By the Shores of Gitche Gumee

We're still on the search for the quintessential autumn beer, so the other day we tried Leinenkugel's Oktoberfest.

Jacob Leinenkugel and John Miller (no relation to MGD) began brewing in 1867 and pumped out 400 barrels their first year. They survived the dark days of Prohibition by producing Leino, a .5% Near Beer. This makes them one of the oldest operating breweries in the US. Yuengling, a brewery headquartered in Pennsylvania with a brewery in Florida (making it popular in the South) is The Oldest. It's also the largest American-owned brewery. What about Bud and Miller, you ask? Anhheuser-Busch, maker of Budweiser, Michelob, and Natty Light is own by a Belgian-Brazilian conglomerate headquartered in Belgium. Miller Brewing belongs to a British company headquartered in London.

Real Americans drink American beer from American-owned breweries. Buy local. Thank you.

Today Leinenkugel's produces around 700 thousand barrels a year. Just for the sake of orientation, a beer barrel holds 43 gallons, or 344 16oz bottles.

Leinenkugel's comes from Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, a town named after the Chippewa (a corruption of Ojibwa) tribe, the fourth largest Native American tribe in the US (behind the Navajo, Cherokee, and Lakota, in that order). Some linguists think the name Ojibwa comes from an Algonquian phrase meaning "those who cook until it puckers."

Longfellow wrote an epic poem about Ojibwa culture, called the Song of Hiawatha. Apparently, Longfellow didn't like the name of the poem's subject, Manabozho, a shapeshifiting trickster rabbit of Algonquian myth. He opted instead for the better known name, Hiawatha, who was actually an Iroquois leader famed for uniting the Iroquois Confederacy. The Iroquois Confederacy, by the way, formed in the 1500s before the first Europeans began to filter into New England and Canada. It featured a representative democracy in which women had the right to vote, own property, and divorce deadbeat husbands.

Ok, we're way off topic. Chippewa Falls began its life as a lumber town and has become well decorated over the years, boasting 4 Generals, 3 Medals of Honor, and 1 Navy Cross.

Also, Jack Dawson from the movie Titannic came from Chippewa Falls. As well as Seymour Cray, father of the supercomputer, which sounds like a swell idea until you watch War Games.

We've been fans of Leinenkugel's for a while. My favorite Leinie (that's what you call a Leinenkugel beer) is the Sunset Wheat, a Belgian style wheat with hints of coriander and citrus. I know coriander in beer sounds aberrant, but I've become a strong proponent.

Aine prefers the Summer Shandy. Shandy comes from the German word Schande and means a beverage mixed with beer and juice. In the UK, they call it a Shandy or a Shandygaff and mix it half beer and half lemonade. The Scottish consider this a children's drink. I think Aine had her first Shandy out of a sippy cup.

This Oktoberfest, another caramelly amber (of course), tasted great. A fine specimen of the style. Give it a try. The Leinenkugel's website said it pairs well with brats and smoked gouda. Gouda and brats are fattening, though, so we just paired it with Mini Frosted Cookies: