full in flavor.”. In my opinion it’s a fairly boring beer but it tastes just like an old beer should. One of my favorites was the Steamboat Lemon Shanty which has a light color and crispy lemon flavoring.
We also learned that it wasn’t always a cake walk working in the brewery. They used to have a pipe to send the beer from the production facility to the bottling facility (both original facilities are now re-purposed for other things) and this pipe spanned over the street. However, the beer sometimes had trouble staying in the pipe. When semis rolled through town they would hit the pipe and cause it to burst, sending a shower of beer down on the town.
There’s a lot more to Potosi than just beer. There’s beautiful scenery, great people, and …. there’s wine.
A painting by a Kingfisher by Wes Hilmick.
They’re also home to the Whispering Bluffs Winery. The winery is located in what used to be the bottling plant of the old brewery before it was renovated and reopened. All their wines are made in Wisconsin, from Wisconsin grapes. All the wines are inspired by local birds. The painting on the left is the same as the picture on the bottle of wine. The painting itself was done by the owner of the winery, Wes Hilmick.
Just down the hall from winery is a
woodworking shop called Bright Idea. The shop is also located in the old
bottling plant. Lining the walls of the hallway between are framed articles of
the local paper that tell the history of the brewery. Bright Idea is owned and
operated by a father and son carpentry team, Gary and Tyler David. They sell
tables, candle holders, and other beautiful work that they hand crafted
themselves. They own their own sawmill and harvest all of their lumber locally.
Bright Idea has a website, as well as Facebook and
Instagram where they promote and sell their products as well as tell their
interesting, Wisconsin grown, story.
Kingfisher wine, featuring the same painting by Wes Hilmick
Potosi is home to a brilliant brewery, winery, and a carpentry shop. In my opinion, a small town doesn’t get much better than that. They have a fun tour of the brewery where you have plenty of chances to try their specialty beers. Then you can enjoy wonderful food at the attached restaurant. The bottom line is, if you’re looking for something fun to do in Southwest Wisconsin Potosi is the place to be and best of all it’s all local, local ingredients, owners, products, and it helps Wisconsin thrive. Schedule tours or look at the craft beers here at the Potosi Website.
