We arrived here just in time for dinner, about a 3.5+ hour drive from Midland.  We first pulled into the Lower Falls area and were told that the brewery is at the Upper Falls.  The park ranger indicated that we would need a park pass - $6 for the day, so we bought it at the Upper Falls.  However, when we got over to the Lower Falls, there was no park ranger and we could have just driven in without the $6 pass. 

The lodge style look with the Elk and Moose heads and Badger, Artic Fox and Bear pelts on the wall are a great touch.  We sat at the bar, which is our preferred location.  At the bar we could only get appetizers or sandwiches because the bartender was busy.  We ordered up a beer sampler, a Buffalo burger, and sauted wild forest mushrooms (portabella, crimine, and shitake).  The burger came with fries and the food was very good.

They had 4 brews on tap.  We tried the Falls Tannin Red, Black Bear Stout, Summer Wheat Ale, and the Blueberry Ale.  We liked them all.  As usual the favorite was the stout, but we decided to get the Blueberry Ale in the growler since it was tasty and too much heavy beer is hard to drink.  This is a strange order for us since we normally don’t prefer the berry beers.

Cindy was the bartender - she was knowledgeable and very helpful.  The owner/brewer is Lark and she makes some fine brews which we rated all well above average.  This is actually the first woman brewer we had heard of and they have been in operation since 1996.  We purchased a souvenier pint glass here too.  Eventually, we’ll get pictures of all the pint glasses on the site also.

	Cheryl	Todd
Falls Tannin Red	4.5 stars	4.5 stars
Black Bear Stout	5 stars	5 stars
Summer wheat Ale	3.5 stars	3.5 stars
Blueberry Ale	4 stars	4 stars

Ratings based on our personal preferences - yours may vary.

Our next stop was Grand Marias and we decided we would stay here for the night.  It was already around 8 p.m. and Todd was tired from all the driving.  The knotty pine on the walls and ceiling make a warm Northern look.  The agate in the windows was real cool and we loved the agate lamp at the bar.  We sat at the bar as usual and Kim waited on us.  We ordered up a sampler.  The growlers still are just stickers, but now they have a new style and color.  The type of sticker they use does hold up well in the cooler (but, nothing beats etched glass for a growler collector).

Ratings based on our personal preferences - yours may vary.

On our way to Marquette we stopped in Munising and decided to take the Sunken Ship Glass bottom boat tour.  This is a must see if you are ever in the area. (click here to see pics)  It was so educational and very interesting.  We had a great time on this tour.  Next time we thought it would be fun to rent a pontoon boat and explore the pictured rocks on our own.

The last time we came to the UP we did not stop here because they did not have growlers and that was our mission.  It still is, but we decided we should at least visit all the Michigan microbreweries – especially since we were so far from home.  They still don’t have growlers but they do sell 1 liter plastic bottles of whatever you like.  There is a lot of history behind this place.  It does have the original stained glass from the Vierling Salon back in 1883.  It has an old colonial style with old bottles and pictures from colonial times.

They only serve sandwiches, salads, and soups, but while we were there they did post on the board a seafood stuffed whitefish entrée.  We ordered a sampler and had: Captain Ripley’s Red Ale, Spears Tug Stout, Blueberry Wheat, Canadian Blone Ale, Scottish Ale, Land Looker Honey Wheat, and Plank Road Pale Ale.  Since they have no growlers we did get a 1 liter of the Stout.  The Blueberry Wheat was interesting, as they have real blueberries in it.  The Plank Road Pale Ale was a major hoppy brew.

To eat we had the French Onion soup (which was awesome) and the open face grilled whitefish sandwich.  The soup had rye and pumpernickle bread in it  – never seen this in a French Onion soup.  We both loved the soup and Cheryl really liked the sandwich, but Todd didn’t like it as much as Cheryl did.

	Cheryl	Todd
Captain Ripley’s Red Ale	3 stars	3.75 stars
Spears Tug Stout	4.25 stars	4.5 stars
Blueberry Wheat	3 stars	3 star
Canadian Blonde Ale	3.75 stars	3.5 stars
Scottish Ale	4.5 stars	4.25 stars
Land Looker Honey Wheat	2.5 stars	2.5 stars
Plank Road Pale Ale	1.75 stars	2 stars

Ratings based on our personal preferences - yours may vary.

Again this is our second time here and this time we stayed at the Jasper Ridge Inn, which is a very short walk across the parking lot to the brewery.  We were unable to sit in the bar area as they have trivia night on Thursday.  So, we got stuck in the resturant section, which we hadn’t been in the last time we were here.  It’s weird going to brewery to sample beers and have to sit in a dining room.  How come they have the entire bar reserved for stupid trivia?

Ratings based on our personal preferences - yours may vary.

  Home  

  Sanford Lake & Mountain Town (June, 2001)  

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  Midland St. Ale Tour, Bay City, 2004  

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  The B.O.B., Founders (Nov 13, 2004)  

  Thunder Bay, Kings, Bo's, CJ's (Feb 5, 2005)  

  Great Baraboo, Dragonmead, Belle River (Feb 26, 2005)  

  Boyne River, Shorts (Apr 30, 2005)  

  2nd U.P. Trip - Part 1, Tahquamenon, Lake Superior, Vierling, Jasper (Aug 24,25, 2005)  

  2nd U.P. Trip - Part 2, Red Jacket, Keweenaw, Library, Hereford & Hops (Aug 26,27, 2005)  

  Mountain Town, Sanford - 2nd Trip (Sept 10, 2005)  

  Michigan Brewing, Jolly Pumpkin, Redwood Lodge, (Sept 24, 2005)  

  Livery, Saugatuck, New Holland, Via Maria (Sept 30, 2005)  

  Middle Villa, Schmohz, Hideout (Oct 1, 2005)  

  Redwood Lodge (Sep, 2004), Redwood Lodge (Oct 8, 2005)  

  Kuhnhenn, Bastone, Lilys (Oct. 21, 2005)  

  Bonfire, Etouffee (Oct. 22, 2005)  

  Cork 'N' Ale 11th Annual Fall Beer Tasting (Nov. 3, 2005)  

  Traverse City, North Peak (Dec. 2, 2005)  

  Mackinaw, Shorts (Dec. 3, 2005)  

  Lumber Barons' Charcoal Grill & Brewpub (Dec. 9 & 10, 2005)