Ninth Annual Winter Beer Fest

Here we are, folks.  After months of preparation, anticipation, pre-emptive celebration, and – yes, some controversy -- the Michigan Brewer’s Guild has delivered yet another spectacular living monument to the Michigan Beer movement.

February 22^nd began with an abrupt change to this winter’s overall oppressively monochrome look.  Yes, the mountains of dirty snow remained, as did the temperature, which hovered in the low twenties for the entire day.  But the sun, which had been missing for so long that this felt like a Westeros winter, finally made a triumphant appearance.  Michiganders cannot be bothered by 20 degree weather when the rays of the sun warm what little skin we have exposed.

The weather, the crowds, and, if I’m being honest, the beer, contributed to the 89 breweries being in high spirits as they shared their product with enthusiasts all day.  Seven hundred ninety two beers and ciders made for unprecedented variety, and breweries from every corner of the state – some as far away as Marquette – gave everyone a chance to try something they’d never had before. As you may remember, Michigan Beer Blog had previously narrowed down this daunting list to ten specific beers we wanted to try most.  As reality sometimes changes one’s plans, I admit that we did not get to sample all of the beers on our list.  I should have known Salted Caramel Stout and anything sour from Livery would disappear too fast!

We did, however, sample some truly stand out beers:

Griffin Claw’s Sour Wheat Wine – we had high hopes for this wine, yet were still taken aback at its depth, complexity, and fragility.  This sour wheat rode an aggressive edge tempered with sweetness from the wheat, with a distinctly citrus and evaporative quality that I’ve only experienced in high proof whiskeys.  I wish this was less than  13% abv, but given that it’s a wheat wine, I shouldn’t complain.  If this gets bottled, it could compete with any vineyard for complexity and an eagerness to pair with foods.

Witch’s Hat doubled down on offering different versions of their stellar bourbon barrel aged Night Fury.  We sampled the vanilla bean, cherry cordial, and cookies and cream versions, all of which were extremely complex without losing either base stout’s essence nor the oak/bourbon flavor.

Speaking of extraordinarily balanced beers, Cranker’s bourbon barrel aged porter blew us away.  We came for The Merchant – the Belgian ale brewed with rare and unique black limes – and we were suitably impressed by that.  But what sets Cranker’s brewer apart is his attention to detail.  Bourbon aging is too often used in the same way that lazy brewers use extra hops additions – you can cover a lot of weak beers with heavy whiskey notes or aggressive hops flavors.  The Cranker’s bourbon porter walks that fine line between adding a warm depth and smooth roundness to its porter while still retaining those roasted, dry characteristics one expects in the style of beer. 

Brewery Terra Firma, one of the newest additions to Traverse City, brought their Wicked Garden Honey Rye Beet Wheat.  Typically when I see a title that long, I grow suspicious if all those flavors actually help in making a good finished product, but this beer delivered.  The beets gave this beer a solid, earthy foundation, which was livened by the spicy rye and then tempered by the sweet honey and wheat.  I felt a pang of jealousy to those living close to Brewery Terra Firma as I sipped this great beer.

While I missed my chance to try Vivant’s wine barrel aged imperial saison, I did have the opportunity to try their aged bretta ale, Le Flaneur. (If you want a brief explanation on a bretta ale, here’s the wiki page.  Escoffier was also a bretta ale.) La Flaneur was not nearly as aggressive in its sourness as Griffin Claw’s wheat wine, but rather used the tartness sparingly.  The hops contribute as much to the satisfying dryness as the yeast, which allows the palate to easily find the more hidden flavors from the beer, including a dusty funk, a bit of leather, and some melon notes.

Having just described only a tiny percentage of the flavors available at the Winter Beer Fest, it’s inevitable others had a wildly different experience.  If you attended, count yourself lucky, as the great weather and astounding collection of people, beer, food, and entertainment made for one of the greatest events Michigan has.  Thanks to our state’s Guild, our brewers, our event planners, and of course our beer drinkers for making the Ninth Annual Winter Beer Fest the best one yet! 

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Winter Beer Fest Cheat Sheet: Ten Most Anticipated Beers

This Saturday marks the most breweries and most beers of any Winter Beer Fest ever: 17 more breweries than last year, with an astounding 792 beers to sample in one day. At this point only the most delusional of imbiber would even consider trying all of them, so it behooves us all to nail down a plan. Based on the list released by the always fantastic Mash, these are samples the Michigan Beer Blog is most excited to try:

(a note -- we realize a few of these are beers that can be had at the taproom of their respective establishment; in those cases, distance became a factor in our decision)

Brewery Ferment – Salted Caramel Stout

We wanted to put a list together that carried the best and brightest ideas without saddling anyone with too many high abv beers. Salted Caramel has enjoyed a huge surge in popularity recently, and ranks among my favorite balance of sweet and savory when it comes to dessert. Brewery Ferment has shown they know their way around a flavored stout, so we are very much anticipating this beer.

Brewery Vivant – Liam & Me – Wine Barrel aged Imperial Saison

It's difficult to just pick one of Brewery Vivant's impressive stable of aged beers; we chose the Imperial saison for its originality and as a gesture of encouragement. With so many whiskey aged stouts in attendance, we wanted to recognize alternate beers when we could.

Cranker's – The Merchant Belgian Ale with Black Lime and Orange Peel

While the description leaves a bit to the imagination (what kind of belgian ale, specifically), we've never been disappointed with Cranker's experimental ales. Many belgian styles lend themselves well to citrus infusions, and we hope this stands out as a refreshing winter choice.

Greenbush – Hipster Ketchup Sriracha Stout

I don't think I need to explain why this is on this list. When one of the top rated breweries in the country makes a stout flavored with every millenial's favorite condiment, you try it.

Griffin Claw –Sour Dough Sour Wheat Wine

Griffin Claw's stable this year has several very intriguing items, but my penchant for sours won out here.

Harmony Brewing – Capricorn Absinthe Chocolate Stout

In my off days I moonlight as a cocktail connoisseur, and the first thing you learn about absinthe is that it's practically impossible to incorporate absinthe into a cocktail successfully. Even the Sazerac, likely the world's most famous absinthe cocktail, uses not more than a few drops to impart that strong, herbal quality. So it is with a cautious optimism that this beer makes the list.

Rockford Brewing Company / New Holland Winter Rye

Rye ales have been growing in popularity, slowly supplanting the seemingly untouchable IPA market. I'm interested to see how the typically spicy grain plays in a winter white genre.

Short's Bourbon Carrot Cake

Either the person who writes the descriptions for Short's beer got lazy, or this beer (called “stupid good” on the list) really is worth the name.

The Livery – Grand Reserve Verchuosity Sour Belgian

I usually have one Livery beer on this list every year. I am always amazed at the tastes this brewery gets out of their sours. Questionable spelling aside, this rare selection should be worth the wait in line.   

These beers represent only a shade over 1% of the beers available! With the plethora of choices, we obviously left off your favorite.  Let us know which beer we slighted in the comments.

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Four Witches Beef Jerky

I made beef jerky for the first time this weekend.  It probably won't come as a surprise to anyone that when I was deciding how I wanted to flavor the meat, the first ingredient that came to mind was beer.  

Since this was my first time making jerky, I decided to experiment with two different cuts of beef.  I used flank steak and top round (Seth and I preferred the flank steak version, pictured on the left above), but you could use any other lean cut of beef that you would like, such as sirloin or eye round, or even turkey or venison instead of beef.  

This is one of those recipes that is really more of a method than an actual recipe -- a set of guidelines that you can adjust to suit whatever flavors you like.   In other words, there's really no way to mess this one up, so feel free to get creative and add or take out whatever you like (just don't leave out the beer!).  

For this recipe, I used:

2 pounds lean beef

1/2 cup New Holland Four Witches black saison

1/4 cup soy sauce 

1/4 cup lime juice

2 tablespoons honey

1 teaspoon yellow mustard seed

Red pepper flakes to taste

Salt (I used Himalayan pink salt for its coarseness and mineral flavor)

1) Slice your meat into thin strips.  The meat will be easier to slice if you put it in the freezer for about 5 minutes before slicing.  Remove as much fat as possible along the way to help with the dehydration process. 

The flank steak

The top round

2) Combine desired ingredients for your marinade.  Place meat in resealable bag or other airtight container and add the marinade. Place in the refrigerator for 10-24 hours.  I gave my containers a good shake every few hours to ensure the meat was thoroughly coated. 

3) After 10-24 hours, preheat your oven to 165-170 degrees, remove the meat from the marinade, pat it dry with paper towels, and season with any desired additional spices -- I just used some Himalayan pink salt and more crushed red pepper flakes. Don't be afraid to use salt. Salt will also aid in dehydrating.

4) Place strips of meat directly on the rack in your oven. Make sure the strips aren't touching to allow air to circulate around them. Place a baking sheet at the bottom of the oven to catch any drips. Prop oven door open (I just left a wooden spoon at the top) to allow moisture to escape. 

5) Cook for 1 - 4 hours, depending on the thickness and cut of meat. Dehydration could take even longer, so be sure your meat is cooked through before removing it from the oven. Check the jerky after 90 minutes and every 30 minutes thereafter.  My jerky was done after about 3 1/2 hours.

After 60 minutes

After two hours

After 3 hours

6) Place the finished jerky somewhere dry to store. Ideally, use mason jars for the safest seal. Place jerky in the refrigerator or freezer until ready to eat. Enjoy the homemade jerky within 2 weeks of its preparation.

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Ore Dock Brewing Company

Michigan’s brewers have peppered the landscape with dozens of different types of buildings, filled with hundreds of different types of beer.  These buildings take on the personality of the owner, the brewer, and the staff.  Take, for example, Founder’s Brewing Company, which – despite its multiple expansions and vast production capacity, remains strongly tied to its mantra of making beer the owners would enjoy, with a flavor of live music and a strong commitment to Michigan sporting –specifically kayaking.

The Ore Dock is no exception, with a personality all its own.  Located in the Upper Peninsula city of Marquette, the Ore Dock takes the no-frills style of the Marquette ore docks from which it gets its name, and ties it to an open and inviting space.  The raw wood sampler platters, lightly finished bar, and high, unfinished ceilings captured the raw, natural beauty of Northern Michigan, while the unadorned cement floor and simple stools and tables lent to a Spartan look.

The Ore Dock shares similar elements with microbreweries that eschew a kitchen in favor of a welcoming space for people to bring their food from other local eateries, and pair that food with the beer available.  While we visited, Ore Dock surprised us with two versions of a fantastically brewed saison, one of which showcased the herbal freshness of serrano peppers.  Our other preferred brew comes as a collaboration with one of the true gems of the Upper Peninsula, The Fitz.  The owners met with the brewer and devised a recipe for a fantastic black Belgian ale.

Whether it’s your first time to the U.P., or you make your home close to Marquette, the Ore Dock is not to be missed.  The simple comfort, stark beauty, ties to what made Marquette famous, and sparkling personalities of the staff all make a couple pints worth the trip.

Find more pictures on our Facebook Page.

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Spinnaker Lounge + Schmohz Beer Pairing Dinner

The Michigan Beer Blog had the privilege of attending a beer and food pairing dinner graciously hosted by the Spinnaker Lounge. It was a tour of the best Spinnaker’s head chef Bill Read and Schmohz Brewing’s Chas Thompson made available! Both Spinnaker and Schmohz have featured events and products at this week's Grand Rapids Wine, Beer, and Food Festival; If you’re on the fence about either of these places, read on.

FIRST COURSE:

Forget dessert for dessert.  We’re eating that now.  A chocolate and cheddar waffle made with Schmohz’ excellent Zingiberene ale sat underneath a mound of sweet, BBQ pulled turkey.  The dish is not your typical appetizer: it eats more like a meal.  The lightness of the waffle played well with the smooth sweetness of the BBQ turkey, all of which can only be balanced by the sharp and playful ginger beer for which Schmohz is famous. 

all images courtesy Katy Batdorff 

SECOND COURSE:

Continuing the idea of meat on a carbohydrate base, the chef presented walleye ravioli sitting on top of an absurdly complex cauliflower cream sauce.  Seriously I’m making you stop skimming to focus on how great this smooth/salty cauliflower cream sauce was, and how well it played with the al dente ravioli filled with locally caught fish.  All this was topped with sweet sweet potato chutney (that double word was not a typo, this chutney was made with sweet potatoes and was also sweet), decorated with a pleasing display of thinly julienned fall vegetables. All this paired with Schmohz' seasonal Octoberfest, a truly local take on the style which brings the essence of Michigan's fall leaves to the fore.

all images courtesy Katy Batdorff 

MAIN COURSE:

This is where we get real, folks.  Beans, beef, and Brussels sprouts?  Please.  

This was a piece of delicate -- almost shy -- Michigan farm raised beef tenderloin cooked medium rare sitting next to a jumbled celebration of cattle beans and pork belly mingling in a cherry soda reduction. Their sidekick stole the show: buttered Brussels sprouts with more personality than your drunk uncle at Thanksgiving.  I’m not lying: a bite of these Brussels sprouts and a swig of the intoxicating Hopnocker Double IPA will make you strong enough to fight your dad.

all images courtesy Katy Batdorff 

DESSERT:

At first look, it’s a house made waffle bowl.  Impressive enough, but wait: there’s some controversy in that bowl.  The waffle bowl itself is made of white chocolate and pride, and it holds a flourless chocolate torte cooked with hazelnuts.  The torte is embraced by Bonecrusher Stout sorbet, melting together under a protective umbrella of Honeycrisp apple compote.  Wash that bite down with some paired Bonecrusher stout, and everyone wins -- the dry coffee and chocolate notes in the stout pull some of the sweetness out of the compote, creating an exciting mix.

all images courtesy Katy Batdorff .  Yes, this one too.

Overall, the dishes trended a little sweet but that merged well with the Schmohz beer with which they were paired.  Each of the beers brought a specific spice or dryness that helped to balance the dish.  Incidentally, the Spinnaker sources as many things locally as they can – everything they CAN get locally, they DO get locally,  so the next time you’re wading through traffic on 28^th street, don’t ignore this place just because it’s tucked inside a hotel; you might be surprised!

Beer Engineer Chas, Executive Chef Bill Read, Sous Chef Joe Frizzell.  Image courtesy Katy Batdorff. 

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