Mini Michigan beer tour

I hit Michigan with a good friend recently. Michigan really has a flourishing and wonderful craft beer market that is impressive to immerse yourself in for a few days.

Most of these places have all been written about ad nauseum so I'm going to post many of the great pictures my friend Dan took on the trip.

Our first stop was about three minutes after The Livery opened up in Benton Harbor.  We walked in the door and we were beaten to the bar by locals on their lunch break.  If you go to The Livery I hope you have Mike as a bartender.  Truly one of the best people I've talked to in quite some time.  A great outlook on life, and a great story teller.  Good beer and conversation is hard to beat.

Wall outside of The Livery

Shingle

Another outdoor sign

Flight of beers at The Livery

Tap list.  The bottom beer named Bier Munro was named by the great Steve Martin. True story. 

Pint of ginger peach pale ale

Our next stop was at Bell's Eccentric Cafe in Kalamazoo.  It is a very easy drive from Benton Harbor.  It was only about 45 minutes from The Livery.  I really like going to Bell's Eccentric cafe.  I think they do a very good job of keeping classic favorites and a large number of brewpub-only beers. My highlight from this trip was the bourbon barrel Batch 9000.  It is a beast of a beer right now.  This One Goes To 11 was really good as were several of the saisons.

Bell's Chalkboard.  Everything with a yellow sticker is brewpub only. 

Stained Glass at Bells

Bell's beer flight

Bell's tap handles

Outdoor beer garden

Our next stop was at the brand new Perrin Brewing Company in Grand Rapids.  I had heard some good things about Perrin, but I wasn't expecting anything like it. This place just caught me by complete surprise. This place is massive, and I mean massive in size.   The brewery and brewhouse are located in a brand new 23,000 square foot facility with the ability to brew 20,000 barrels a year right out of the gate.  They will brew about 5,000 barrels this year and they have only been open since September.  The head brewer is a former brewer from Founders. You can tell they spared no expense for anything.  Brand new everything, complete attention to detail in the brew pub, and just a great atmosphere overall.  They will be canning their beers in the future in flat-top cans that will require a church key to open up.  This is the kind of place I would love to open for myself if I had access to the type of funds it would take to open up a place of this magnitude.  You can tell the owners are certainly going with the mantra go big or go broke.  I can't wait to go back to Perrin again, as this was one of my favorite stops on my trip.

Outside of Perrin

Interior Crest

Shiny new tanks

They can seat 281 patrons and they were at capacity at 4:30 on a Friday

I really like places that tier their prices with many pour size options

One of the best I've ever had in the category.  Extra pale ale with all Michigan hops

They had 10 beers on tap.  This is the sampler.  Note the sampler board in the shape of the company crest.  They make two pretty tasty fruit beers as well. 

Their imperial stout was a big  highlight as well

Food options are a "food truck" inside of the building that is the kitchen.

I will post most pictures and more places this weekend.

Cheers! 

Matt 

*All pictures courtesy of Dan N. Productions and cannot be reused with out the express written consent of Dan N. Productions, MLBPA, the NFL, and Gary Cole.