When I traveled thru Michigan during the first year of my beerquest, I visited breweries mainly in Southern Michigan. I visited the brewery hot spots of Ann Arbor, Kalamazoo, Grand Rapids and Holland. On the return visit to the Great Lake State, my objective was to cover areas that I missed early in the quest.
So off we went heading to the northern beer city of Traverse City, while Incorporating visits to Joann's Aunt in Dearborn and the world's largest Christmas store in Frankenmuth ( added bonus, it was Frankenmuth's Bavarian Festival week).
Dearborn Brewing Co: Located on Michigan Ave, the main street in town, the brewery opened in 2012 and is billed as the first microbrewery in Dearborn. The Ford world headquarters is about 10 minutes down the road from the brewery. Of course, everywhere you look in Dearborn you see the influence of Ford. If you are a Ford employee ( you are in the minority if you are not) you recieve a 10% discount at the Brewery. The Taproom has a small bar and numerous tables in front of the brew works, giving you a nice space to enjoy their beers. They usually have about 10 of their beers available on tap. They do not serve food, however, you can order food from a few local restaurants and it will be delivered to the brewery. You can also bring in your own food.
I did notice hundred's of unique glass mugs hanging above the bar. They have a mug club that you can purchase a membership to. You then get to select a class mug that was made by the local glass acadamey. I beleive there is an additional fee for some of the more unique mugs. Believe, they have some very interesting mugs. I did enjoy a nice sampling of their brews, my favorites were WACOV, a pale wheat,Rouge River Red Ale and Death By Chocolate Porter.
So off we went heading to the northern beer city of Traverse City, while Incorporating visits to Joann's Aunt in Dearborn and the world's largest Christmas store in Frankenmuth ( added bonus, it was Frankenmuth's Bavarian Festival week).
Dearborn Brewing Co: Located on Michigan Ave, the main street in town, the brewery opened in 2012 and is billed as the first microbrewery in Dearborn. The Ford world headquarters is about 10 minutes down the road from the brewery. Of course, everywhere you look in Dearborn you see the influence of Ford. If you are a Ford employee ( you are in the minority if you are not) you recieve a 10% discount at the Brewery. The Taproom has a small bar and numerous tables in front of the brew works, giving you a nice space to enjoy their beers. They usually have about 10 of their beers available on tap. They do not serve food, however, you can order food from a few local restaurants and it will be delivered to the brewery. You can also bring in your own food.
I did notice hundred's of unique glass mugs hanging above the bar. They have a mug club that you can purchase a membership to. You then get to select a class mug that was made by the local glass acadamey. I beleive there is an additional fee for some of the more unique mugs. Believe, they have some very interesting mugs. I did enjoy a nice sampling of their brews, my favorites were WACOV, a pale wheat,Rouge River Red Ale and Death By Chocolate Porter.
Frankenmuth Brewery: Traveling north and slightly west of Detroit, before you run into Saginaw Bay, you will Germany in Michigan. Frankenmuth is a full fledged Bavarian village and not many years ago you had to be German to live there. By Luck, during our visit the Frankenmuth Bavarian Festival was taking place. Just what I needed more beer, German Food, Large Pretzels, more beer and Cheese. The town is similar to a quaint Bavarian Village and the festival was a minature version of Munich's Oktoberfest. Before I get to the brewery, there are two must do'd if you visit Frankenmuth. Bronner's Chrismas Wonderland is located just south of town. It is billed as the world's largest Christmas store. After visiting I will not dispute this claim, you need a map to navigate the store, enough said. Secondly, when in town you must find and try chocolate cheese. Yes it is chocolate cheese the town is famous for it...buy it and enjoy it.
Ok..back to the beer. The Frankenmuth Brewery is located on the north side of town. It is a beautiful Bavarian themed brewery with a full restaurant. Since I ate too much in town at the festival, I did not try the food, however, it looked good. The Restaurant area and the large bar and tasting area are basically surrounded by the Brew works and Fermentors.. polished and shined fermentors. I know, we always hear the oldest, the first, etc. Frankenmuth Brewery claims to be the Oldest MicroBrewery in the U.S. and the first craft brewery of Michigan. Founded in 1862 at its present location, it was operated under many names and owners until 1980, when it was named the Frankenmuth Brewery. I will not disput or verify this claim, however, I will verify that they have 21 of their brews on tap. After sampling a nice variety of their brews, I particularly enjoyed S.M.A.S.H IPA,Rock the Cashmere IPA,Tangerino IPA and the Scotch Connery.
North Peak Brewing Co: Located in the heart of Traverse City a few blocks from the West Arm Traverse Bay, the brewery was built in an historic building that was a former candy company. The Brewery houses a large indoor bar, a two level seating area and a large outdoor patio area. A full Lunchand dinner menu is available if you want food with your beer. You can sample 9 to 10 of their beers on tap, along with a variety of their bottled beer. The THunder IPA and Diabolical IPA were my two favorite brews. I also Enjoyed their Cherry Nomad Cider, when in Cherry country enjoy what the locals drink. There was a small batch brewery works on site, however, their large production facility ( 51.5 Barrel system) is located in Dexter, Michigan. I also learned that North Peak is owned by the Mission Restaurant Group, who also owns Jooly Pumpkin Brewery & Blue Tractor Brewery in Ann Arbor.
Brewery Terra Firma: The Brewery is located on a 10 acre farm about 2 miles south of Traverse City. They claim to be Michigan's first Agricultural Brewery and ar MAEAP certified, meaning they are environmentally friendly. The farm does grow and provide some of the incredients for their beer. The tap room will accommodate about 60 people. There is a nice variety of cheese and a few snacks to purchase if you needed some munchies while you enjoyed sampling their beer. Speaking of beer, there were 15 to 16 of house brews on tap. I will say making a selection was very difficult. The 4 IPA's Soul Butter Triple, Magnum Hospitality, Open Space and Karma Palace were very good. I also enjoyed the Black Bikini Coconut Porter.
Right Brain Brewery: My first experience with Right Brain Brewery was when I attended Beer Advocate's 2012 Extreme Beer Festival in Boston. Right Brain was pouring almond Joy beer, turtle beer, peanut & Jelly beer and many other unique / extreme beer. This was before the peanut butter beer craze started. Needless to say when in Northern Michigan Right Brain was on my must visit list. The Brewery is located on the southside of Traverse City away from the downtown buzz. When we entered the brewery, we found ourselves standing in the middle of a Beauty Parlor ( not open ). Our first thoughts were the brewery moved, then we heard noise around the corner. We continued on and entered a large, crowded tasting area. The taproom was packed, fortunately we found two seats at the bar. Back to the beauty Parlor. We learned that the owner was a hair stylist and home brewer. He operated a styling salon in town and brought in samples of his home brew for the customers. The beer got so popular he opened the brewery at the current location along with a small hair styling shop. Bottom Line, when visiting breweries you never know what you may encounter. Right Brain offered 24- 30 of their beers on tap. They also had a nice sandwich, burger and appetizer menu if you needed food. It was difficult to choose a sample flight with so many choices. The beer wife actually selcected her own flight and enjoyed each of her selections. Now that was a first. My favorites on this visit was the Thai Peanut Brown ale, Dead kettle IPA,Broken Nose Dbl Black IPA and Spinal Tapper IPA.
Shorts Brewing Co.: Shorts Brewing was another brewery that I encountered while attending a beer festival. Like Right Brain Brewing, Shorts brews unique and extreme beer. Their production facility is located north of Traverse City in the small town of Elk Rapids. They also have a "pull Barn" in front of the facility where you can order draught beer, fill growlers, etc. Unfortunately during my visit the pull barn was not open, so I drove further north and east to the town of Bellaire to visit their pub. Located on the main drag of Bellaire, the pub was definitely the hot spot of the town. In addition to over 20 house brews to sample, they also had a very nice food menu with a nice variety of sandwiches, pizza, soups and salads. The pub had two large rooms with ample space to seat a large number of people. With such a large number of brews to choose from I again struggled with making a selection. Ok...I went a little overboard and sampled 11 of their brews. Everyone was good, however, my favorites were Richard in the Dirt Tripel, Melt My Brain Golden Ale, Dock Sitting IPA, No Recess Sour Ale and Hellacious Rock Imperial IPA.
Mackinac Island: No brewery here, however, if you are in Northern Michigan and have the opportunity to take the Ferry to Mackinac Island...DO IT! The only means of transportation on the island is horse, bicycles and your feet. A beautiful laid back island with a Grand Hotel that overlooks the Strait of Mackinac. The Grand Hotel has a very long covered front porch, where you can relax on one of the many rocking chairs. Plus you can enjoy a Bell's Amber Ale brewed specifically for the Hotel, appropriately named " Big Porch Ale".