Michigan Brewers Guild Youtube Channel

Social media! It's everywhere! And there is no reason anyone should not take advantage of the tools at hand. The good people of the Michigan Brewers Guild have done so, launching their official Youtube channel, mibrewersguild. Here you can view the inside working of your favorite brewery, hear fan testimonials, see inside events, get home brewing tips, and of course upload your own piece of pride of blasphemy.

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Michigan Beer Festival Saturday

Waking up to the weather on Saturday, the sun appeared to be still sleeping and left the rain in its place. But things quickly changed, becoming sunny and breezy her eon the east side. My good friend Nick had called late friday and said he was pulling a late night to be able to make the festival on Saturday. We shot out there, arriving in sunny Ypsilanti close to two. As many people were walking away from the entrance gates as were walking towards them. Apparently the festival had sold out, a promise fulfilled by its organizers. It wasn't a very pleasant site. I overheard one group talking about the disappointment and confusion with this. Perhaps in the nearest future, there will be some new form of accommodation.

With the festival selling out, that meant 8,000 (or more) attendees were all after the coveted and most talked about beer Michigan has to offer. Surprises were abound, with many breweries offering special tapping's throughout the day. There were some disappointments too. Many breweries ran out of some, or nearly all, of their servings. One brewery (who is very local to the location of the festival) was reduced to one sampling very early in the afternoon. In fact, I think it was only the second sampling of the afternoon. The pourer made a tongue in cheek comment about how they are that popular. My response politely was for them to drive down the street to get some more. I wasn't met with a response. This was my freshman year at the festival, so I am uncertain how much of an occurrence this tragedy could be, but I would beckon to argue that if I were a brewery, I would much rather over stock and bring excess home than guesstimate and leave some patrons sour. However, my ingenuity may have already been recognized, and possibly these breweries DID compensate with plenty of beer, and were just that much more popular.

Nick and I were soon joined by some other friends Amy and Carle, who were stuck at the gate without tickets for a short moment. Somehow, thankfully, and quickly, they made their way in, with great charm and good looks I am sure. Amy and Carle both had rather larger plastic cups than we had. They were freebies from Kegglove, a company marketing its pretty awesome chilling potential for mobile kegs and such. Nick and I obtained these cups with the premonition that a four ounce sample in the festial cups would actually translate to six or more samples in these new cups. For the most part we were right, and towards the finale of the festival some samples were a full cup (because no one wants to go home with a partially filled keg!). The four of us made our ways around the festival many times. I took notes of some samples, and am sure ill have to recall some memory of others, so here goes.

Founders Devil Dancer
Short's Nicey Spicy
Jolly Pumpkin Kriek
Kuhnhenn Simcoe Silly
Copper Canyon Full Gard
The livery, some Lager
Rivht Brain IPA
Royal Oak Whit
Dragonmead Raspberry Wheat
I know theres a stout in there somewhere,i think from Olde Peninsula
Arbor Brewing Batch 2000
New Holland was visited as well...
And I believe one more was in there somewhere

Throughout the afternoon, hoots and hollers were heard throughout the festival at various locations. At first i thought, and they very well could have been, cheers for special tappings. But after being in the middle of several, i think it was just the celebration gaining momentum, with everyone raising their cups.

Six o'clock came way too soon, calling for a personal protest for the festival to extend longer. "I swear it was 3:30 just 30 minutes ago" I said to all. With that, we all made our way out to find some well deserved food.

I had a great time at my first Michigan Brewers Guild Beer festival, and con not wait until the next and newest engagement of theirs in late October at Eastern Market.

Michigan Beer Festival Friday

Taking a partial day, I drove through beautiful Oakland county, which inhibits (I believe) three Bloomfield cities. Some of these properties belong in the Smithsonian and I can only hope that someday I have something comparable, though it doesn't have to be in Bloomfield, perhaps a field with lower taxes and more bears. Yes bears. Pulling into Ypsilanti I had no idea where to go, but I saw hoards of people heading in some direction, I figures it'd be a good idea to follow. For if they didn't lead me to Riverside Park, they would certainly lead me somewhere that was second best. I came across Charles, a middle aged black man and asked if I was heading int eh right direction. "if your going to the beer festival you are" he replied. He mentioned he hadn't missed a year, reminiscing that the first festival was a field, or alley, I can't remember which. He was very polite and gave me some words of advice before I passed the gates "if they don't ask for a token, you don't give it to them" as he laughed. Oh, he also said not to bother going to the winter beer festival that is held in Grand Rapids because "it's colder than a motherfucker." I'm sure Charles was kidding about the first piece of advice, as he seemed the type not to take advantage of an easy situation. The second half of advice I think he was serious. Thankfully, I'm a foul weather man, bring it on I say, bring it on.

Passing through the gates was easy and off you go. Over 40 breweries producing over 300 samples. Some are old time favorites, some are special to the festival, and once they're gone, you may never have another opportunity to get them again, as they might not even be produced.

My first sample was from The Livery. I felt overwhelmed and under a self inflicted time restraint. they had at least three IPA's and I told the server to surprise me. He handed me a Double Paw, which was pretty tasty. From there I tried Short's Soft Parade. A recent article produced by Michigan beer Buzz led me to the curiosity of this brew when I stepped forward. Some wookie looking character insisted I try Founder's Maple Brown, and that my friends, was fantastic.

I then met up with good friend Matt Moberly from Bell's. He took me on tour of peeps I would have otherwise never met. Reps, owners, friends, and the like. It was a great adventure hearing some of the ins and outs from those who live it day to day. The atmosphere was very pleasing and friendly.

The Beers I had an opportunity to sample were, in no particular order.

Darkhorse's Smells Like Weed, an infusion IPA that the owner "just felt like brewing" and had no idea the IBU or anything. A true homebrewer experiment, he says at 30 minutes he just started throwing hops and more hops in.

Founder's Maple Brown. Sweet, a bit heavy, and hints of alcohol. Very tasty.

Short's Soft Parade. A fruit rye ale. Very good.

The Livery Maibock. At 10% this was pretty sweet and had strong hints of alcohol.

Round barn Wheat. Not terribly Impressed with this one.

Hastings Strawberry Rhubarb. I don't think I've ever consciously had anything that contained rhubarb before. If it tastes anything like that beer, sign me up.

Arcadia Blueberry Rye. Fantastic.

Cj's Chocolate Stout. This was pretty good. Stouts seem to be one of the more forgiving beers you can have, and this didn't miss any traditional marks, but also didn't hit any superior ones in my opinion.

Right Brain Honey Basil. I was very excited to get to the front of Right Brian's stand as I knew they would have something very unique. Basil in beer? It sounded very interesting. This beer had great olfactory. Sweet basil on the nose which was surprisingly pleasant. The taste was a mixture of, well, honey and basil. This was my best of show award for the evening.

Founder's Hot spite pepper ale. I couldn't do it. I had to pout it out. I'm such a wuss.

Corner Brewery Velvet Hammer. this was a barrel aged sour ale that I have only seen in a few locations throughout south east Michigan. I love sour, much more than pepper. This had some good malt notes and tone as well.

By that time I had to call it a night in consumption. The day was turning darker and I had to make my escape back to the east side to rest up for the Saturdays party.

Try before you buy gaining popularity

Interesting article that details how popularity growth is allowing establishments to offer beer samples, a try before you buy.

Check it out
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$16.99 Oberon Bubba Kegs

I've been meaning to post this since the 4th holiday. Many suppliers have the Bells Oberon bubba keg around $20 to $22, some as much as $24. But Champagnes Liquor (a.k.a. Pic-a-nut) located just west of 13 at Van Dyke has the bubba kegs for $16.99! That's a steal for sure! Go get you some for this weekend and beyond.

Awesome Michigan Fact!

Living on the east side my entire life, just minutes from beautiful lake St. Clair, i always had envied this body of water. And if history were to ever repeat itself, I could envy it some more. The southern tip of lake St. Clair and the mouth of the Detroit River was the staging grounds in the early 1920's for Americans (and our Canadian subsidiaries) to amply defy what had made illegal, alcohol. Prohibition was in effect, and Americans still wanted their booze. The government didn't. It is estimated that roughly 75% of America's (not Michigan, America) alcohol consumption entered via the Detroit River and Lake St Clair. I have heard of houses that had secret tunnels leading to the lake and river, and some outdoor landmarks still exist. Smugglers would rig boats, create zip lines, and even drive their vehicles across the river when frozen.

Its too bad that there isn't some form of remembrance for these daring individuals, some labeled hero's in the Detroit area. Some form of tour or local taproom that put those days into perspective. Hmmmmm, I think I am onto something here....

Michigan Brewing updates

Have you ever had one of those days where great news is then positioned against bad news, or vice versa? Its kinda like one of those "so-and-so's grandma passed away, and, oh, the blanks had their baby!" That's kinda the way I felt today when I learned of great news coming from the Michigan Brewers Guild, and some bad news coming from Kings Brewery in Pontiac. Let's start on the down note.

King's Brewery, located in Pontiac announced that it will be closing its doors after 15 years on July 29th. It is uncertain whether they will remain closed, or relocate and reopen, which has been rumored. I had thought things were going well for the brewery, having seen their debut into the bottling market this past spring with their awesome Weissbier. Furthermore, many of their styles were making their way around local tap houses and guest taps at other breweries. This closing would mark another loss of craft brewed spirits for the city of Pontiac, BC's had stopped production a year or so ago. So either the Michigan economy is still tightening its grasp where it can, or the city of Pontiac just can't support the craft market, perhaps both. Let's only hope that The King's have rebound plans in effect, since so many positive things have been happening for Michigan in regards to craft Beer.

For some more uplifting news, the Michigan Summer Beer Festival is just under two weeks away. Held in Ypsilanti Friday June 24 from 5-9pm and Saturday June 25 from 1-6 pm. Nearly 50 breweries will be on hand, making for hundreds of variations of everything from summer lagers to extreme concoctions reserved for the bold. This week, in anticipation of this event, the Michigan Brewers Guild announced plans that are in the making to expand their festivities beyond the yin and yang or winter and summer. Details are below.

Saturday, September 12 - Upper Peninsula Beer Festival to take place in Marquette. This event is designed to be a smaller, "satellite" version of the festivals we currently have. A lot of the details are still being worked out, but we are hoping that it will be set up in such a way that if you cannot attend the festival, we will still be prepared to pour your beer. Many more details will be sent out shortly after the Summer Festival so stay tuned.

Saturday, October 24th - Inaugural Craft Beer and Harvest Festival to be held at Eastern Market in Detroit. We have entered into a media partnership with Metro Times for this event and we have great expectations of selling it out in it's first year. We plan to incorporate several aspects of the harvest season, as well as showcase some of the unique brewing history of Detroit. This event will operate very much the same way the Winter and Summer Festivals do in regards to brewery participation. Again, many more details to be sent out after the Summer Festival.

Its great to see so much expansion and enthusiasm for the Michigan craft beer industry. Let's only hope its stays strong.

Badass Beer for your Badass

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Later this month Detroit rocker and pimp extraordinaire Kid Rock will be unveiling his "Badass Redneck Lager" at his CoPa concerts. The brewing was commissioned by Michigan Brewing Company, even though the label says "American Badass Beer company." The beer, said to be a light, refreshing lager, easily consumed again and again.

The Beer has brought with it some pros. cons and speculation. The pros are that this beer was conceived, planned, brewed and debuts in Michigan. Props to the Kid for keeping Michigan where its at. The Beer is also geared to create up to 400 jobs. I would assume this is a broad spectrum across many platforms and not just within the brewery/ However they are created, if MBC is looking for a new metropolitan employee, I'm your man. The cons are that (so I've read and heard) the number of new jobs could be over-inflated. Again, this could be a broad spectrum, from servers at CoPa to bottlers at the brewery. Time will tell. Speculation comes down to the marketing and pricing of this beverage. It is an American lager set to go head to head with those in the BMC world (though the Kid denies Coors, as they once partnered in or endorsed in something). So if the market isn't use to or too concerned with flavor and process, the question comes to who's going to pay for a premium beverage that is similar to a mediocre one, but gets you more bang for your buck? i.e. two six packs of Badass Lager might equal $15 or so in an average retail store. You could get 18-24 BMC for that price. Finally, with the market we have in Michigan and throughout the nation, you could afford to continuously drink their favorite badass' beer? Again, time will tell.

Now what could be awesome is a trick up the sleeve of those in charge of supply, demand, and price. Why not have a flat rate for this new six pack, say $5. We did it with pizza. We did it with subs. Why not do it with beer? After all, they all go hand in hand, no pun intended.

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Bell's Releasing Oracle DIPA

Oh I cant wait to try this. For those of you who may not know, DIPA = Double India Pale Ale. Something that large should have plenty of malt and hop action, and most definitely a large alcohol engine.