Chippewa Falls, twelve miles north of Eau Claire, is home to one of Wisconsin's oldest breweries. Jacob Leinenkugel founded it in 1867, and the family has run it for five generations — it was one of the few Wisconsin breweries to survive Prohibition by switching to near-beer and soda. The brewery still sits on the original Chippewa Falls site, and the free tours cover the brewing process, the history, and — most importantly — a tasting room with the full range of their beers. Leinenkugel's Summer Shandy became something of a national phenomenon; the brewery produces dozens of seasonal and specialty variants that are only available at the source.
The tour lasts about an hour. Book ahead on weekends; it fills up in summer. The beer garden outside is open in warm weather and is genuinely pleasant — Chippewa Falls is a picturesque small town worth a brief look on the way back.