About Beer Nation: A Web-Based Series Exploring the Craft Beer Revolution.
Every time you turn around, the taps are multiplying at your local bar. What was once 2 or 3 beers on tap, is now 10 or 15. And these new beers often come from smaller, more creative breweries.
Join us as we explore the raging craft beer revolution and discover all there is to know about beer from the brewery to your pint glass, including the brewers, the drinkers, and everyone else that makes this a Beer Nation.
Saturday, November 7th is American Homebrewers Associations Teach a Friend to Homebrew Day. This is a national event to introduce people to the homebrewing hobby and to establish relationships with local homebrew supply shops.
Each year on the first Saturday in November, homebrewers around the world are encouraged to invite non-brewing and brewing friends and family to celebrate Teach a Friend to Homebrew Day and brew a batch of beer together.
I have attended this event for the past few years, and always have an awesome time. There are usually several brewers set up brewing in the back parking lot. Everyone is more than happy to discuss their brewing process, tips and tricks. There’s usually homebrew to sample and brewers are encouraged to bring their own to share. New brewers or anyone interested in homebrewing are encouraged to attend.
If anyone is interested in heading up, get a hold of me. We’re hitting up lunch after @ The Oak Cafe. Hope to see everyone out there! MuskratMashers@Gmail.com
Jeffrey Raidl has a great idea which is to bring the Rate Beer Summer Gathering to Grand Rapids Michigan in 2010. You can help him by following the vote thread at http://www.ratebeer.com/forums/rbsg-10-voting-info_126641.htm and letting your voice be heard.
The following email was sent to the Craft Beer in Michigan yahoo group by Jeffrey Raidl.
Hello fellow MI beer lovers,
Not sure if you’re familiar with the Rate Beer Summer Gathering’s, but if not, a few cities each year submit proposals on RateBeer to have their city host the Summer Gathering (usually in July of each year). It’s pretty much a long weekend filled with brewery tours, tastings, beer lunches/dinners, and a Grand Tasting. Me and some others from BA and Rate have been working on the proposal and contacting brewers to see if they’d support the gathering, give tours and possibly brew or release special kegs. We sent the proposal to the admin’s on RateBeer last night and they should post a link on their site to vote for who gets the gathering. I know for sure that New York is submitting a proposal and maybe one other city besides us. We decided to focus on the Grand Rapids area due to many reasons including amount/quality of breweries/bars, number of breweries within a short drive, transportation, etc….
I know some of you are members of Rate and if so, please vote for the best proposal (hopefully you think our’s is) when they put the link up. If you are not on Rate and would like to help our cause, please join and also vote for the best proposal.
We have contacted numerous breweries (listed on the bottom of the proposal) and we plan on contacting as many as we can. If you have a connection at a brewery or would like to help, please let me know.
Attached is the proposal. This gives a good idea of what we have in the works, but depending on the dates of the gathering and other factors, the itinerary will likely change.
For any other questions, comments, etc… please send me an email.
Location: The Oak Cafe – 1167 Oak St. Wyandotte, MI – (734) 283-8380
Price: $25 in advance, $30 day of event
Description: This year’s fall beer tasting will feature Shorts Brewing of Bellaire, Michigan. This event will be one that should not be missed! Joe Short Brewer/Owner of Shorts Brewing will be present to introduce each of the beers served. We will be featuring at least 10 different draft beers from Shorts. Each beer will be a unique and rare feature , so don’t miss out. Tickets are $25 pre sale and $30 day of . Ticket price includes at least 10 draft samples and food/snack buffet Pre sale tickets can be purchased at the Oak Cafe if you cannot make it out in time to purchase tickets due to driving distance or other reason please email mike@oakcafe.com or call The Oak @ (734)283-8380 to make arrangements. Please check http://www.oakcafe.com/?a=events&b=45 for the most up to date list of beers to be served. List should be completed within a week as the beers arrive…. but don’t wait to purchase tickets there will be some gems to be served !
Here is a cool event going on at Original Gravity. It is a special screening of the George Romero classic horror flick plus small batch release. Here are the details.
Night of the Living Brew…. Small Batch Beer Release @ 6:00pm – Pumpkin Ale Screening of the 1968 classic Night of the Living Dead presented by Ain’t Doin Right Productions @ 8:00pm
Currently, the big story in the craft beer world is the “Vermonster v. Monster” lawsuit. In a nut shell, Rock Art Brewery (a small craft brewery with only 7 employees) out of Vermont was told by Hansen Beverage Co. to cease and desist production of their barleywine. Hansen Beverage Co.’s arguement is that consumers may confuse Rock Art Brewery’s Vermonster with their Monster energy drink (a brand of Anheuser-Busch, I might add) because of the similarity in their names.
You may have your own opinion on whether this law suit seems frivolous. I happen to think it is. One thing for sure is that a small brewer like Matt Nadeau does not have deep enough pockets to fight a huge corporation like Hansen Beverage Co. And that is all they need to win. Another point: isn’t the word “monster” public domain?
For a video explaining the lawsuit against Rock Art Brewery click on Vermonster vs. Monster. To visit their website follow this link http://www.rockartbrewery.com/. If you wish to sign a petition against the law suit click here. If you want to see Copper Canyon’s Todd Parker’s own brand of ginger vengeance click here. Todd is awesome. I’m glad he calls Michigan home.
All of this got me thinking. I seem to remember a lot of monsters throughout history. These monsters have no problem with Rock Art’s Vermonster or Monster energy drink co-opting their name and hopefully when they call for a jury of their peers, some of them will sit on that jury. Here are some of my favorite monsters:
Monster Island: Home of Godzilla, king of all monsters. Other residents include Rodan and Mothra and that jack ass spider that tried to kill Godzilla’s son in the movie aptly named “Son of Godzilla”. Clearly the best of all the Godzilla movies. It took out the courtship in “The Courtship of Eddie’s Father” and inserted a man in a rubber suit fighting puppets. Now that I’m a father, the most poignant part is when Godzilla lays down for a nap and his son runs off. Which just goes to show, you can’t take your eyes off of kids for a second…Best movie on parenting ever.
The Monster at the End of This Book: This was my favorite book when I was a kid. Spoiler Alert! Grover is the monster at the end of this book. I’m sure some would say it’s a metaphor for humans’ fear of the unknown. I just liked seeing Grover get ran through an emotional roller coaster.
Monster Horror Chiller Theater: This is one of my favorite bits from SCTV. Anchorman Floyd Roberson played the part of Count Floyd and he would introduce scary movies. They were never scary though and he would half-heartedly try to sell them as if they were. The best of the movies had John Candy’s Dr. Tongue in them doing 3D movies. His “3D House of Pancakes” inspired Maggie’s first laugh. Instead of thrusting a plate of pancakes toward her I thrusted my face in what I called “3D House of Big Face Daddy.” One would think that would be scary… but she laughed.
MST3K Monster A Go Go: This is the worst movie I ever saw. It doesn’t even have camp value. I have seen it a few times and I seriously can never remember the plot. To me, that is the number one sign of a bad movie. If my life depended on it I couldn’t come up with more than the fact that I know there’s an alien in it. Joel and the robots make the movie fun to watch. They also make fun of “The Pina Colada Song” which really has it coming.
The Monroe Monster: Apparently there was a big foot type creature that roamed the northern part of Monroe County back when my generation’s parents watched submarine races on the shores of Lake Erie. I don’t buy it. A big hairy mutant living in the woods of Frenchtown? Note: this is before Fermi 2 went online. Stories of seeing the monster ran rampant in the 1960s and one story even included physical contact. It reached into a vehicle and punched a lady in the eye.
Mecha Streisand: This is one of my favorite episodes of South Park. A spoof of my favorite movies when I was a kid. I loved when they had monster week on the 4 o’clock movie. Here they not only played Godzilla but they also played Gamera movies.
In the South Park episode Barbara Streisand is a Mecha-Godzilla type creature that destroys everything in her path in a quest for more power and fame. Only Robert Smith of The Cure (as a Mothra/Jet Jaguar like creature) and his “Robot Punch” can stop her.
In this case, Monster the energy drink is using its size and deep pockets to bully a small craft brewer. Is their goal to protect their name, run them out of business or to steal a chance for Rock Art build brand identity? I don’t know but picking on an operation with 7 employees is a great way to live up to the name “Monster”.
(DETROIT, Mich.) – Following the success of “Beer Week” events held in other cities such as Philadelphia, New York and San Diego, a group of Industry Professionals is organizing the first ever Detroit Beer Week, to be held the third week of October, 2009.
The week-long series of beer-centric events will be held at participating venues in Detroit, with satellite events at Metro-Detroit brewpubs. These events will consist of brewery tours, tasting flights, meet-the-brewer sessions, food pairings, and a wide array of other unique activities. Events will be hosted by Detroit Beer Week staff and the Detroit Beer Barons, a group of Metro-area brewery personalities.
“We wanted to stay away from the traditional ‘drink this beer, get a keychain’ –type promotions, and instead focus on events that give value to the consumer and to the venue hosting the event,” stated Jon Piepenbrok, principal organizer of the events, AKA Chief Imaginationer.
While the Guild is not organizing Beer Week events, they have given their full support and cooperation to the organizing committee. “When the Guild announced the Harvest Festival in Eastern Market, we not only saw an opportunity to promote Michigan Beer in southeast Michigan,” stated Jon Piepenbrok, “but to promote the Great City of Detroit, as well; and the Guild has been extremely supportive of our efforts, even including information about events on their website at www.michiganbrewersguild.org.”
The participating venues include Slow’s Bar BQ, Foran’s Grand Trunk Pub, Park Bar, Motor City Brewing Works, Traffic Jam & Snug, Atwater Block Brewery, Detroit Beer Company, Wolfgang Puck Grille, Michael Symon’s Roast, 24Grille, and Fender’s Pub at the Omni Hotel.
A complete, updated list of events and information can be found on www.facebook.com. Keyword search: Detroit Beer Week.
Michigan’s thriving brewing industry contributes over $24 million in wages with a total economic contribution of more than $133 million. In terms of overall number breweries, microbreweries and brewpubs, Michigan ranks #6 in the nation – thus supporting its claim as “The Great Beer State.”
The Michigan Brewers Guild exists to unify the Michigan brewing community; to increase sales of Michigan-brewed beer through promotions, marketing, public awareness and consumer education; and to monitor and assure a healthy beer industry within the state. For more information, including a list of Michigan microbreweries, log on to www.michiganbrewersguild.org.
Michigan Brewers Guild has begun updating their blog of the breweries that will be at this years inaugural Harvest Festival at the Eastern Market in Detroit. Pay attention to the blog post – not only will they list the breweries (as seen below) they will also update the beers each brewery will be serving.
Inaugural Harvest Festival
Presented by the Michigan Brewers Guild and Metrotimes
October 24th, 2009 – 1:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Eastern Market, Detroit
Tickets: $35 (advanced) – includes 15 tokens
Guild Members & Enthusiasts: 12:00 p.m. (noon) entry
Arbor Brewing Co.
Arcadia Brewing Co.
Atwater Block Brewery
Bastone
Big Rock Chop and Brewhouse
Black Lotus Brewing Co.
Blue Tractor BBQ & Brewery
Copper Canyon Brewery
Dark Horse Brewing Co.
Detroit Beer Co.
Dragonmead Microbrewery
Fort Street Brewery
Founders Brewing Co.
Frankenmuth Brewing Co.
Great Baraboo Brewing Co.
Grizzly Peak Brewing Co.
Hopcat
Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales
Keweenaw Brewing Co.
Kuhnhenn Brewing Co.
Liberty Street Brewing Co.
The Livery
Motor City Brewing Works
New Holland Brewing Co.
Northern United Brewing Co.
Original Gravity Brewing Co.
Redwood Brewing Co.
Right Brain Brewery
Rochester Mills Beer Co.
Royal Oak Brewery
Saugatuck Brewing Co.
Sherwood Brewing Co.
Short’s Brewing Co.
Traffic Jam & Snug
Woodward Avenue Brewers
The OG is having a special release at 6pm on Tuesday October 13. Here is the description from the Original Gravity’s website.
Small Batch Release – 18 proof Pepper Smoker – 6:00pm
A 9% abv version of the original 440 Pepper Smoker. Twice the malt and 3x the jalapenos. Not for the weak!
Don’t forget that the Brew n’ Brats For Tots event is this Saturday October 17. The proceeds go to the Monroe County Child Advocacy Center so you can drink great beer and help children at the same time.
Dark Horse (Marshall, MI)
Perkulator Coffee Dopplebock
Crooked Tree IPA
Sapient Trip Ale
Scotty Karate Scotch Ale
Reserve Special Black Ale
One Oatmeal Stout
Founders (Grand Rapids, MI) Breakfast Stout
Centennial IPA
Pale Ale
Dirty Bastard
Red’s RyePA
Porter
Harvest Ale
November 4, 2009 by Rob 
Posted in Beer Bar, Beer History, Beer News, Beer on TV 
No Comments » 
Saturday, November 7th is American Homebrewers Associations 
When: Tuesday, November 10th – 7:30 p.m.
(DETROIT, Mich.) – Following the success of “Beer Week” events held in other cities such as Philadelphia, New York and San Diego, a group of Industry Professionals is organizing the first ever Detroit Beer Week, to be held the third week of October, 2009.
Michigan Brewers Guild has begun updating their blog of the breweries that will be at this years inaugural Harvest Festival at the Eastern Market in Detroit. Pay attention to the blog post – not only will they list the breweries (as seen below) they will also update the beers each brewery will be serving.
Recent Comments