The Lodge is the visitor door to a brewery that stopped brewing in 2025. What is still open, how the tour works and where to eat after.
Search for Leinie Lodge Chippewa Falls and you land on a log-cabin taproom that doubles as the front door to a brewery that made its last batch in January 2025. The surprise is how little that changes the visit.
The Lodge's own staff say the tour is largely unchanged, and the guide still walks you through the brewery that Jacob Leinenkugel and John Miller started in 1867. Here is which building is which, what stopped in 2025 and what did not, how the tour works, and where to go afterward on Bridge Street.
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If you are building a longer day, add a few more stops around Chippewa Falls for the rest of the afternoon.
Where the Lodge ends and the brewery begins
The Leinie Lodge is the visitor entrance, and the brewery it serves sits just across the creek. The Lodge is at 124 E Elm St, and the original brewery is across Duncan Creek at 1 Jefferson Ave, about 0.1 mile away. The Lodge's tour page says every tour starts at the Lodge, so put the Elm Street address in your map app.
Parking is free, with a lot and street spaces both listed on the Lodge's Google profile. The profile also lists a wheelchair-accessible entrance and accessible parking.
What closed in January 2025, and what stayed open
The brewery closed on Friday, January 17, 2025, after Molson Coors announced in November 2024 that it would consolidate Leinenkugel's production in Milwaukee. The last hourly workers clocked out on January 16, and 56 people lost their jobs. Former Leinenkugel presidents Jake and Dick Leinenkugel offered to buy the brewery, and Molson Coors turned them down. After that final shift, the workers walked across a footbridge to the Lodge for pints and pizza.
The Lodge and its pilot brewery were not part of the closure. Molson Coors had already been making more than 75 percent of Leinenkugel's volume in Milwaukee before the closure. A July 2026 reviewer put the trade-off plainly: pilot batches are what get brewed locally now, and he hoped more brewing would come back.
The 1867 story the tour walks through
Jacob Leinenkugel and John Miller opened the Spring Brewery in 1867, on land the county historical society's marker says Leinenkugel bought from lumberman Hiram Allen. The same marker calls it the city's oldest industry. One account notes the town had the world's largest lumber mill at the time, which gave the new brewery a solid customer base. The company's own history says the town's lumberjacks made great customers for Jacob and John Miller.
The name came from water, though the records name different springs. The Wisconsin Historical Society record describes a spring on a bend in Duncan Creek, while the county marker names Big Eddy Springs. Miller left in 1883 and the business took Leinenkugel's name.
Prohibition cut off the beer, so the brewery sold near beer, known regionally as Leino, along with soda water. Miller Brewing Company bought the business in 1988, and Molson Coors owns the brand today.
Records of the brewery complex describe a brick springhouse from 1867 set into the base of a bluff, a three-story stone malt house, and a four-story brick brewhouse from 1890.
How the Legacy Brewery Tour works
The Legacy Brewery Tour is the one to book first, a guided walk through the historic brewery that the Lodge's tour terms put at about 60 minutes. The Lodge's tour page says it placed second in USA Today's 10 Best reader poll for brewery tours in 2024.
Expect about a mile of walking, partly outdoors, so dress for the weather. The terms describe the tour as handicap accessible. All ages can come, but sampling is for guests 21 and older with a government ID, and you choose pints or a flight of six five-ounce pours.
Check in at the tour desk at least 15 minutes early, and know that cancellations inside 48 hours are not refunded. Book ahead at (888) 534-6437; the Lodge says it takes credit cards only.
A June 2026 reviewer who took the Legacy tour credited the guides with good stories about the Leinenkugel family and the brewing process, then enjoyed a flight afterward. The Lodge also lists a Pilot Brewery Tour and a Behind the Scenes Tour hosted by Matt Leinenkugel, plus a Historical Grounds Tour covering the site and the city. Pilot Night, an evening event, is for ages 21 and up and needs advance registration.
Go for the history rather than the production line. With the main brewery shut, the Lodge's marketing coordinator told Volume One in May 2025 that the tour was largely unchanged, with the brewery no longer producing beer.
Inside the Leinie Lodge
The Pilot Brewery opened inside the Lodge in 2022 on a seven-barrel system, and its small batches are available only to Lodge visitors. More than 125,000 people visit the Lodge each year.
The patio welcomes dogs, and an August 2026 reviewer called it very pet friendly. Food is the weak spot: a June 2026 reviewer warned the choices are very limited when food trucks are not scheduled, and added that outside food is allowed. The Lodge has hosted food trucks on Fridays and Saturdays, so check its event page before counting on one.
Google lists the Lodge as open 10 AM to 6 PM Sunday through Wednesday and 10 AM to 8 PM Thursday through Saturday. The Lodge's own page has listed closures on Thanksgiving, Christmas Day, New Year's Day and Easter, so call ahead on holidays.
Bridge Street, before or after
It opens at 2 PM Tuesday through Saturday and closes Sundays. A March 2026 reviewer singled out the Monday food specials, and a May 2026 reviewer advised asking for the orange and cherry if you order an old fashioned. The wider list of bars in Chippewa Falls goes well beyond this one.
It opens at 4 PM Monday through Saturday, closes Sundays and takes reservations. An August 2026 reviewer praised the sea bass and the filet, while a September 2025 reviewer called it not a cheap dinner but good value.
Staying over is easy because the restaurant shares a roof with the Cobblestone Hotel and you can compare the town's other hotels before you book.
For a different kind of meal, browse the town's other restaurants before you commit.
The last batch left the brewery across the creek in January 2025, and the Lodge in front of it is still pouring.
Frequently asked questions
Published October 12, 2026
