Most of the faithful on the tour came to sample the 10 distinctive craft brewed beers. Talk about variety: beers that are available year round are the popular Special Amber, Black Bavarian, Hefe Weiss (a filtered wheat beer brewed with special German yeast), Pub Ale and the Bohemian style Pale Lager. Several seasonals on tap this spring include Imperial Stout, Winter Brew, and Dopple Bock (a strong, dark lager that has a full and complex malt body, and is aged for more than 12 weeks). Unfortunately at the time of my visit, they were temporarily out of my personal favorite, Mai Bock, another seasonal specialty brew which is available in late winter through early spring. Mai Bock is not dark like common Bock beer; it's blonde in color, highly hopped, and oh, so smooth on the palate. Sprecher also brews specialty seasonals that are only brewed in very small batches -- usually 80 barrels or less. These include Abbey Tripl, a Belgian ale brewed with Belgian pale malt, wheat malt and flaked oats. This beer is light in color, more of a deep golden color with a very complex fruity taste, but is surprisingly smooth. The alcohol content is quite high, about 9 percent by volume. Also available this spring is the Irish Stout, brewed for St. Patty's Day and for Irish Fest in August. Due out in the next few weeks will be the debut of Sprecher's newest seasonal specialty, Scotch Ale. An authentic Scotch top fermenting yeast strain was used to achieve the distinctive taste and flavor profile. This traditional "wee heavy" is made with seven different malts including Belgian Aromatic malt, Vienna malt and a whiskey/ peated variety. These malts are combined in a multi step mash process to create a truly unique beer. Sprecher says "the fermentation time has been extended a little to allow the smoked character of the peated malt to mellow."

The Sprecher Brewery in Glendale is brewing up more than beer this spring. Milwaukee's oldest microbrewery has remodeled almost 1,000 sq. ft. of former warehouse and loading dock space which will soon house a new guest center, an expanded gift shop and a brewing museum.

The museum is unique in that it features artifacts from defunct breweries of Wisconsin, most of them dating back more than 100 years.

With the additional space, owner and founder Randy Sprecher says the brewery hopes to accommodate larger groups and catered meetings.

"We are looking to focus more on corporate meetings allowing corporate clients a very unique meeting experience," says Sprecher, who plans a grand opening for June.

Sprecher says more than 16,000 visitors tour his facility annually, and considering a typical tour can accommodate more than 100 people, it's clear the renovation is a necessity.

Currently, Sprecher serves samples of its beer at the end of the tours, and for kids, there is a choice of five sodas. This spring, the brewery will unveil a new soda, "Ravin Red," a gourmet drink made with cherries, cranberries and ginseng. Sprecher says this high-energy drink is "is far less sweet than other sodas, and I'm proud of the fact that all of the ingredients are from Wisconsin."

Sprecher also says he hopes to have licensing secured to allow the sale of his beer at the brewery. Until now, the brewery could only serve sample beers on tours. He says Sprecher will offer bottles and two-liter growlers that can be filled at the brewery.