Bottled Michigan: Michigan Brewing Company Celis Raspberry

I've heard stories that, prior to Zima, Mike's Hard Lemonade, and the deluge of flavored malt beverages spilling from liquor store refrigerators and college girls' mouths, beer companies were faced with a problem: how do you get people who don't like beer. . .to drink beer?  courtesy google image search.  At least it's not blue Powerade and gin.  The answer often came in the form of painfully sweet, psuedo-fruit flavored concoctions that one might consider the forerunners to Smirnoff Twisted Ultra Passion Berry Delight IV. Sam Adam's Cherry Wheat is the perfect and best known example: a thick, sugary beverage that has more...

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Celis Raspberry Pancakes

Known by many names around the world (pancakes, hotcakes, griddlecakes, flapjacks, crepes, and drop scones to name just a few) the pancake takes many forms, uses many ingredients, and comes in many sizes. From sweet to savory, they are enjoyed in some form by pretty much every culture around the world and have been gracing our tables for centuries. I mean, who doesn't love a good pancake?So, with all of these variations of the classic recipe, why add beer to the pancake batter? A couple reasons, actually -- first, it adds a nice, sweet maltiness to the flavor and second, the carbonation in the beer adds air to the batter, making it lighter...

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13th Annual Summer Beer Festival

What happens when you give almost ten thousand people tiny little cups, serve them with 54 brewing companies offering over 400 different types of beer, dump almost three inches of rain on them over the course of a weekend, and toss in a tornado warning for good measure? One hell of a great time. Thousands of us.  And everyone is smiling. The13th Annual Summer Beer Festival, which took place in Ypsilanti, Michigan, is one of the great celebrations of Michigan beer. With four beer tents crammed full of breweries, supplemented by several kiosks of yet more brewers, it's more than a little overwhelming. No liver on the planet would be able...

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Bottled Michigan: Keweenaw Brewing Company Pick Axe Blonde

I think it's odd that I prefer this method of captioning.   I took a picture of this beer because I want to emphasize the fact that this beer comes in a can. This works on multiple levels. Seriously, name another local beer that can claim to be a canned beer (they exist, but I'm not aware of any by name). Furthermore, while other beer snobs may disagree, aluminum cans remain the best way to package and ship beer, assuming it's not still fermenting. Sunlight is beer's enemy, and while brown glass bottles do very well, aluminum is still the best way to protect a beer from sunlight. Just make sure you pour the beer out before drinking....

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Grand Rapids Brewing Company

Is this a rebadged Motel 6 sign?The Grand Rapids Brewing company is a victim of its environment. When I see a small, nondescript building on the side of a busy, boring road filled with malls and chain restaurants and Best Buys and Target stores, I tend to dismiss it. Great breweries are tucked away in little- traveled districts, or they’re in quaint little shops in quaint little tourist towns. Nothing good could come from a building whose architect clearly studied at Ponderosa University. . .it has more in common with an OCB than a brewery. . .The preconceived notions, how they crumble. I’ve been avoiding the Grand Rapids Brewing Company for...

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Hobo's Breath Barbecue Sauce and Majestic Wheat Ale Barbecue Sauce

This time in Cooking with Michigan Beer, I came up with two different barbecue sauces that will blow the doors off any bottled sauce you can pick up at the local supermarket -- one for those that like their sauce a little smoky and spicy, the other for the sweet and tangy fans.But why use beer in a barbecue sauce? First and foremost, flavor. Beer is much less acidic than wine, vinegar, or citrus juices commonly used in barbecue sauces. It will tenderize meats without breaking down texture as rapidly as more powerful acids (some sauces are so acidic they can actually begin to cook the meat if you marinate them too long). Also, the balanced...

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Bottled Michigan: Kuhnhenn Solar Eclipse

Beer can be like a woman. Some are pleasant, forgettable, and you can go through twelve of them in an evening. Others are harsh and bitter, but for some reason you keep returning to them – to the point where you're convinced you like the abuse. Still others are so smooth and consuming that while they run your wallet dry, it's worth every minute. These beers are dark, seductive, carry with them an intoxicating aroma of alcohol, make you forget where you are for a moment, and keep you company for hours. The Solar Eclipse is this kind of beer. Before we get into the smelling and the tasting, consider for a moment Godiva Chocolate Liquer. ...

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Early weekend check in

Good afternoon all; this evening will see BOTH a new recipe compliments of Laura and a beerscription of an 18% abv beer hailing from Warren, Michigan.  Look out, Delaware, Michigan's got some heavy hitters too! In the meantime, please check out the information for Summerfest:  the beer list there is absolutely overwhelming, so any requests for specific beers to try I will attempt to honor and describe them.  With pictures of local brewers!...

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Bottled Michigan: Bell's Special Double Cream Stout

There's something satisfying about looking into a beer in a glass, lurking lazily below a thick, brown head. Even on a hot summer day, watching the sunlight try – and fail – to permeate the strong stout just makes me feel great. Bell's Double Cream Stout is no joke; this is a thick, heavy, smooth beer, heavy on the malt and ready to keep you warm by the fire on a cold day. Or by the air conditioning vent during a heat wave in July. Your choice. Yep.  My stout mug has my name on it. Before I get into my impressions of smell and taste, I want to mention something that every fan of locally brewed beers should always keep in mind: Michigan...

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The Jamesport Brewing Company

Being a resident of Grand Rapids, I often make the mental shorthand of dividing our state's small, touristy coastal towns into two categories: easily accessible (Holland, Grand Haven, South Haven) and summer vacation spots (Marquette, Traverse City). I never really think about Ludington, and to that end I do myself a disservice. It lacks the tulips and wooden shoes of Holland. It doesn't have the “doncha know” charm and isolation of Marquette. But nonetheless, it has an adorable downtown filled with good natured, charitable people and one notable brewery. That's one more than South Haven has, after all. Tucked away on a side road right off...

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Bottled Michigan: Michigan Brewing Company High Seas IPA

I don't really drink all of my beers at my kitchen counter, really.  This is just a coincidence.  Really. Michigan Brewing High Seas IPA When I hear the name India Pale Ale, I've come to expect certain things. A floral bouquet in the aroma. Hops, front and center, from the second the beer hits my lips until a few breaths after I swallow. Flowers and citrus fruit running in an undercurrent under the hops. Malt flavor hidden, if detectable at all. The words dry, bitter, flowery come to mind. I love them. . . but IPAs are not beers I recommend to a beginner's palate. Michigan Brewing Company's High Seas IPA dials all that aggressiveness...

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Jolly Pumpkin Bam Biere Mussels

For the next installment of Cooking with Michigan Beer, I returned again to fermentationnation.com. I noticed Chuck's recipe for mussels while reading his chocolate cake recipe, and could not resist trying them for myself. I love mussels and anything from Jolly Pumpkin (especially the Bam Biere), so this sounded like a perfect combination. The broth made with this dry farmhouse ale is a perfect contrast to the mussels, and if you decide to try this recipe for yourself, I guarantee you will not be disappointed. Making this meal at home is really easy. Here's what you'll need: 2 pounds of fresh mussels 3 shallots1/2 rib of celery1...

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Bottled Microbrew: Short's Smoked Apple Ale

Weekend update:  peppering the spaces between full blown recipes and rundowns of breweries, there will appear quick descriptions of Michigan bottled beers.  These aren't really reviews, since beer tasting is so subjective, but most of you are smart enough to figure out what sounds delicious, and motivated enough to go try something I've talked about. Short's Smoked Apple Ale I consider Short's to be one of my favorite breweries in Michigan. . . and even our favorites can dish up some real clunkers. Short's Smoked Apple Ale pours a golden apple cider color (see what I did there?) with a thick, offwhite head. This beer is carbonated,...

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Cooking with Michigan Beer:

Arcadia's Cocoa Loco Chocolate Cake I started a "Cooking with Michigan Beer" section because not enough people (myself included) cook with beer on a regular basis. You see beer battered fish on many restaurant menus or Guinness stew on St. Patrick's Day, but other than that, it seems like most people don't think of beer as an ingredient, or are just too afraid to use it in their recipes. . .but people use wine in their cooking all the time. When you stop and think about it, it just makes sense to cook with beer. Beer has more in common with a lot of the food we eat than wine does; it contains grain (barley), herbs (hops), water, and yeast,...

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