This brewery is the furthest Northern brewery in Michigan located in Calumet, North of Houghton.  The brewer has a small system and only brews one beer at a time and just a couple batches a week.  There are hopes of expanding into more.  It is located in the Michigan House Café & Brewpub.  The Michigan House Hotel and Buffet has occupied this corner since at least 1895.  Bosch Brewing razed that structure in 1905 and erected the present building during that year.  They have a large ceiling mural from 1906 that is still there.  Some restoration has taken place but there are still a lot of original things still there.  So much history in this place.

We sat at the bar and Sam waited on us.  He was very nice and had a lot of knowledge of the local history.  We ordered up a pint of the Oatmeal Espress – since that was all they had (that they made on site).  No growlers are offered here but we did purchase a couple of the many brews they offer - Bell’s Consecrater Dopple Bock and Frog Island Cream Ale.  It’s apparent from the bottled beers they have that the owner has fine tastes – especially for different and dark beers.  The Oatmeal Espress was highly rated by both of us and wished we could have gotten a growler filled.  (We did ask, but Sam said he probably couldn’t fill one for us).

They have a full menu here and even offer a kid’s menu.  We ordered the French Onion Soup – this one was even better than the one we had at Vierling.  Cheryl was surprised that there could be anything better.  We had the Spinach Salad and this was also very good.  Cheryl noticed on the desert menu that they had an item called Beer Battered Chocolate.  Driven with curiosity, she had to order it.  All we can tell you is that this was a to die for desert - very yummy.  The favorites on the menu are the chicken Caesar wrap and the Lake trout, although we saw a lot of people ordering the Panini sandwiches too.

We look forward to the day when they will be brewing more than one beer and making another trip up here - who knows maybe they’ll have growlers next time (or fill one of ours).   Todd did purchase a mug that has the mural from above the bar on it - real nice.  We just couldn’t leave without some kind of souvenir.

 

	Cheryl	Todd
Oatmeal Espress	5 stars	5 stars

Ratings based on our personal preferences - yours may vary.

We now headed back south to Houghton to hit the next new brewery in the UP.  Ryan waited on us and we found out that Dick and Stasia (his parents) are the owners.  We had a great time talking with them and as the old saying goes – it’s a small world after all.  Apparently, Dick graduated from Dow High School in Midland, Todd’s rival High School.  They had also lived in Colorado for many years, where Cheryl had lived for 10 years.  It was like talking with old friends and Cheryl didn’t even want to leave. 

Ratings based on our personal preferences - yours may vary.

We walked the short distance around the corner to the Library, which was our second visit here.  This was a real library at one time and is still setup with the Library look with lots of books. We sat at the bar and AC waited on us.

They have a full menu and Todd found something of interest which we ordered - Cajun Alligator.  It was very good and of course it tasted much like chicken.  The Portabella Cap stuffed with rice, zucchini, red pepper, spinach and topped with 3 cheeses looked interesting.  They also have Calimari, which sounded good.

We ordered up a sampler and had:  Keweenaw Gold, Whiteout Wheat, Rock Harbor Light Ale, Portage Premium Lager, Miners IPA, Coppertown Ale, Rabbit Bay Brown and Shafthouse Dry Stout.  A lot of hops in these brews, which we are not that fond of.  We had our growler re-filled with the Rabbit Bay Brown.  They also have a separate growler for root beer, called 1919.  We noticed that they had also had Founders and Bells on tap.

Ratings based on our personal preferences - yours may vary.

The last time we made our UP trip we did not make it to Escanaba, because at the time Bay City was still up and running and it was too far out of the way.  This time we had to make the trip down so we could get our growler re-filled.  On our drive down we were shocked to enter the central time zone, and then briefly drive through Wisconsin.  We spent the night in Iron Mountain, just a short distance from Escanaba (or as Todd calls it, “Escabanana”).  The looks inside are similar to the Bay City location and we found out by talking to Mike, the brewer, that they have plans to open one in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.  They have been in this location for 11 years this December.

Ratings based on our personal preferences - yours may vary.

  Home  

  Sanford Lake & Mountain Town (June, 2001)  

  Big Buck & Alcatraz (Aug, 2001)  

  Jamesport, Lighthouse, Mackinaw, Northpeak, Brewzone, Boyne River (Sep, 2001)  

  Wiltse's (Nov, 2001) & Tawas Point (May, 2004)  

  King, Big Rock, & WAB (July, 2001)  

  Hereford and Hops (starting Dec, 2001, several trips)  

  Harpers, Tuba, & MBC (Mar, 2002)  

  Tahquamenon, Lake Superior, Jasper Ridge, Library brewpub (Aug, 2002)  

  Quay Street, Dragonmead, Great Baraboo (Apr, 2003)  

  Hair of the Frog, Robert Thomas, Grand Rapids, B.O.B.'S, Founders (July, 2003)  

  Grizzly, Arbor, Leopolds (Aug 6, 2004)  

  Sports, Traffic, Stoney, Kuhnhenn (Aug 7, 2004)  

  Thunder Bay, Belle Isle (Aug 8, 2004)  

  Jamesport, Salmon fishing (Aug 29, 2004)  

  Rochester, Big Rock, King, Bo's, WAB, Bastone, Copper (Sep 11, 2004)  

  Black Forest, Frankenmuth (Oct 1, 2004)  

  Old Hat, Bilbos, Olde Peninsula, Bells, Kraftbrau (Oct 8, 2004)  

  Arcadia, Dark Horse, Harpers (Oct 9, 2004)  

  Midland St. Ale Tour, Bay City, 2004  

  Old Boys, New Holland, Via Maria, Grand Rapids Brewing (Nov 12, 2004)  

  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)