1^st Annual Micro-Brew and Import Tour

Bay City, MI

The place of employment where Cheryl works received a notice in the mail of the upcoming event.  Knowing how much we both like this kind of thing, Cheryl checked into it, and found that Dragonmead, Bell’s, and others in Michigan would be a part of this tour.  Didn’t take any convincing for Todd to go once Cheryl told him about it.  The tickets were $15.00 and included a 3oz souvenir mug, 11 locations, 22 samples, and hors devours at all locations.  We were more interested in the Michigan brews than the imports.

 We figured this would be the perfect opportunity to give out our card with our web page on it.  The first stop we had to make was at the Banana Bay Imports to pick up our mug.  This is an interesting place and we may have to come back here to check it out.  We did receive a card for buy one item and get the second of equal or lesser value.

Tommy V's Cafe and Pizzeria 

Since the top of the list was Tommy V’s Café, and since we already knew they would be serving Dragonmead, this was our first stop.  Todd met the owner Mr. Dragonmead while Cheryl was picking out her samples.  The owners are actually Mr. And Mrs. Scherbarth, very nice people.   They mentioned that their grandson makes the Root Beer and other sodas, and, that they just put in 11 more taps – that makes around 50 on tap.  Definitely looking forward to another visit here.

We tasted the Corktown Red Ale, Dragon Daze Ale, and Nagelweiss Wheat.  The best one was the Dragon Daze Ale which we rated a 5, we didn’t really care for the Wheat, but then again we rarely do.  We were happy to find out that Tommy V’s will have Dragonmead on tap and we’ll have to come here for dinner since they also have excellent food.

For the hors devours tonight they had small kielbasas with rolls and sautéed onions and green peppers.  A tasty snack.

See Quay St, Dragonmead, and Great Baraboo for more info.

Big House

The Big House was next on the list and just a few store fronts away.  We walked over, actually we walked to them all.  There was a shuttle service available, but the weather was decent (and we’re only talking about a few blocks between them all).  The Big House had Michigan Brewing Co. brews, which we appreciated since we really like their brews and buy them locally.

Here we met the seller for MBC, and had a nice conversation with him.  We tasted the Stout, Porter, Wheat and Brown Ale, already knowing that we loved all of them but the Wheat.  The stout, porter and brown ale received a 5 star rating.  The Big House also had New Castle Brown which we also sampled, we’ve had if before and rated it a 5.

We asked if the Big House would be offering MBC brews and they said it was being considered.  That was our recommendation – different Michigan beers should be available in local bars.  The food has been good in the past, it would be a benefit to have some good Michigan brew too.

Their hors devours included nachos w/cheese, and a meat and cheese platter with crackers and huge olives.

Later, we stopped back here to talk to the owners – John and Mary.  While at Midland St. Pub/O’Hares (they’re connected), Jon of C. Riffel & Sons, Inc. told us to go talk to them about doing a bus tour to microbreweries.  We talked to John about it and he’s not sure. It sounds like a great idea to us we’ll go if the opportunity arises.

See Harper's, Tuba, and MBC for more info

Rathskeller

The Rathskeller featured Blue Moon, which is a wheat, and we rated it a 3.5 and Leinenkugels Berry Weiss, not too bad for a weiss, we rated it a 4. 

They had a veggie tray, cheese and crackers, and chex mix.

Cheryl loves their olive burgers, the best she’s ever had, didn’t have one this time though.

O’Hares

O’Hares was next on the list (and next down the block) and they had Bell’s Best Brown and Two Hearted Ale.  The Best Brown we buy locally so we knew that one would be a 5, but the Two Hearted Ale we rated a 3.5.  We had a great time talking with the Rep, a real nice guy.  He told us we need to also talk to the Bell’s rep over at Steamers.

They had quesadillas.

See Olde Hat, Bilbos, Olde Pennisula, Bells, Kraftbrau for more info.

Midland Street Pub

Next door is the Midland Street Pub, you can walk between the two and not have to go outside.  They had Guinness and Harp.  We had the Reps make us a black and tan.  These are your typical beers so nothing special here.  Talking with the Reps was a lot of fun.  We also spoke to Jon, sales rep for C.Riffel & Sons, Inc., he told us to talk to Mary and John over had the Big House about doing a bus tour to microbreweries. 

We took a picture of the growlers we had from 3 of the 4 Michigan breweries (would have had 4 if Bell’s had growlers) represented on this 1^st Annual Ale Tour, also in the picture are the souvenir mugs.

The River Rock Cafe

The River Rock Café is our sixth stop on the tour.  They featured San Francisco Anchor Steam and Stoney Creek Pale Ale.  We have had both of these before and we liked the Anchor Steam better than the Pale Ale. 

See Sports, Traffic, Stoney, and Kuhnhenn for more info.

Hooters

Hooters was the next stop we made.  Once in the door we were told to sit at the bar, so we did.  We waited and waited, even watched others come in after us and get waited on.  Very poor service here.  They had Bell’s Winter Ale which we were familiar with and rated it a 2 at best.  The other sample was Killian’s - what can we say Killian’s is Killian’s, we like it, but, you can get it anywhere.  This was a disappointing stop and we would like to recommend that Hooters not be on the list next time.  This is a chain not a real pub.

Steamers

Onto Steamers we go, and looking forward to getting here, as we were told from the rep at O’Hares that the Bell’s rep was here.  We wanted to razz him about the Bell’s pub building, the dirt parking lot, and why don’t they have growlers (see Kalamazoo Brewing Bell's).  Matt told us the parking was now paved and they don’t have growlers since it takes another license.  You’d think a place this big and popular could afford another license.

They had 3 Bell’s brews, Best Brown (we had at O’Hares), Oberon and Two Hearted Ale (we had at O’Hares).  We chose the Brown and Oberon, the Brown was still a 5 and the Oberon we rated a 4.5. 

Cheryl talked to the owner, Jeremy and they plan to have 4 Bell’s brews on tap.  Looks like we will be coming here to visit again.  Good time and great conversation.

Lucky’s

Lucky’s was next, and the 9^th pub stop we made.  They had Hacker Psehoir, Cheryl rated this a 1 and Todd rated a 2.5, we also had Moosehead Lager, again we’ve had this and it’s your average import.

They served crab cake puffs.

Westtown

Westtown had Gooseland Honkers Ale and Sam Adams Cherry Wheat.  Nothing special here we rated an average of 2.5.  Once again, they should make this Ale Tour all Michigan microbreweries.

Lumberjack

Last stop Lumberjack the big number 11 on the list.  They had Dragonmead’s Final Absolution and Hoegarden.  Final Absolution we rated a 2.5 - didn’t care for that one.  The Hoegarden was nothing great and we gave it a 2.

In closing we would like to add that this was a great idea.  We would love to see more of the Michigan Microbrews represented.  For example:  Arcadia, King Brewing Co., The Dark Horse, WAB, and New Holland to name just a few.   Regardless we will attend the next one - we had a lot of fun and good conversation.

  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)