‘Michigan. The Great Beer State’

Posted on 21 March 2008 under Beer, Michigan Cuisine | 1 Comment

The Michigan Brewers Guild has just released “Michigan. The Great Beer State” – an annual marketing piece which spotlights the state’s microbreweries and brewpubs. The publication features a slick new look and loads of helpful information for novice and serious beer drinkers alike, including:

  • A Michigan Beer Locator Map – listing 53 locations around the state, with a companion six-page listing of breweries complete with icons to identify the various amenities such as restaurant, live entertainment, outdoor seating and brewery tours. Eight different regional tours are also identified.
  • A Guide to Matching Beer & Food – supporting an increase in requests for food and beer pairings.
  • A Guide to the Purchase, Care & Enjoyment of Hand Crafted Beer.
  • A List of Brewing Ingredients and Styles – identifying the difference between lager and ale as well as the four basic ingredients used to make beer.
  • Clarification on Michigan’s legal definition of a brewery, microbrewery and brewpub.
  • Details about July’s designation as Michigan Craft Beer Month – as well as dates for the 2008 Winter and Summer Beer Festivals.
  • Details about the Michigan Brewers Guild – including information about purchasing merchandise and becoming an “Enthusiast Member” of the organization.

This year, 100,000 copies of the directory were printed and are available for free at all Michigan State Welcome Centers and at member breweries around the state.

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 of breweries, microbreweries and brewpubs, Michigan ranks #6 in the nation – thus supporting its claim as “Michigan. 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 craft breweries, log on to http://www.michiganbrewersguild.org/.

The Decline of Guinness

Posted on 23 November 2007 under Beer, Food In The News | 3 Comments

The BBC News is reporting this morning that sales of Guinness are down by 30% since 2001 in their home turf of Ireland alone. From the article:

Guinness is, however, continuing to perform well in some markets, particularly Nigeria and America … In the UK and Ireland, a growing taste for lighter, blander, more refreshing drinks and a long term shift to entertaining at home, have taken their toll on Guinness’s sales … (I)t is lager, not Guinness they go for … The preference for “refreshing” drinks is a trend that has seen lager brands grow their market share from just 7% of all beer sales in 1970 to more than 70% today … More recently, it is reflected in the “cider over ice” phenomenon, started by Magners and Bulmers, which has added more than £200m to cider sales … Amongst the wines, it is rose that has been the winner, with sales increasing 188% since 2005.

Even though my first attempt at drinking Guinness found us killing the drink with popcorn, it has since become my beer-of-choice. In fact, I ended up educating the waitresses at the Chateau Louise that the Guinness Draught should be drank from the bottle, not poured into a glass. (Fer cryin’ out loud, it says so right on the bottle itself!) It would be a sad day indeed if such a historical beer would decline right out of existence in favor of “refreshing” drinks.

New Blog on BlogsMonroe: Michigan Beer Buzz

Posted on 10 November 2007 under Beer, BlogsMonroe | 2 Comments

Very quietly this week, a new blog has appeared here on BlogsMonroe.com. Michigan Beer Buzz is written by Sarah Nash of the blog The Place Where We Live, along with her husband Kevin. They are joined in this new venture by Monroe News staffer Rob Gorczyca of the TechBox blog. Even this early in the life of this new blog, Rob posted yesterday about the Redwood Lodge, a family fave about 10 miles from my parents’ home in the Flint area.

And yes, Rob, I’ll certainly point out the use of the same blog theme I’ve used here on Luna Pier Cook, implemented with some beautiful modifications to create a warm and friendly look for Michigan Beer Buzz. I particularly like the beer mug next to the Search box … nice touch! These themes are generally freely available (SteamyKitchen uses an elegant “pro” theme she had paid for) and are highly customizable. It’s always interesting to see how someone has implemented a given theme differently for another topic.

Michigan Beer Buzz is already a good read. I think it will likely prove to be quite popular. Head on over and check it out!

Review: Ichabod Pumpkin Ale, New Holland Brewing, Michigan

Posted on 1 October 2007 under Beer, Michigan Cuisine, Reviews: Products | 2 Comments

We love this time of year, when all the seasonal foods come out. In case you hadn’t noticed, fall in Michigan means certain harvests are happening that don’t occur the rest of the year. Pumpkins are out in force right now, with pumpkin farms such as Houpt’s Pumpkin Patch and Corn Maze on M-50 west of US-23 having some beautiful pumpkins on their land as of just last night when we drove by.

The pumpkin beers also come out of hiding in the fall. Back on September 5th, a newsletter from Erica of the Boulevard Market in Tecumseh said it best:

Nothing says fall like a pumpkin ale and a bonfire!

This past Friday on my way to get my kids so Mary and I could take them to Walpole Island, Ontario for the weekend, I stopped in to the Market to get some of the pumpkin beer Erica had mentioned. John and I talked about the various beers Erica had mentioned in the newsletter … Harvest Moon, Buffalo Bill’s Pumpkin Ale, and Ichabod from New Holland Brewing. He told me the Harvest Moon had the most pumpkin flavor, but because of that, Erica tended to favor the Ichabod, which had a lighter pumpkin flavor and more of a German ale feel to it. As the Ichabod Pumpkin Ale was also the only one of the three that’s made in Michigan, that’s the one I purchased.

Mary and I found the Ichabod Pumpkin Ale has a decidedly German ale taste and texture immediately. The pumpkin flavor becomes apparent more in the aftertaste than in the flavor of the beer itself, with the cinnamon and nutmeg adding a tiny bit of a nice spiciness. I then found that I could really taste the pumpkin if I took a larger swig and held it in the mouth for a few moments.

Neither Mary nor I have ever become drunk on beer … we love the flavor of certain ones, and if either of us drinks two beers within a day, that’s a lot! The New Holland Brewing Ichabod Pumpkin Ale is something we’ll definitely buy again.

Special thanks to 14-year-old Adam for posing as the Headless Teenager on a huge rock on the shore of the St. Clair River on Walpole Island, Ontario … insisting on re-doing the pose himself six times until it looked right on the preview … and thanks to 10-year-old Ryan for fussing with Adam’s shirt to get the weird wrinkles out each time. (Ryan was actually hiding behind the rock the beer bottle was sitting on in this image.) No Photoshopping required! Thanks, guys!!!

Images of The REAL Oktoberfest

Posted on 22 September 2007 under Beer, Special Events | No Comments

The BBC has posted an image gallery from Munich’s Oktoberfest, which six million people are expected to attend. The gallery starts here …

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