The Ypsilanti Courier
A Heritage Newspaper
Weekly Publication
It's All about the Beer
Beer Fest, once again, does not disappoint
Austen Smith
PUBLISHED: July 31, 2008
Photos by Christine Laughren
The 11th Annual Summer Beer Festival presented by the Michigan Brewer's Guild, featured 45 Michigan microbreweries and more than 300 craft beers. it was estimated that more than 6,000 people attended the two-day event which took place at Riverside Park in Depot Town Friday and Saturday.
This year saw a record-breaking number of statewide craft breweries from near and far sampling of the gold, dark and amber goodness that makes up the heart of beer fest. Some of the newcomers included Right Brain Brewery of Traverse City, Shorts Brewing Company of Bellaire, Hideout Brewing Company from Grand Rapids, Lily's Seafood Grill and Brewery from Royal Oak, Original Gravity from Milan (which opened its doors less than six months ago) and the Black Lotus Brewing Company of Clawson.
A running theme for this year seemed to be Rye Ales, which are light in body but most are surprisingly high in alcohol for the most part. The process uses malted rye in place of the barley malt, which provides the sweet element of handcrafted brews. It is a finely crafted beer that resembles a classic pale ale in color and finish but some craft brewers are putting more and more hops into their Rye Ales pushing the limit to something with a little more bite.
There seemed to be a few more breweries bringing their Rye Ales this year, and I heard lots of compliments from the pleasantly surprised masses. For a good example I would suggest Founders Red Rye Ale which is brewed year round.
Photos by Christine Laughren
Ypsilanti's own Frog Island Brewery dishes out some tasty beverages for the festival. From left volunteers Aaron and Natalie Manning as well as Amanda Luthanen serve beer with brewer Evan Boyst.
As with every Summer Beer Fest the wonderful people at the Michigan Brewer's Guild want to bring their patrons something different - something they have never tasted before. In the case of last year's event it was a combination of Ypsilanti's Corner Brewery's and Marshall-based Dark Horse's efforts for the wonderfully rich Bock-style Dark Corner Ale.
This year, craft-brewers from all over the Michigan brewing community got together to bring us the Grand Crew Saison, a wonderfully crisp and light, yet complex blend with a deep golden color. The brew, created especially for the beer fest, kept in line with traditional Saisons and its near cousin the Belgian Golden Ale that offered that very refreshing, sour nose and finish that reminds people of freshly cut grass.
I am particular to Saisons and was very pleased to see the Grand Crew chose this style to represent their "festival beer," and it certainly fit the occasion as Saturday was hot and humid.
Photos by Christine Laughren
Amy Luce (left) and Bridgett Moore, who work as bartenders at the Michigan Brewing Company, enjoy some time off at the festival. Luce said she found her hat in a back room of the brewery and snatched it up to wear at the fest.
And I think that is what I like most of the art of brewing and the bravery of small, independent craft-breweries that will always produce something different. They will put a spin on one of the mainstays they already have, or they will try something completely new that may flop or blow people's socks off.
Most of the breweries represented at the fest brought their perennial favorites and patrons saw their run of IPA's, golden ales, Tripels and Dubels, stouts, wheat beers and there were some lagers which are all fantastic. But there were a select few that really hung it out there and brought some styles that people probably tended to avoid as they were frightened of the unknown. One of the best examples of that was Copper Canyon Brewery which sampled a Barley wine and a Maibock. While Barley wines are fairly easy to find at your local craft-beer store there are only a few available like Hog Heaven's Barley wine and I challenge anybody to go out there and find a Maibock sitting on a store shelf somewhere. Lily's Seafood Grill and Bar brought C.L. Steam Beer which combines elements of ale fermenting with lager fermenting - a very interesting product. Kuhnhenn Brewing Company, from Warren, brought with them a traditional Scottish drink known as the Wee Heavy which combine elements of a stout but features a very fruit-like element making for one of the more complex and hard to find brews around.
So all in all it was great festival filled with great beer lovers from all over the Midwest.
A new feature for this year was the Guild's stepped up efforts to "Go Green" and Riverside Park was filled with various recycle bins for everything from plastic to paper plates and food scraps. The Guild enlisted the help of Recycle Ann Arbor, Michigan Green Safe Products and the Sierra Club in its efforts.
Not all stories are guaranteed to appear
online. The Web edition contains a reasonable
sampling of the print edition stories.
For the most complete news coverage, we invite you to
subscribe
to the print edition of the paper.
TOP JOBS
