Ultimate 6er | Pure Michigan Summer

Every summer, thousands of Michiganders make their trek to the northern part of Michigan for their “Up North Vacation.” What exactly Up North entails depends on who you talk to, as the Detroit Free Press recently pointed out.
Read More

Event Recap: 5th Annual Cider Summit Chicago

If there’s one thing to take away from the 5th annual Cider Summit held in Chicago this past Saturday it’s that the future of craft cider is very bright. While there is definitely a long way to go, the sold out event showcased cider as an emerging beverage in the industry.

Read More

Recapping Virtue Cider’s 3rd Annual Stone Fence Competition

On a basketball court located in the Chicago Athletic Association, mixologists from some of Chicago’s best known bars and restaurants concocted unique Stone Fence cocktails for Virtue Cider’s 3^rd Annual Stone Fence Competition.

Read More

Arcadia Ales | Jaw-Jacker

Photo courtesy of Arcadia Ales.

To quote a past professor: I reserve the right to be wrong.

In sixth grade I only once cleaned up after a friend’s Tamagotchi Giga Pet. I belonged to a school district around a farming community and found it was not uncommon for students to walk through cow or horse or pig manure in the morning before school. We knew what sticks were for and this egg-looking pixilated-dog toy had no use-stick button. I had cast aside my childhood then and welcomed cynicism. Since then, I have not succumbed to fads: my first cell phone was out of necessity at twenty, as apartment landlines became expensive and impracticable and employers immediately threw away applications without a phone number; I still have a flip phone, find the constant use of smart phones offensive; I avoided Twitter for eight years; I still don’t exactly understand Tinder or Reddit or what a millennial is or what their duties are or why one young man felt the need to tell me not to whistle while doing laundry because I was appropriating unpaid-labor culture; only now do I think a Tickle-me-Elmo would be fun (however, Gak was great, though I never owned any). And as of recently, I had no desire to fill the void in my life with anything pumpkin-spiced.

Read More

Former Goose Island Brewmaster Behind Virtue Cider

Back in the 1990s Greg Hall was seen as a pioneer in craft beer. At a time when the industry was beginning to grow, Hall helped Goose Island become a national leader in craft beer. In 2011 Hall left the brewery to enter a space that was on the verge of experiencing large growth just like the craft beer industry years ago – cider.

Read More

Founders Brewing Co. | Mosaic Promise

Craft beer has always been about the story. If you can make oatmeal, you can probably make beer. That’s the easy part. Beer comes in different shades of colors and styles. Yet, despite the basics of brewing being so simple, we are still drawn to drinking and discovering all the different styles and interpretations brewers put on our favorite liquid courage.

Read More

Weekly Growler Fill | National Beer News Roundup

Mitch Steele announces plans for a new brewery, Snoop Dogg’s lawsuit against Pabst is headed to trial, and proposed legislation in Oklahoma would allow for the sale of full-strength beer in grocery stores. If these stories aren’t exciting enough, you can get pumped about the fact that we will not be reporting any AB InBev buyouts this week. Keep reading to catch all of the details in this edition of the Weekly Growler Fill.

Read More

Mackinaw Brewing Co. | Red 8 Ale

ABV: 5.2%

What I know about tailors is from the “here’s what they won’t tell you about tailors” had-to-be-there stories from friends I’ve never seen in fitted suits. I leave work late in the evening to drive to Traverse City, Michigan, expecting early the next day to stand bare-assed in front of a five-sided mirror and a woolen man with circular glasses and pins in his teeth. He’ll shift my inner thighs someplace more manageable, while muttering, “No, no, this won’t do.” Read More

Cherry Creek Winery | Dancing Elephants

ABV: 6%

I’m not normally a cider guy. I’m spoiled by good non-alcoholic cider in Michigan, and the different taste just confuses me. However, it’s the only type of craft beer that my boyfriend seems to actively enjoy (that’s in not small part to Vandermill of Grand Rapids coming to the Fall Detroit beer festival last year). Therefore, I ventured this summer in order to find something we can both enjoy. And the search came just in time. As The Rio Olympics pointed out in their bummer presentation, it’s historically hot and you gotta find a non-AC blasting way to keep cool on the strings of unbearably hot day. Delightfully, Cherry Creek Winery has decided to branch out from the grape game and created Dancing Elephants Hard Cherry Apple Cider.

Read More

Right Brain Brewery | Concrete Dinosaur

ABV 7.2%

Often when I have friends who travel outside of Chicago they’ll text me when they wander into a local brewery and ask if I want them to pick me up any beer. Every time the answer is ‘yes’ and that allows me to try beers from all over the country without having to leave the Second City.

Read More

Brewery Showcase | Hop Lot Brewing Co. (Suttons Bay, MI)

Featured photo by Garrin Ball, courtesy of themittenadventure.com

When Steve and Drew Lutke bought a Groupon for a beer brewing kit they never imagined it would lead to them opening a brewery. After years of talking about the idea, gathering investments, planning the space and actually building a brewhouse, Hop Lot Brewing Co. is celebrating their one year anniversary this month.

Read More

Cranker’s Brewery | Fifth Voyage

Since moving out to a lake, my dad divides his life between Ski Season (meaning winter) and Other Ski Season (meaning there’s no ice and he can water ski/wake board). … Read More

Brewery Showcase | Cognition Brewing Company (Ishpeming, MI)

It is late June, 2014 and my friend and I are asked to volunteer for the Ishpeming Historical Society by giving scripted tours to the second story of a Victorian-style home. My name tag reads Gerald and my tie does not match my shirt. I’m missing a shoelace and nobody notices until the middle of the day when I catch a twenty-something woman staring intently at my shoe. She would be my favorite patron of the day, for we shared a similar disinterest: she, with what I had to say; I, with what I had to say.

Read More

Starcut Ciders Begins Distribution in Colorado

Starcut Ciders, a division of Short’s Brewing Company, will begin distribution of their hard ciders in Colorado beginning early March. Distributed by Elite Brands, Colorado will be the second state … Read More

Short’s Brewery to Distribute in Illinois Come March 4

Short’s Brewing broke the news a couple weeks ago about their intentions to begin distributing outside of Michigan for the first time. They would head to Pennsylvania and Illinois within the near future, exciting many Chicagoans at no longer having to make the trek to New Buffalo, MI for their Short’s fix.

With Pennsylvania already receiving their first shipments of Short’s, many Chicago fans were anxiously awaiting their own fix. Well, it appears now that all the Illinois distributors have been solidified, and Chicagoans can expect their first taste of Short’s beers on March 4^th! Read More

Weekly Growler Fill | National Beer News Roundup

Oskar Blues and the CAN’d Aid foundation help out Flint residents, Asahi considers a bid for Grolsch and Peroni, and Untappd has a new owner. These are just a few of the craft beer news stories you need to know. So, what are you waiting for? Crack open a cold one and get to reading this edition of the Weekly Growler Fill.

Read More

Bell’s Brewery | Christmas Ale

I know what you’re thinking: “Christmas is over. Why are you still talking about a Christmas beer?” Because Bell’s Christmas Ale is an incredibly light and sessionable beer to savor during the cold months, and a perfect beer to drink beyond the merry holiday. While a lot of other winter warmers and dark beers made for this season are heavy in their ABV and body, this Christmas Ale is nothing what you’d expect.

Read More

Weekly Growler Fill | National Beer News Roundup

Craft beer tourism is booming in Grand Rapids, a beer startup exploits a loophole, and a new law loosens social media restrictions for breweries in California. You’ll be getting details on all of these stories as well as more news from the AB InBev/SABMiller deal. Yes, there is even more news about that deal. Keep reading to find out more in this edition of the Weekly Growler Fill.

Read More

Founders Brewing Co. | Rübæus

ABV: 5.7% IBU: 15

Founders Brewing Co is one of those breweries that have a national following, and for good reason. They make incredible beer. When visiting Michigan for a … Read More

Arbor Brewing Company | Sacred Cow IPA

ABV — 6.8%

IBU — 80

I had the great pleasure of attending my friend’s bachelor party last month in Michigan. The original plan on that last Saturday in June was to go to a baseball game. Rain put an X through those plans, and we detoured to Ann Arbor instead. One of our stops was to Arbor Brewing Company, where I indulged in what is now one of my favorite beers of all time: Sacred Cow IPA.

Read More