College students may not have enough money to take week-long vacation to Mexico, but by living in Wisconsin there is an opportunity to do something fun and inexpensive on Spring Break.

A brewery tour of Wisconsin is a great opportunity for you and your friends to experience all that goes into the making of handcrafted beers.

A brewery is known as a building that is designed for the making of beer. Some breweries now offer tours with many different taste samples of their beer. Brewery tours can range in price depending on the brewing company.

Jacob Lienenkugel Brewing Company, located in Chippewa Falls, was founded in 1867. This brewing company offers a tour that allows you to experience how its award winning Lienenkugel beers are handcrafted. The Jacob Lienenkugel Brewing Company has been passed down through five generations and is currently owned by Thomas J. Leinenkugal in 1986.

Head to Capitol Brewery in Middleton where all its beers received 88 to 98 on taste by the Beverage Testing Institute. The Capitol Brewery was founded in 1984 and had its first brew in 1986. Most of the equipment used today in the brewery came from the Hoxter brewery located in Germany.

According to capital-brewery.com, “Capital Brewery is a publicly held company that currently produces approximately 22,000 barrels annually and has distribution in three Midwestern states.”

Deborah Carey is the founder and current president of the New Glarus Brewing Company in New Glarus. She is considered the first woman in the U.S. to own and operate a brewery. The Brewery was named top brewery in the world in 2010 by Rate Beer in Santa Rosa, Calif.

The Minhas Craft Brewery was established in 1845 in Monroe. The brewery is currently owned by Ravinder Minhas and Mountain Crest SRI since 2006. A scare to the brewery came in 1885 when a fire adjacent to the building started. The workers saved the brewery by putting it out with beer.

Mount Horeb has their very own Mount Horeb Brewery Restaurant and Pizzeria. The Mount Horeb Brewery is a full service restaurant and Brewery with indoor dining and a tasting room. Guests have the opportunity to purchase a half-gallon Growler mug with their choice of Grumpy Troll brew. The Growlers cost $15 and refills are $12.

Sprecher Brewing Company Inc. was established in 1985 by Randal Sprecher, who was a brewing supervisor at Pabst Brewing Company in Milwaukee at the time. The Brewery was originally located at 730 Oregon St. and now is permanently at 701 Glendale Ave.

According to sprechersbrewery.com, “The smaller Micro-Breweries such as Sprecher can focus more on its specialty craft beers with an eye on the highest quality and tradition of European style brewing.”

Even if you are not 21, Sprecher offers a tour of their brewed root beer made on site.

Enjoy your Spring Break by visiting different breweries in Wisconsin and sampling many different handcrafted beers.