Lakefront Brewery is giving away free state park passes

Just in time for summer-like weather, Lakefront Brewery is giving Wisconsinites a chance to enjoy it in Wisconsin's most beautiful natural spots — for free.

In celebration of Lakefront's environmentally friendly legacy, the brewery is giving away 100 annual state park passes in a contest that is open now through June.

“Being an official B Corp member (the first brewery in Wisconsin), we’ve strived to be even more of an advocate for our environment by partnering with the state parks,” Lakefront Chain Account Manager Kyle Thompson said in a statement. “What better way than to give our fans a chance to reconnect with our state’s natural beauty?”

Lakefront achieved Certified B Corporation status in 2020. The certification recognizes businesses that "demonstrate high social and environmental performance," among other criteria. The brewery regularly hosts cleanups along its stretch of the Milwaukee River, including this coming Earth Day (April 22), when they'll give away free beer to volunteers; and earlier this year, the brewery announced they would be doing away with bottles and only canning beer to be more environmentally friendly and economically efficient.

Thompson said switching to cans was a "monumental undertaking" and "the largest investment we ever made," but is a "win-win-win" in terms of helping the environment, preserving the beer and giving customers what they want.

Not only are cans lighter than bottles — a fact that will help Lakefront boost their shipping efficiency by 50%, Thompson said, which will in turn help reduce carbon emissions — but cans are infinitely recyclable, which bottles are not. Cans also keep out light and air, which degrade the quality of the beer. Plus cans are the preferred packaging for the people when they're enjoying the great outdoors, Thompson said.

Giving away park passes instead of something like a pint glass or T-shirt to celebrate the switch to cans made sense for a brewery that gets tour-goers involved in their beer tours with a crowning of a bung king or queen and a group rendition of the Laverne & Shirley theme song.

"Were known for great experiences in addition to great beer, so we wanted the prize to be an experiential kind of thing," Thompson said. "We're just general Wisco-philes. We're lovers of all-things-Wisconsin, including the state parks. Now you can enjoy those parks with your favorite lakefront beer."

People can enter to win as many times as they want through June at lakefrontbrewery.com or by scanning a QR code on posters around Milwaukee. Winners will be selected in batches throughout the contest period, and the passes will be mailed to the winners. For more information, see Lakefront's website or call (414) 372-8800.

Vehicle admission stickers to Wisconsin state parks normally cost $8 for a day or $28 for the year for vehicles with Wisconsin plates; annual passes are available online at yourpassnow.com/ParkPass/wi. For more on Wisconsin state parks, see wiparks.net.

Contact Chelsey Lewis at clewis@journalsentinel.com. Follow her on Twitter at @chelseylew and @TravelMJS and Facebook at Journal Sentinel Travel. 

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