Bottled Michigan: Short's Ginger in the Rye

It's really too bad that so much crumby stuff is a lot of fun sometimes. --J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye The Ginger in the Rye is a high alcohol (~7%) beer that Joe Short came up with in 2007. It's important to note that this beer is not being marketed as a ginger beer, making it fundamentally different than Schmohz's Zingiberene or Left Hand's Good Juju. Ginger in the Rye is an experimental ale brewed with rye and Munich malt but fermented with the Weihenstephan yeast strain, giving it elements of a German wheat beer. Indeed, Beer Advocate refers to this beer as a hefeweizen, although I find that label inaccurate as well. Ginger...

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Spent Grain Bread

If you are a home brewer and are interested in how to put some of that spent grain to good use, I highly recommend trying this recipe.  It took about 30 hours from start to finish, but man, was the end result worth the wait.  The tender inside of the bread makes it great for sandwiches or spreads, and the sweet and malty spent grain really shines.  If you are not a home brewer, find a friend that is, and go ask them for some of their spent grain.  Seriously.  Right now.  *Note that you can freeze spent grain, and then thaw it out again before using in this recipe. It’s best to bring it up to room temperature...

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Bacon Wrapped Stuffed Jumbo Shrimp with Golden Cap Dipping Sauce

 Sadly, I cannot take credit for the creation of this recipe. I found it at ommegang.com and made it for a quick dinner last week with no intentions of sharing it, but it went over so well that I just had to post it. The original recipe was created by Larry Bennett of Brewery Ommegang for Café Milano in Cooperstown, NY and uses Hennepin, a saison-style ale from Ommegang. I swapped the Hennepin out for New Holland's Golden Cap Saison and wrapped half of my shrimp in bacon and the other half in pancetta. Seth preferred the bacon wrapped shrimp, while I favored the pancetta, so what you use is really up to your own personal preference. ...

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Detroit Lager Arroz con Pollo

  Arroz con pollo, or "rice with chicken," is a classic dish of Spain and Latin America.  There are many different ways to prepare it, unique to various countries.  What follows is a basic arroz con pollo recipe inspired by a dish from Smitten Kitchen that is typical to what you might find prepared in Cuba.  It can be adjusted depending on the level of spice you like and what you have on hand. It's an easy, stove-top, one pot dish, that is great for family meals. Serves 8 Chicken 6 large garlic cloves 2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar 2 teaspoons dried oregano, crushed 4 chicken breast halves with bone, halved crosswise 4...

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Brewery Vivant Wood-Aged Beer Celebration - October 22, 2011

Brewery Vivant, a Belgian/French inspired restaurant and brewery located in the East Hills Neighborhood, will literally be rolling out the barrels for its customers in what’s sure to be one of the season’s most anticipated beer celebrations. Many of these brews have been aging for months, and will include a myriad of styles for every palette. In addition, Chef Drew Turnipseed will be pairing up his delicious wares, including sauerkraut and homemade sausages. Barrel-aged beers can take on many forms, and Vivant is not afraid to jump outside of the box on any beers that they make. Belgian Sours are a much anticipated favorite, a brew that is...

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Great Baraboo

I’ve already written ad nauseum about my theory that I can categorize most Michigan Beer pubs as either breweries that serve food, or restaurants that make beer (with the delicious center of that Venn Diagram being places like Bastone, Brewery Vivant, and Jolly Pumpkin Ann Arbor that offer the epitome of both).  Apparently, I’ve missed one category: “breweries that really want to be a chain restaurant.”  The Great Baraboo Brewing Company is housed in a gigantic, warehouse shaped building in Clinton Township, Michigan, right in that murky half moon shape of suburbs where the residents say they’re from Detroit, but really they’re not....

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2nd Annual Weko Beach Brewers Festival

This past Saturday, the Michigan Beer Blog made its maiden voyage to Bridgman, MI to drop in on the second annual Weko Beach Brewers Festival.  Despite some strong winds, it was a perfect fall day to spend on picturesque Lake Michigan  -- a welcome change after just enduring over a week straight of gloomy, damp, rainy days across southwest Michigan. With Alligator Blackbird, Top Secret Band, and Mr. Blotto offering their melodic sounds throughout the festival, and the smell of grilled brats and pulled pork sandwiches wafting through the air, thirteen brewers offered tastings of a few of their mainstays and fall seasonal beers.  Unlike...

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