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.
No comments:
Post a Comment