MiBrew - Spring 2021

ISSUE 2, SPRING 2021

America’s Most Remote Brewery: Whiskey Point Brewing Co. Merry Band of Misfits A Perfect Fit in Muskegon Readers Tell MiBrew Trail Magazine About Their Favorite “Beer-Tenders”

AND MUCH MORE...

www.MiBrewTrail.com

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T e m s M b s T a o

“I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.”

- Robert Frost Are you a Brewmaster? Email MiBrewTrail@Hearst.com to learn more about featuring your brewery on the Michigan Brew Trail.

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MI Brew Trail | Spring 2021

WElcome to the spring brew trail DEAR READERS: Welcome to the spring edition of Michigan Brew Magazine.

We’re glad you found us.

There’s always a sense of excitement, relief even to many, when the dormancy and sun-deprived days of a long Michigan winter gives way to blue skies and greening landscapes of springtime. MiBrew Trail Magazine is equally stoked about continuing to take you, our readers, through a revealing

and diverse journey to open a window into the fascinating and eclectic world of the men, women and communities that comprise the state’s Craft Beer Community. Take a peek inside, we think you’ll enjoy it.

There are a number of things that strike us about this industry populated by dreamers who also are doers. Perhaps most telling is this group’s resiliency.

Like an ageless Tom Brady on yet another Super Bowl quest, these folks just refuse to let go

Did You Know?

of their dreams—no matter the odds or obstacles. Not even a lingering pandemic and all of its spirit-crushing and business-dashing wreckage is bringing this crew down. Once they’ve embarked on their passion to share their love of all things beer and community, you’d have a better chance of stopping a powerful locomotive than derailing them from what they consider their calling.

That’s why many have left secure corporate jobs to go in an entirely different direction to

launch their own brewpubs.

We appreciate all the positivity you’ve sent our way following our inaugural Winter Issue of MiBrew Trail Magazine. We’ll continue to strive to be worthy of your support and attention.

So, venture outside, try to find enjoyment in this topsy-turvy ride known as life, and please support your local Michigan craft breweries.

Sincerely, Ed Fritz MiBrew Trail

ED FRITZ

Michigan is fifth in the nation in the number of breweries, microbreweries and brewpubs according to Pure Michigan®. This magazine features just a small selection of the excellent businesses that make up the Michigan Brew industry. To be featured here, contact Ed Fritz at edward.fritz@hearst.com

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in this issue ON THE COVER

6..................... America’s Most Remote Brewery Learn about Whiskey Point Brewing Co., the punchy little brewery on Beaver Island, thirty miles off the coast of Charlevoix

16................... Favorite Beer-tenders

Mibrew trail Director Ed Fritz Muskegon Editor Kate Hessling Midland Advertising Lori Shaw Alma

Nine of our favorite beer-tenders from across the Mitten State

Tony Garant Midland

28................... Merry Band of Misfits

Contributors Jon Becker Auburn

Once the site of a historic sand dune, Pigeon Hill is the home of the brewing company that bears its name.

FEATURES 8.....................................Dog & Pony Show 10...................................All Roads Lead to Alpena 12...................................Katie Lynn to the Rescue 14...................................Michigan Brewery Review 18...................................Meet the Brewer 20...................................Dunneback Girls Continue

Family Tradition 22...................................Arctic Circle an Inviting Place 24...................................Opening a Brewery in a Pandemic 30...................................Northern Michigan Hops Company 4 | www.MiBrewTrail.com

Karl Klockars Traverse City Kevin McKinney Auburn Hills Mike Lerchenfeldt Rochester Hills Design & Layout Ariel Moreno Sparta MiBrew Trail Magazine is designed and printed in Big Rapids, Michigan For advertising rates and information call: 231592-8334 or email: MiBrewTrail@hearst.com

MI Brew Trail | Spring 2021

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Volume 2 | Spring 2021

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and

Whiskey Point Brewing:

WHAT IT’S LIKE RUNNING AMERICA’S MOST REMOTE BREWERY Karl Klockars MiBrewTrail Whiskey Point Brewing Company, located out in the waters of Lake Michigan on Beaver Island, may very well be the most remote brewery in America. Sure, there are small-town breweries that are separated by more raw mileage, but those are connected by things like “highways” and “dry land.”

And yes, there are other island-based breweries, but most are connected by bridges; at most an hour long ferry ride. If you want to try a pint of Whiskey Point beer, it requires a two-hour ferry ride or a 15-minute flight over a 30-mile stretch of Great Lakes water, meaning once you get to the historic grocery store that houses the Whiskey Point brewery, you have definitely earned that pour

of blonde ale, IPA or porter.

I was gone for school and work and things, then came back in 2013.

close again. [laughs]

We spoke with owner and Q: Tell me about your brewing brewer Patrick McGinnity about journey, and why you wanted what it’s like to run a brewing to bring a brewery back home Fun fact: I once spent more business so distant from the than 12 months without leaving to Beaver Island. mainland, on an A: When I island with just was teaching a few hundred I moved here when I was 8, I composition at year-round Central Michigraduated from high school here residents: gan University,

“

in a class of four — and 50% of us Q: Before we someone got start talking me a kit for went on to get master’s degrees. about the Christmas and So yeah, I’ve been here my whole brewery itself, I started home life, pretty much. let’s talk about brewing and the location: really got started Have you been to get into it a full-time resand kind of geek the island at all. It was just a ident of the island for pretty out on the science. And so I was much your entire life? always thinking, “Wouldn't it be busy time [and] it was about 11 great if there was a brewery on months before I realized that I A: I moved here when I was 8, the island?” It took quite a while hadn’t left the island. And then I graduated from high school before we even started getting at that point, I had to just stick it here in a class of four — and real craft beer on the taps at the out and try to make it past the 50% of us went on to get masbars on the island. ter's degrees. So yeah, I've been 12-month mark because, yeah, here my whole life, pretty much; you're never going to get that I wouldn't have been interested

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in starting a company somewhere else because I wasn't really into entrepreneurship — it was more that Beaver Island was missing out on the craft beer scene, and I knew that with all the tourism that goes along with craft beer that it would be a destination place if we could get it up and running.

Q: How long has Whiskey Point been up and running?

A: We’ll be starting our third year on like, the first of July. I won't say we haven't had a good year yet, but we haven't had a normal year yet. Our first year, we had all these building delays and things that pushed it until almost the Fourth of July before we were able to open, and then we just got slammed and ran out of beer. In 18 hours, we were out of beer. And basically we had to close down until we could brew more beer.

MI Brew Trail | Spring 2021

T t i

T o u c t k g h b s f b h a s

B g p a u t g s

Q t m h

A a i m

At 55.8 sq mi (145 km2), it is the largest island in Lake Michigan and the third largest island in Michigan after Isle Royale and Drummond Island. The island is located approximately 32 miles (51 km) from the city of Charlevoix.

Beaver Island had a total population of 657 at the 2010 census.

Two lighthouses are on the island: Beaver Island Harbor Light (St. James Light), erected in 1870, on the northern part of the Island, which continues to aid navigation. Beaver Island Head Lighthouse on the southern part of the Island, erected in 1858, was deactivated in 1961.

Then our grain supplier went out of business and didn't tell us. So we were waiting on a couple thousand dollars in grain that never showed up — you know, a perfect storm of things going wrong. We lost almost half a month in our first year because we didn't have any supply. Then we were hoping for good things this last summer but obviously that didn't quite happen. We were running at about 50% throughout the summer.

and then when our grain supply dwindled that first summer, we had to try to figure out what we could bring with what we had on hand. So we came up with a blonde ale, just from what we had. And wouldn't you know it - that's everybody's favorite, the one that we created in a hurry because we were trying to do something.

Q: And what kind of brewing system are you working on?

Q: What's what's your favorite thing to brew, and what's the most popular beer you guys have?

A: It’s all electric, because otherwise we would have to use propane or something. It’s just an electric system, a two barrel system from Stout [Tanks and Kettles]. We picked it up used from a brewery in Alaska, so it actually had to be shipped by barge from Alaska to Seattle, and then got on a truck and drove here and then got back on a barge to come to the island, so it had quite a trip to get here.

A: We started out with an IPA, a porter and a red ale as our initial lineup. The amber was my favorite recipe that we had,

So it's it's kind of small and cute, but we produce roughly 70 gallons per batch, and because we're maxing it out and trying

But I have a feeling that we're going to hit our maximum capacity [this year] pretty early on and we’ll have to get equipment upgrades going, because we're trying to streamline things and get as much beer out of the system as we can.

Volume 2 | Spring 2021

to get everything we can out of it, we keep running up against all these things where it's like, “Well, yeah, we can produce more beer but we'll need more cooler space, because we don’t have a big walk in…” So trying to figure out which things to upgrade first is going to be the puzzle.

Q: Are there any indigenous ingredients to the island that you’ve had a chance to play with in your beers? I’ve read that you have a Beaver Island native hop varietal...

A: Yeah, we've brewed with that a little bit but we aren't really set up to brew with full cone hops for the most part, so I've already done it at a small scale — like homebrew scale. I still haven't had it tested to find out what it is; it may have been something that went wild from somebody's farm back in the 1800s and ended up in the swamp area.

Mostly we don't have the liberty to experiment much just See WHISKEY POINT on 31

The island describes itself as "America's Emerald Isle" in allusion to the Irish ancestry of many of its residents.

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Brothers putting on a show OAK PARK TO WELCOME DOG & PONY BREWING IN 2021 Kevin McKinney MiBrew Trail

New home of Dog & Pony Brewing

What goes into opening a brewery?

Outside of money, other big factors are time, patience and planning.

In the case of the Gierada brothers Kyle, Aaron, and Josh, it has been 10 years in the making. From the inception of their idea to deciding on the location then building out the brewery. It has covered the better part of a decade. Entrepreneurship has been a common thread in the Gierada family for many years.

Following in their grandfathers and great grandfathers’ footsteps.

Owning their own business is in the genes.

In 2018, the plans were put into motion and the ball started rolling.

Kyle had recently left a career at Quicken Loans. Now having more flexibility on a day-to-day basis to put forth more effort on the brewery. The first question, where?

Detroit, that was an option. Having worked downtown Kyle had been witness to the city’s rebound and wanted to be part of it. Plymouth, they took a peek there too. Being from that area originally, it felt like a good option. After going through the list of possible locations, they ended up choosing an older industrial building on Eleven Mile Road in Oak Park.

Barley

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Not quite the east or west side of town. They felt it’s centrally located near both Woodward and 696.

With surrounding cities like Berkley, Royal Oak, and Ferndale that would

supply plenty of traffic. Plus, Oak Park doesn’t have a brewery yet.

Why not be the first! Kyle explained that since deciding on this building, “the city officials have been awesome to work with every step of the way.” From the beginning, they were promoting this particular location as one they’d love to see a brewery in.

Oak Park Michigan, once described as “worthless, not fit for habitation.”

For over 60 years, Oak Park was the largest dry community in Michigan.

Today that couldn’t be further from the truth. In 2013, they voted to allow beer and wine to start pouring. And in 2015, the city once again voted allowing spirits and cocktail sales in the city. Since then, businesses have been popping up all around town.

Fast forward to 2021, Oak Park is preparing to welcome its first craft brewery. Dog and Pony Show Brewing will be opening in the repurposed Randolph Tool Building, at 14661 West 11 Mile Road. Once the old lettering from the tool and die comes off the front of the building, they plan on displaying them somewhere inside the brewery. Paying homage to the past. Like many breweries in the state, taking something old and making it new again. The three brothers teamed up to turn this 7,000-square-foot building into the city’s first craft beer producers. It didn’t take long for them to realize that this is a unique location. While they’re adding some needed new elements to the building, the goal

was to keep as much of the industrial feel as possible. Eleven Mile and the surrounding area is quickly becoming a hop spot for startups.

Restaurants, coffee shops, and now a brewery.

What’s in a name? I asked where the name for the brewery came from. As they chuckled, Kyle said “we were looking for something nostalgic, thinking of their dad specifically.” The brothers explained it’s something their father would occasionally utter while growing up. With three wild and rambunctious boys running around the house, it tended to be a Dog and Pony Show.

Josh will be the mastermind behind the scene. Concocting all the goodies that brings us through the doors. His background in brewing comes from time spent at Schramm’s Mead and Northville Winery & Brewery. He has plans for beer styles that will cover a broad spectrum. From sessionable lower ABV beer like Kolsches, Lagers, and Pilsners. Expanding into more hoppy beers like Pale Ales, and IPAs. With a ton of barrel aging in the future. There will also be other beverage options on the menu including ciders and potentially meads, with 12 taps to keep the beer flowing. Over the years the brothers' taste and passion for local craft beer comes from breweries like Kuhnhenn, HOMES, Founders, Short’s and Dark Horse.

Dog and Pony Show won’t have a kitchen, but the brewery is very food friendly. The guys will be

MI Brew Trail | Spring 2021

tremendous advocates for local eateries like Ernie’s Market, Republica, and just a few doors down, their new neighbors Oak Park Social. Eventually having the occasional food truck out back. You can pick up your favorite pizza on the way in or grab your homemade casserole from the night before.

At full capacity including the front patio, Dog and Pony Show will be able to seat over 200 patrons. Feel free to bring your pup for a seat outside. They’re also planning on designating a couple days each week for Fido to join you indoors. There are still on-going conversations as to when Ponies will be allowed in.

Detroit’s Pewabic Pottery made 100 commemorative tiles for the brewery. They were thinking of ways that you could be part of the brewery without copying the mug club concept. The tiles are for sale, each will be

“

personalized with your name. You’ll see them hanging on the brewery wall as part of the décor and your membership to Dog and Pony Show Brewing. There’s definitely a “support local business” theme going on. Before the brewery Aaron ran a Westland skateboard shop. Familiar with his work, he recruited a local artist from Clarkston “2nd Chance Skateboard Art” to create very unique, one of a kind table tops and tap handles.

Dog and Pony Show Brewing is in the process of putting the finishing touches on the brewery. Getting closer and closer to the point of liquid going into tanks. Inspections are scheduled to happen shortly with their eye on a Spring or early Summer Grand Opening! They’ll be another great addition to the already incredible Michigan and Oakland County craft beer scene.

With three wild and rambunctious boys running around the house, it tended to be a Dog and Pony Show.

Volume 2 | Spring 2021

Shipwreck DiStillery

CASEVILLE, MI 989.550.7083

”

www.MiBrewTrail.com | 9

All roads lead to Alpena for Southern California family Jon Becker MIBrewTrail A cross country road trip for an adventurous Southern California family set the wheels in motion for what has become one of Michigan’s larger microbreweries.

Austin Brothers Beer Company pumped out 3,370 barrels of beer in 2020. This equates to about 44,500 cases. The family-owned and operated brewery (parents Dana and Julie Austin alongside their sons Brant and Blake) is located in Alpena, which may as well have been a foreign country to the Austins for all they knew about the Northern Michigan community when they first came upon it years ago.

Established in 2015, the brewery with a scratch kitchen and a taproom that offers patrons a wide selection of up to 24 tap beers, has entrenched itself as not only a fine brewery but also as a great place to fuel up for lunch, dinner or a late-night snack.

And to think it all got started by a family that spent a couple summers driving around the United States and of all places to land, ended up choosing the picturesque haven known as the Sanctuary of the Great Lakes.

The family patriarch, Dana Austin, was nearing retirement as a captain in the San Bernardino (CA) Fire Department. With no intention of remaining in California, Dana Austin, with his school-age sons on summer vacation, hit the road in a RV to

explore this vast country for a potential place to start a new life.

The initial leg of the journey saw them travel to Florida. From there, they were headed to Idaho, taking a long route up I-75 to Michigan. When they reached the proverbial fork in the road, it was decision time.

“At the spot where I-75 splits off from US-23, Dana asked his son, Blake, which way he wanted to go,” recounted Chris Heikkuri, director of sales for Austin Brothers Beer Co. “They hadn’t seen any of the Great Lakes, so Blake suggested taking US-23 along Lake Huron.”

The family wound up in Alpena, spent the next couple days there and fell in love with its natural beauty.

“They loved the way the Thunder Bay River flowed through town, the beautiful Lake Huron shoreline, and Alpena’s charming downtown with a drawbridge,” Heikkuri said.

Right then, the family decided they would return to Alpena the following summer.

This time, Dana Austin purchased property so he and his family could return to the area on a more regular basis.

“A couple of years later is when the wheels to open a brewery started turning,” Heikkuri said.

At the time Blake was a PGA golf pro and Brant was in nursing school. Dana had no formal brew master experience but had been a home brewer for years. Brant decided that maybe

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nursing wasn’t for him after all, and began formal training in brewing science, first at the Seibel Institute of Technology in Chicago and later in a country that knows a thing or two about beer — Germany. After his schooling, Brant began plying his new trade at a couple of breweries, where he learned about commercial brewing systems — experience that would prove most beneficial in the family business.

“In the summer of 2014, the Austins packed up all of their families and moved from Southern California to Alpena,” Heikkuri said. “They spent a year refitting an old industrial building with a taproom and kitchen.”

The brewery’s scratch kitchen uses fresh and locally-sourced ingredients for dishes that go well with beer, like wings, walleye sandwiches, brew fries and burgers, to name a few menu offerings. Many of its beers are available in cans to go and plans are underway for even more delightful food choices.

“We are adding a 1,000 gallon smoker this spring,” Heikkuri said. “This will allow us to expand the availability of our much-requested smoked items.”

Now that you know the back story, let’s, as Heikkuri implores: “Get to the Beer.”

Austin Brothers has 2 flagship beers, 45’er IPA, and Woody Wheat. Both sell equally well for a company that enjoys wide product distribution. 45’er is a traditional West Coast IPA. It’s named after the 45th parallel

Dana Austin is pictured here with his sons Brant Austin and Blake Austin at Austin Brothers Beer Company, a family-owned and operated brewery in Alpena.

The Austin gentleman along with Julie Austin (not pictured), Dana's wife and Brant and Blake's mother, founded the popular microbrewery in 2015.

The Austin's take great pride in consistently producing quality beer and tasty pub food, all locally-sourced. The brewery's wide selection of beers is widely distributed throughout the state.

that it’s brewed on. Woody Wheat is an American-style wheat beer with a tantalizing blend of orange and vanilla.

and tickled taste buds with the three rotating specialty series it offers in 16 ounce cans:

The company’s double IPA, Parallyzer, can also be found on store shelves statewide. It plans to add another brew to its statewide distribution network, NRTHRN, LTS, a beer that will appeal to the calorie-conscious that aren’t fond of heavier, bitter beers.

“This is a low-calorie gluten-reduced light ale,” Heikkuri said.

The company’s growth is largely triggered by its robust sales in Michigan.

“Our beers can be found in just about every Walmart and Meijer in the state as well as some Spartan stores.”

The brewery has turned heads

•

Murk Series consisting of New England IPAs with each one having a slightly different malt recipe.

•

Creamy IPAs that will make you think you’re drinking a smoothie.

•

Sour Series or Kettle Series that are treated with fruit (sourbet) or fruit and salt (gose).

The busy brewery released over 50 different can beers last year.

“Many of the independent stores out there carry our whole lineup,” Heikkuri said.

It’s a lineup worth starting or continuing your Michigan craft beer experience with.

MI Brew Trail | Spring 2021

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It's all about nature, community and craft at The Workshop Brewing Company. Located on the edge of downtown Traverse City in the Warehouse District, live music, traditional craft beer and a revamped menu is proving to be a sustainable model for a brewery dedicated to honoring Northern Michigan's spectacular natural environment.

Katie Lynn to the rescue Jon Becker MIBrew Trail Chicago native Katie Lynn may not sport a cape or possess superpowers, but as far as a Traverse City brewery owner is concerned the longtime food and beverage professional is in a class by herself.

Drawn by her passion for food and beverage establishments where music is a big part of the venue, Lynn left her corporate job in the Windy City to go to work for Pete Kirkwood, owner and founder of The Workshop Brewing Co., a Traverse City brewery whose entire business philosophy is tied to the region’s breathtaking natural environment. Lynn, the company’s assistant general manager, has only been there since September of 2020. But to say she’s had an indelible impact is like saying there may be some lakes and cherries around the Traverse City region.

Lynn may very well be John Tapper-like, star of the television show “Bar Rescue.” This is not to say The Workshop Brewing Co., established in 2012, was mismanaged by any stretch of

the imagination. It’s just that stepping into one of the hardest hit industries during the pandemic, (in Michigan, no less, with its strict mitigation measures) and playing a lead role in figuring out ways to remain afloat when so many businesses were going under had to be every bit as challenging a scenario as celebrity bar-restaurant fixer Tapper ever faced.

“Katie appeared in our moment of need — in the thick of the pandemic,” Kirkwood said. “She rolled up her sleeves, threw on a mask, and jumped in. I told her she was nuts to leave a good job to join us, but she loved our business philosophy so much that she did it anyway. Now she’s living the embodiment of that philosophy.”

How big of an impact has Lynn had?

“She saved my sanity this year, and she may well have saved our business too,” Kirkwood said without a trace of hyperbole.

“She’s amazing.”

The business philosophy Kirkwood refers to centers around what the company likes to call “Trifidelity.”

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Said Kirkwood, “We call our philosophy Trifidelity because we are motivated by these three things: nature, community and craft. We are in business to preserve Northern Michigan’s spectacular natural environment, to reinforce Traverse City’s warm and vital community, and to honor traditional craft.

We do not consider our business to be a success unless we are demonstrably doing all three.”

Lynn comes from a tight-knit family. She said she is extremely close with her parents, Mary and Tom, and has an identical twin named Bridget and a younger sister, Maureen. When she decided to leave Chicago for Traverse City, it was a homecoming of sorts for the family. When Katie Lynn was 5, they moved to Chelsea when her father took a job there.

The family had vacationed every summer in Petoskey and Harbor Springs, “so we were very familiar with Traverse City,” she said. “We always stopped there on our way home for lunch and a beer.”

As much as the thought of living and working in Traverse City See Katie Lynn on 32

"Katie appeared in our moment of need--in the thick of the pandemic," said Pete Kirkwood, the owner of The Workshop Brewing Company. "I told her she was nuts to leave a good, steady job to join us, but she loved our business philosophy so much that she did it anyway. She saved my sanity this year, and she may well have saved our business. She's amazing."

MI Brew Trail | Spring 2021

Volume 2 | Spring 2021

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MICHIGAN BREWERY REVIEW:

Five Shores Brewing Kevin McKinney MiBrew Trail Breweries across Michigan, for many years have been involved in giving back to both local and communities across the state. One northern Michigan beer maker has joined the long list of breweries supporting local.

Since January 2020, Five Shores Brewing located in the hidden gem of Beulah is doing just that. Even before opening Five Shores, owners Oliver Roberts and Matt Demorest have had a focus on not only making great beer but also highlighting other Michigan businesses.

Roberts and Demorest both have a strong passion for inclusion and diversity in the craft beer community.

Recently, Five Shores started the “Black Owned Business Collaborations.” Their mission is to produce beers incorporating as many ingredients as possible from black owned Michigan businesses.

Along with proceeds from beer sales, they want to drive attention to those businesses across the state. Hoping to make an impact on their bottom line and customer base.

Their first collab was with Barb Baker.

You may know her better as “Siren of Stout” on most social media platforms.

A true craft beer enthusiast. Barb is also vice president of “Fermenta: A Women's Craft Collective.”

The beer she had in mind was a stout using whole sweet potato pies purchased from 24th Cheese Cakery, a black family-owned business located in Ypsilanti. This beer, aptly named Siren of Pastry Stout was made with 24 whole pies, aged on roasted pecans, cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla. Well, that

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was the plan at least. While in the process of making the beer, Oliver said that two possibly three of the pies accidentally fell into their mouths during production. The hazards of brewing beer! Lucky for me, it was on tap during my last visit to Five Shores. I’d describe it as rich but not overly sweet.

A definite flavor explosion to say the least. The only thing that could possibly make Siren of Pastry Stout better is sipping it along with a slice of sweet potato pie.

The second collaboration is planned for an April release. This time Oliver will be teaming up with Kuma Ofori-Mensa.

His background in brewing comes from time spent at Arbor Brewing as an assistant brewer. Glasshouse Brewing where he was head brewer. At Tecumseh Brewing, Kuma was in charge of the small batch brewing. Also, he was the former collaboration brewer at Cultivate Coffee & Tap House in Ypsilanti I reached out to Kuma to get his inspiration for this beer. He explained “This was my first time creating a product as myself rather than a representative of someone else’s brand. I wanted it to reflect who I am and where I came from.”

Kuma was born and raised in the states, his parents were both born and raised in Ghana.

“This was the perfect opportunity to blend the major cultural influences of my life into something unique” he said.

After researching the history of beer brewing across Africa, Kuma discovered several regional variations of beer were brewed using sorghum. In Africa it’s called Pito. A type of beer made from fermented sorghum in Northern Ghana, parts of Nigeria, and other parts of West Africa. His parents described it as a common person’s drink. A casual refreshment for everyday people.

Kuma’s collaboration beer will be a

slightly soured west coast inspired IPA, made using South African hops. He built the recipe featuring sorghum extract, African Queen, and Southern Star Hops.

They named it “Saldanha”, after a natural harbor on the southwestern coast of South Africa. Look for it in four packs and on tap in the brewery.

Their plans for the third collaboration are to make a beer with Terry and Jamaal, from Black Calder Brewing out of Grand Rapids. “Black Owned Business Collaborations” will be a bi-monthly series.

Oliver and Matt met while tailgating at a U of M vs MSU game. What goes better together than football and beer?

After being introduced and sharing a few beers, the conversation turned to both having an interest in opening a northern Michigan brewery. Business cards were exchanged and they went on to watch the Wolverines trounce the Spartans. Now I’m not 100% certain on that last sentence, but it just sounds better. A couple of days later Oliver slid into Matt’s DMs, “Hey, so about this brewery…”

That meeting eventually turned into Benzie County’s forth, and Beulah’s first brewery. Five Shores Brewing is a stone’s throw away from the eastern shore of Crystal Lake. Oliver, a Great American Beer Festival award winning brewer brought 17 years of experience, while Matt brought his passion for craft beer and all-around business savvy.

After multiple trips up north, scouting out different locations, they settled on a large metal round roof building. Once an Oldsmobile dealer back in the 1950s, the building had sat unused and empty for over 30 years. Like so many other Michigan breweries, they repurposed something old and made it new again.

See Brew review on 34

MI Brew Trail | Spring 2021

take the scenic route to happy hour

This is Traverse City. Whether you’re exploring the hundreds of miles of lakes and rivers, the hiking and biking trails, the unique shopping, or restaurants that give you taste buds a reason to celebrate. Then discover why USA Today readers selected Traverse City as one of the best small town cra beer scenes in American. It’s all here, in a Pre y Great Place.

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Volume 2 | Spring 2021

www.MiBrewTrail.com | 15

MEET THE BREWER:

Manda Geiger Mike Lerchenfeldt MiBrew Trail Manda Geiger is a brewer at Dragonmead Brewery in Warren, which also supplies the beer to their second location, Dragon’s Landing in St. Claire Shores.

As their only female brewer at this popular, family-orientated brewery, Geiger is also said to be a breath of fresh air in the world of craft brewing. In a vibrant community, she helps brew beers for the masses.

Being able to write a recipe and create something out of raw grains that people can enjoy is an awesome feeling. Her favorite beer on tap at Dragonmead Brewery is the Iron Maiden Dry Irish Style Stout.

When Manda is not at work, you will find her enjoying a Detroit Tigers game or going to a concert with her fiancé, Eric Briggeman who is a brewer at Rochester Mills Production Brewery in Auburn Hills.

The couple cannot wait to get back into Comerica Park and Pine Knob (they even had opening day tickets!) They also love to camp throughout Michigan. Their favorite camping spots include D.H. Day Campground in Glen Arbor and the Hiawatha National Forest in Manistique. Eric proposed on their camping trip this past June in the UP. Geiger is a 40-year-old from Grand Rapids, who moved to the east side of the state about three years ago to continue her brewing career. She is creative with her beers

16 | www.MiBrewTrail.com

and thinks outside the box. Geiger is a great role model for anyone interested in learning more about brewing some ale or a career in the craft beer industry. She has worked alongside other brewers, producing and learning about a variety of beers. Geiger also does cellar work where she transfers and carb (carbonate) up beers.

Her duties include bottling and line cleaning as well. She loves all of the mechanical aspects of her job including being able to fix things when they break.

ing the mixture. She especially enjoys brewing with honey.

In 2005, she decided to go visit a new brewery in Grand Rapids, The Hideout, with a few of her friends.

(Unfortunately, this brewery is now closed). As soon as they walked in, they knew it was their new “home” away from home to hang out with each other. Geiger quickly became close friends with the original owners, Ken and Laura McPhail. They eventually hired her to work behind the bar.

From there, she transitioned into the brewery.

Through a collaboration with Bees in the D, Geiger recently created a Weiss beer called Honey Pants since it is made with local honey.

It is definitely an original brew with fresh tasting notes of light honey. This German Wheat is clean and refreshing.

In addition to Dragonmead and The Hideout, she has also worked and brewed beer at a couple other local businesses including Michigan Beer Cellar in Sparta (now closed, too), Pike 51 Brewing Company in Hudsonville, and Cedar Springs Brewing Company before moving to the Metro Detroit Area. She learned how to brew beer as she went along.

Geiger is doing what she loves and is following her passions.

She absolutely loves the smell of mashing beer (especially stouts), the process of combining a mix of grains with water and then heat-

In the spirit of cooperation and collegiality shared by brewers, Geiger has collaborated on some mighty fine, high quality brews with other local businesses and breweries giving her the opportunity to help put Dragonmead Brewery on the map. Dragonmead Brewery is known for its flagship beers: Erik the Red Irish Amber, Final Absolution Belgian Trippel, and Sin Eater Belgian Dark Strong.

Her latest brewing project was for International Women’s Collaboration Brew Day. Three Amigas, a Mexican Lager with lime, is slated for a Cinco de Mayo release. She collaborated with Kim Schneider from Batch Brewing in Detroit and Natalie Iseli-Smith from Founders Detroit. Hence the name, Three Amigas.

Geiger is a member of the nonprofit organization Fermenta, A Women’s Craft Collective which helps women by providing scholarships and resources. This specific nonprofit helps women feel more comfortable about being in the craft beer industry through education and networking. As one of the founding board members, it has been exciting for her to see all the opportunities that Fermenta has been able to offer women.

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There’s more--a lot more--than fruits and veggies growing at the historic Ed Dunneback & Girls Farm Market, located on the northwest side of Grand Rapids, about 10 minutes from downtown. The family-run and operated farm, founded by Edwin Dunneback in 1922, has long been a site of barn dances, weddings and other special events.

Dunneback girls continue family tradition Jon Becker MIBrew Trail

on the 170 acre, third and fourth generation fruit farm noted for its sweet and tart cherries, apples, strawberries and asparagus. Ginsberg grew up on the farm and has spent the better part of her life there. She has fond memories when, as a young girl, she used to help her grandfather Edward Dunneback out every day, milking cows and doing other chores.

Once a common sight across rural America, family farms have been disappearing like the sunset over Lake Michigan. Yet there is a multigenerational farm, located 10 miles outside of Grand Rapids in an area known as Ridge Country (prime conditions for growing apples), that has stood the test of time. Ed Dunneback and Girls Farm Market will, remarkably, enter centennial territory next year, continuing a family tradition of farming in Alpine Township that began in 1922.

“It’s a blessed thing,” said Stephanie Ginsberg, whose great-grandfather was the one who started the farm. “We’re happy to continue the tradition. I’m not saying it’s all doom and gloom because we’ve made it, but it’s not easy to keep farming. There’s only a small group of family farms left.”

Today the Farm continues to bring people together for live musical entertainment, including a popular fall farm concert series, Wednesday evening Team Trivia Nights, an Easter Egg Hunt for the youngsters and a variety of other family-friendly activities. As Stephanie Ginsberg, who grew up on the farm and lives and works there with her family says: “We call it agritainment. We do these things to help support and educate people on where food comes from and carry on a family tradition of farming and fun. Grandma and Grandpa loved music and dancing.”

You don’t have to venture far from the Dunneback Farm to see literally thousands of apple trees. The land’s elevation coupled with the proximity to Lake Michigan makes it fertile territory for apple growing.

“About 90% of Michigan apples are grown here,” said Ginsberg, whose mother Suanne has owned and operated the family farm for 40 years.

20 | www.MiBrewTrail.com

The family recently expanded their enterprise by opening a taproom, Pink Barrel Cellars, located in the taproom inside Ed Dunneback and Girls Farm Market. It sits

“My sister Sarah and I grew up on the north side of the farm, spending most of our extra time packing berries, pulling bush and helping with whatever the farm needed,” Ginsberg said. “I left corporate America 13 years ago and made my way back to the farm. I’ve been full-time ever since, growing the u-pick, activities and memory making in the barn.”

The Dunneback Girls-matriarch Suanne and her daughters Stephanie and Sarah not only work together — they all reside on the farm with their families. Sarah is a nurse but, with the addition of Pink Barrel Cellars, it won’t be long before she’ll return to the farm full-time as well, Ginsberg said.

See Dunneback on 33

MI Brew Trail | Spring 2021

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Arctic Circle an inviting place to drink a cold one Jon Becker MIBrew Trail Two Metro Detroit guys are nearing completion of a microbrewery that is only about 10 miles away from where they became fast friends in high school.

Devin Sills and Eric Lehman Jr., both 32, are putting the finishing touches on Arctic Circle Brewing Company, the taproom and brewery they are opening in Chesterfield Township.

“We hope to be open in 6-8 weeks,” Lehman Jr. said, a target date that would mean the brewery would be up and running sometime around mid to late May. “It’s taking longer because of COVID. We have some HVAC stuff to do but we’re getting closer.”

The name of the business stems from Sills’ and Lehman Jr.’s high school days at Macomb Dakota High School. Their circle of friends used to hang out in the basement of Lehman’s parents’ home.

It was so chilly it could have been mistaken for a meat locker.

“We used to call it the Arctic Circle,” Lehman said. “People used to come over in the summertime with sweatshirts on.”

The two longtime friends and now business partners signed a lease near their old stomping grounds in November of 2019. A few months later, the world was rocked by COVID-19. Yet, with the lease signed and their dreams too powerful to ignore, Sills and Lehman were not about to bail.

Their decision to forge ahead was further solidified when Lehman noticed a new, rather peculiar sight while driving around St. Clair Shores, where he lives.

“In January and February, with no indoor seating, I’m seeing people outside at breweries drinking beer in 20-degree weather with no food. I thought to myself, I think this industry is going to be OK. We never thought we were not going to do this. It’s always been our path.”

The two began home brewing in 2015. Lehman recalls it was NCAA Selection Sunday for the NCAA Div. 1 Men’s Basketball Tournament. They purchased all the home brewing equipment and gave it a whirl. The result was quite satisfactory.

“That first batch turned out so well, we thought maybe we can do this,” he said. “As Deven likes to say, once we brewed that first batch… We’re both from this area and saw a lack of breweries in our neighborhood. This is a heavily populated area and the nearest one is close to 10 miles away.”

Eric Lehman Jr. (left) and Devin Sills are all smiles in their nearly-completed tap room of Arctic Circle Brewing Company.

The two high school buddies began their craft beer journey home brewing and are now poised to become what is believed to be the Metro Detroit area’s only black-majority owned brewery.

According to Lehman, who is white, and Sills, who is Black, Arctic Circle will become the first majority-owned black brewery in the Metro Detroit area.

He’s the head brew master. They say don’t mix business with pleasure, but we’ve been friends for so long that we are confident this partnership will work.”

“Pretty crazy,“ Lehman said, “when you consider downtown Detroit and the fact that Michigan has over 400 breweries. “Devin sees this as a good challenge and a way to showcase a minority-owned brewery. “It’s a source of pride to him and it means a lot to me as well. Devin is family.”

The 3,500-square-foot brewery and taproom can probably be described as medium-sized. They hope to regularly offer eight to 10 beers on tap. Coffee stouts (Lehman’s personal favorite “although I don’t drink coffee”), fruited sours and IPA’s will serve as their mainstay selections of a rotating craft beer board Sills and Lehman plan to keep innovative and fresh.

A unique way to present old-style beer is one way they put it.

Lehman feels the two bring a nice blend of skills to the table to make this venture work.

“I’m the business guy, that’s what I studied in college,” he said. “I always wanted to get into business.

I handle the marketing and the behind-the-scenes operational stuff that Devin doesn’t care for.

22 | www.MiBrewTrail.com

They toyed with the idea of opening a kitchen but decided to leave that to the experts. Besides, their business is going to be located in a strip mall, on the northwest cor-

ner of 23 Mile Road and Gratiot Avenue. Patrons don’t even have to leave the mall area for a bite, as Buffalo Wild Wings, Tropical Smoothie, Applebee’s, Happy Pizza and Little Caesars are among the neighboring restaurants.

“Both of us like to cook but we don’t know anything about running a kitchen,” Lehman said. “We don’t want people to come to our place and not return because the food is bad.”

Arctic Circle will, however, work with local restaurants to bring “pop-up” kitchens on site.

“The restaurants are happy to see us here,” said Lehman. “We’re going to bring in more foot traffic and they’ve even offered to deliver food to our customers. With so many restaurants right here, it

didn’t make sense to do food.”

At 32 years of age, the entrepreneurs are opening a business that they envision becoming more than just a place known for its eclectic taste in beer. They plan to be around for a long time, sharing their mutual love of craft beer in a community-centric atmosphere.

“Beer is one portion of it (our business plan), but once we’re able to do so, our goal is to pack this place and as we continue to build create a community feel, then bring that outside of the brewery and help other members of the community,” Lehman said. “Devin and I obviously feel blessed to be in the position we’re in and once we get up and running we want to pass that forward to others.

That’s a big focus for us.”

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Stone Hound’s Brent Faber discusses opening brewery in a pandemic Karl Klockars MiBrewTrail In December 2019, bar manager Brent Faber bid farewell to his coworkers at Traverse City’s Filling Station brewery to launch his own brewery in nearby Acme.

A couple months later, head brewer Chris Cargill joined him from Short’s Brewing and started working to make their brewery dream a reality.

Weeks after that, the pandemic shut the world down.

Fast forward to late February 2021, when Stone Hound Brewing’s doors opened for the first time, serving up a variety of craft beers alongside their friends at Rad.Ish Street Food operating in the same space. What happened in between those two dates to get them to their opening date?

Was the extra time a benefit as well as a hurdle? And how does someone with years of frontof-house restaurant experience

design their own taproom?

We spoke with Faber about all that and more.

Q: Before we talk about the time spent trying to open Stone Hound, when did you officially decide that this was something you were going to undertake?

A: It was probably about three years ago. I wanted to do something for myself. I’d worked at the Filling Station for almost eight years, since they were opening, and learned a lot there. [But] I wanted to get my own stamp on something and have something that I could have a little more creative control and do things the way I wanted.

And so I started looking around and I knew unless a really great opportunity had come up in Traverse City proper, I knew that I didn't really want to be in town.

Just because there's 13 breweries in town now. Which is good, everyone's doing well, but at

24 | www.MiBrewTrail.com

the same time I was kind of just looking at the map and saying, “Alright, where do a lot of people live that's within striking distance to Traverse City, but there's a hole there.”

So I saw this place in Acme. I think people had kind of been scared away from Acme because they had [former brewery] Bravo Zulu out here which closed [about] five years ago. At the time [it closed], it was during the boom so it was kind of unheard of for a brewery to close. So I think that kind of scared people away from Acme, which was lucky for me because I saw the opportunity.

Q: What would Present Day Brent say to One-Year-Ago Brent about the process to try to get this open in the midst of everything that was happening in 2020?

A: Oh man. I wouldn’t have wanted to know how long it See Stone hound on 33

MI Brew Trail | Spring 2021

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L to R Michael Brower, Joel Kamp, Chad Doane

Merry Band of Misfits a perfect fit in Muskegon Jon Becker MiBrew Trail

local or adopted by the local community, a community that has rallied around us from day one.”

Three self-described “merry band of misfits” — a CPA, an attorney and an educational furniture designer — have meshed their personalities and skills to find a perfect fit as co-owners of Muskegon’s Pigeon Hill Brewing Company.

The trio didn’t let a lack of capital or experience step on their dream to own and operate their own brewery.

“When we opened our doors in downtown Muskegon we did it with more elbow grease than capital, and more determination than experience,” Brower said. “Certainly the community support — in the beginning especially — fueled our success.”

Joel Kamp, Michael Brower and Chad Doane, three Muskegon natives with a deep reverence for the community and its history, have led the company through an explosive period of growth since its inception in 2014.

Pigeon Hill Brewing Company did so well out of the gate that the three had to fast-track their plans to give up their careers to devote all of their work life to an establishment that has become one of Muskegon’s more popular community gathering spots.

“The growth has surprised us,” Brower, a onetime attorney now the flourishing company’s director of sales and marketing, said. “It’s exceeded our wildest expectations.”

Brower is the attorney, while his two Pigeon Hill co-founders were successful in

28 | www.MiBrewTrail.com

The majestic sand dune known as Pigeon Hill was located across the street from Lake Michigan Park. Legend has it that the dune soared some 300 feet into the air and covered some 40 acres at its base. The property once played host to thousands of passenger pigeons during the 1800s, thus earning its name. The landmark was sold by the D.D. Erwin estate to Nugent Sand Company who mined the hill from about 1925 to 1967. On the site now is Harbour Towne. Located on 71 acres, it is now considered one of Michigan’s finest condominium communities.

their own right in previous professions, Kamp as an accontant and Doane as a furniture designer for Holland-based Fleetwood, a furniture and electronics

manufacturer.

“It’s mind-boggling how well we all get along,” Brower said. “We’re all local boys and our Pigeon Hill ‘family’ is all either

For the first two years, its taproom served as the brewery’s sole production facility. Its small 3.5 barrel system (110) gallon ran at capacity to serve thirsty patrons and provide limited kegs to local bars.

“We opened our doors with what we could afford,” Brower said. “It’s a 3.5bbl brew house and we originally only had four 3.5bbl fermenters/four 3.5bbl brite tanks. We made it about three months before we realized we had created a monster and started having issues keeping a full tap. At that point, we added four 7bbl fermenters.”

One of their beers, Oatmeal Cream Pie,

MI Brew Trail | Spring 2021

The three co-owners of Pigeon Hill Brewing Company--Michael Brower, Joel Kamp and Chad Doane--walk through their new production facility, in downtown Muskegon. Having outgrown its previous brewing system, the trio opened this production facility in 2019 to keep up with demand for its products. Pigeon Hill distributes its beer to 1,600 different locations throughout Michigan and nearly 100 businesses in Florida.

a light brown ale with flaked oats and flavored cinnamon and vanilla, proved to be immensely popular.

offices and The Brewers Lounge. This will become our main taproom after undergoing renovations this summer.”

Shortly after opening in June of 2014, they ran out of the brown ale. It was intended to be a seasonal offering anyway. That didn’t sit well with customers.

The ability to consolidate operations at the new facility has made a world of difference.

“We tried to take it off the menu but the patrons revolted,” recounted Brower. “I say jokingly that the beer paid for our first production facility, but there really is a lot of truth to that. It’s still one of our most popular beers.”

This kind of demand for Pigeon Hill brews spurred expansion. In what they call a leap of faith, the craft beer enthusiasts purchased a vacant building one block away from their original site, a former Brunswick test facility. This began the company’s meteoric rise from a small local brewer to a production powerhouse whose Muskegon beer is distributed to some 1,600 locations in Florida and nearly 100 grocery stores, gas stations and party stores as well in Florida.

“We opened a new production facility in downtown Muskegon in May of 2019,” Brower said. “The facility houses our 20 bbl brew house, our 3.5bbl system, our

Volume 2 | Spring 2021

“It’s incredible to have our production team under one roof,” he said. “With our old production facility, our main system and pilot system were in different buildings — and our offices were a half mile away for a bit.”

Brower then breaks into a grin before adding: “It’s also really nice to have an office that’s not in a windowless basement and doesn’t require constantly moving a 5-gallon bucket to keep water from dripping all over my stuff.”

Today all Pigeon Hill beer is brewed in its new production facility, located one block off Western Avenue in downtown Muskegon. The popular brewery celebrated its seventh anniversary on March 21, where the eclectic trio of Brower, Kamp and Doane undoubtedly hoisted one of their finely crafted brews. Salted Carmel Porter, Oatmeal Cream Pie, Donut Stop Believin’ and Beach, Please are among some of their more popular offerings. The company, Brower said,

Pigeon Hill production facility built in 2019.

was founded on the ideals of community, tradition, and great beer.

“We have a saying about Muskegon: We take care of our own, and that’s really defined our vision since the early days,

when we set out to create space that was, more than anything, a community gathering space. As we’ve grown, we’ve See pigeon hill on 32

www.MiBrewTrail.com | 29

e is that

pproxi-

s approxi-

mber, and

Northern Michigan hops company blossoms into industry leader Jon Becker MIBrew Trail Back in 2008, IT Specialist Brian Tennis had an idea that had nothing to do with computers. Tennis was working for the iconic Michigan furniture manufacturer Herman Miller, but was drawing inspiration from a man he calls his hero, Larry Mawby, a Northern Michigan agricultural pioneer — and a fine winemaker to boot.

Tennis wanted to find out if the fertile grounds of the Leelanau Peninsula would be conducive to growing hops.

“I figured if Larry was crazy enough to plant grapes here, I would try to follow in his footsteps and plant hops,” Tennis said.

Farming is often a multi-generational family way of life where knowledge, experience and hardknocks lessons are passed on from generation to generation. That’s not the case here though.

“I’m a first generation farmer with no background in agriculture,” Tennis said. “Hops were really the first plant I ever grew on a commercial scale. When we planted the first commercial certified organic hop yard in Michigan it was more of an experiment to see if we could successfully grow hops on the Leelanau Peninsula.”

Tennis’ experiment was proving to be successful and he was faced with a decision.

“The business grew to the point where I had to decide on a career path,” he recounted. “I chose hops over computers.”

He then formed Hop Alliance in 2010 to process his own hops, as well as hops grown at other reputable farms across Northern Michigan. The company is based in Omena (Leelanau County) with of-

fices in Wixom and Livonia, a footprint that has seen it evolve from humble beginnings to become one of the largest independent hop suppliers in the country. It also has the distinction of being the oldest hop operation in Michigan, according to Tennis.

“We will celebrate our 14th anniversary harvest this year,” he said. “We started as a first-time farmer operation that was set up as a co-op to help encourage the growth of the Michigan hop growing industry and to help smaller farms process and market their hops.”

Today the full-service hop merchant grows, processes and markets Michigan-grown hops to over 4,000 accounts nationwide. The company’s impressive emergence as an industry leader doesn’t mean it has outgrown its roots.

“We are still focused on helping fellow Michigan hop farmers and consider it an honor to work with them,” he said.

The company also sells smaller one-pound hop packs to home brewers.

Hop Alliance has a smaller structural footprint than many of its competitors. Tennis views this as a competitive advantage.

“We can be nimble enough to rapidly adapt to market conditions.

We lean heavily on just-in-time logistics. We also don’t have enormous overhead and we don’t build up years of stale inventory.”

Nobody’s success story is strictly a solo venture and Tennis is quick to give credit where credit is due.

“The Hop Alliance would not be where we are without my business partners from Streetcar Ventures, Michael Collins and Michael Chetcuti,” he said. “They are among the most talented and brilliant people I know. Plus, they are a hell of a lot of

30 | www.MiBrewTrail.com

fun and great people.”

As an industry pioneer and leader, Hop Alliance has set a standard it attempts to live up to in every aspect of its operation.

“I truly believe we are unique,” he said. “You don’t see a lot of merchants carrying the selection we do and at the price point.”

Because there is no middleman, Hop Alliance is able to offer customers (or partners as Tennis prefers to call them) better prices.

“We work directly with the farmers,” he noted. “You also don’t see the customer service that we offer.”

Tennis wears the passion for what he does on his rolled-up sleeve.

“I love what I do,” he enthuses.

“I believe this passion translates throughout our organization. Our focus on Michigan hops is also something we love to boast about.

We helped start the modern hop industry here and still grow and process over 20 Michigan-grown hop varieties.”

Hops are the flowers, or cones, of a plant called Humulus lupulus, a member of the Cannabaceae family. They are a bittering, flavouring, aromatic, and stabilizing agent in beer. In other words, they provide beer flavor, aroma and preservation.

Hop Alliance prides itself on customer service and has assembled a team dedicated to this core principle. It employs a full-time hop yard manager and a logistics team that “excels at what they do,” Tennis said.

If you reach out to Hop Alliance you’re likely to reach the boss, founder and owner Tennis, not an automated recording with multiple prompts that, naturally, don’t provide the answers you’re seeking.

“Our customer service is industry leading,” he said. “We are small

Brian Tennis is the founder of Hop Alliance, one of Michigan’s first commercial hop farms. Formed in 2010, the Omena-based company has grown to become one of the largest independent hop suppliers in the country. The full-service merchant grows, processes and markets Michigan-grown hops to over 4,000 accounts nationwide.

enough where I still directly reply to emails and phone calls and provide quick solutions. Yet we’re also large enough to have the capital to grow to the scale where we can provide real value to our customers.

The fact that we have a dedicated full-time hop yard manager and a logistics team allows me to solely concentrate on procuring hops and brewer outreach.”

This division of responsibility, Tennis added, has allowed Hop Alliance to expand, but has more importantly, allowed “us to be laser-focused on quality.”

Tennis has a message for beer enthusiasts: “Please keep supporting your local breweries, especially the ones that have a Michigan hop focus. They need you more now than ever.”

MI Brew Trail | Spring 2021

Whiskey point from 7 because we're trying to produce enough of the basics right now [but] I would like to do some more things. Long Road distillery gets their juniper berries for the Michi-gin from Beaver Island, and I've got a property that has junipers all over it, that’d be fun to try something similar with a beer.

Q: Are there any other island-based breweries that you know of, and are any as remote as you are?

A: There’s pretty much just a handful. The one that I was using as a model is out in Maine, and it's on an island [Monhegan Brewing] — the main brewer is a lobster fisherman so they're only open when it's not lobster season. They're also affiliated with a brewery on the mainland [Lake St. George Brewing]. But yeah, there are not very many at all and we're definitely the only one in Lake Michigan. And I think we're the only one that's a brewery licensed in Michigan that's on an island in the Great Lakes.

Q: Have you ever reached out to talk shop with them, or anyone else who runs a really remote brewery?

A: I've been tempted to! I haven't quite yet [but] I have been in touch with the Copper Harbor brewery [Brickside Brewery]. I was in touch with them early on when I was planning, just trying to find out what they do to stay open year round. His advice was to just brew higher gravity beers in the winter so they keep longer, and hope for the best. [laughs]

body who flew a private plane from Fox island to Beaver Island, so that we could deliver beer to the airport for them to take back for their dinner. An airplane trip!

Just to get some beer.

Q: What's the hardest thing about running a brewery on an island?

A: Oh, that's a great question.

Yesterday, I actually had to come up with a new recipe because the ingredients we needed for our porter, which we were brewing yesterday, were sitting in Charlevoix because they get delivered by UPS — but planes hadn't flown much the day before, so they were backed up on passengers and freight. So we found out early on in the day that our freight wasn’t coming over.

So, I had a couple hours to come up with a recipe and so we ended up brewing a kolsch instead of a porter, because the hops were kind of the same and we had other things in stock that we could use. So that's the biggest challenge — the logistics. Like, “we ran out of co2, it's going to take three days to get some because we have to send a tank over and then get a tank back.”

Even our wastewater — we have to haul it all off site, so we have to get a permit for that. It's just extra hurdles that you have to do.

Q: People say art thrives in its limitations — do you think that working in this remote location has made you a better brewer?

A: I can't say that it makes me a better brewer, but I think it makes all of us better business owners in some ways. Nobody Q: What’s the wildest thing expected [the brewery] to be someone’s done to get to your huge — it was a huge success by beer since you’ve been open? island terms, [but we just ] wanted it to be a new social place on A: I find it really interesting — one of the things that I like about the island. The important part is that we're still making good the brewery culture Is the willbeer. People are still coming in ingness of people to travel. Like, and having a good time, and this [where] you're going to make whole island has a lot of pride in stopping every brewery you the brewery. That's wonderful. can find part of your itinerary. I wasn't at the brewery when it Editor’s note: This interview has been happened, but there was someedited for space and clarity.

Volume 2 | Spring 2021

Beaver Island Boat Company operates a scheduled automobile ferry service from Charlevoix during most of the year.

Daily service is available from May through September, and a more limited service is available October through midDecember. The ferry is closed from January through March.

www.MiBrewTrail.com | 31

wasn’t enough to quench her thirst for a vibrant work life.

“Corporate was not for me,” she said. “I was not meant to be sitting behind a computer screen.

I’ve worked almost every job you can think of at a restaurant.”

Seeking to return to the food & beverage industry in Chicago, Lynn made it to the final rounds of an interview process for a position with a restaurant/music venue but that opportunity went out the window when COVID-19 hit. It did, however, reinforce her desire to work in management at a place where music and food and beverage went together like a burger and a brew.

“That’s how The Workshop fell into place,” she said. “I started looking up restaurants/breweries that were also very involved in the music industry, specifically in Michigan. The Workshop was the first place that came up.”

Lynn reached out to Kirkwood.

The two met, did a coffee hike and everything fell into place after that.

“I owe all my success and happiness to the owner, Pete,” she said.

“He is a great boss and owner.”

Finding the perfect job may seem like an exercise in futility, but Lynn is convincing when she tells you she’s found just that at The Workshop.

Chicago native Katie Lynn feels right at home these days in Traverse City, where her vast experience in the food & beverage industry has made a world of difference at The Workshop Brewing Company. Lynn left a good corporate job to become the assistant general manager (in the middle of the pandemic) of the community-focused company.

Katie Lynn from 12 appealed to Lynn, there was something else that convinced her that it was time to leave Chicago.

“I lived in Chicago with my twin and near my younger sister for almost 10 years,” she said. “The pandemic actually more or less moved my sisters and me back

to Michigan. Chicago was just not the same Chicago.”

Lynn spent the last seven years there working a full-time corporate job but never totally got away from the restaurant business that she’s been involved in since her first job working as a dishwasher when she was about 13 years old. She was still working weekends at restaurants in Chicago but came to realize that

32 | www.MiBrewTrail.com

“My co-workers have been great to work with and lean on,” she said. “The job is different every day. I thrive on that. Go-go-go fits my personality very well.”

Opinions vary, from both a personal and business perspective, on how to deal with COVID-19.

At The Workshop, “We have taken COVID very seriously. Plexiglass around the bar and stage. Always sanitizing. Mask on when up and around.”

This approach has allowed the establishment to do what many other bar/restaurants have not managed to pull off during this prolonged pandemic: offer live musical entertainment.

she said. “Bands and solo acts are attracted to our COVID-friendly stage, and having a sound engineer (AJ) right at our fingertips helps tremendously as well.”

What about the beer?

“In my opinion, it’s the best in Michigan, thanks to our Head Brewer Mike and Assistant Brewer James. We have a lot of repeat guests coming back solely for their favorite IPA or ale.”

The Workshop has a limited menu, but according to Lynn, what they do offer is unparalleled.

“Chef Bret and his kitchen staff cook the best wings and empanadas in all of Michigan,” she said. “Even though it’s a small menu, what we prepare, we do very well.”

Jazz Shows and Trivia Nights are a hit and the brewery’s wholesaling business servicing 10 different Traverse City locations has been a highly successful endeavor as well.

As much as Lynn thrives on the manic energy of the Big City, she’s clearly at a great place with her new life in Northern Michigan.

“It’s nice to be somewhere where I can just drive to the grocery store or to the gym and not plan and pack my whole day around it. I also really like the people here. There are a lot of other fun places to go — and I’ve only scratched the surface.”

Kirkwood is grateful the stars aligned to bring Katie Lynn to his Workshop.

“She’s the best,” he said. “Katie is the living embodiment of everything our business stands for.”

“I just feel very blessed to be in this role in this day and age and really like my job,” Lynn said. “It took me awhile to get her and I feel very fortunate to have “Live music has been setting us apart from the rest of the venues,” gotten here.”

pigeon hill from 29 been lucky to have more and more opportunities to collaborate and help out other businesses and community members.”

Pigeon Hill began with one fulltime employee, one part-timer and a number of part-time bartenders. Now it employs 19 people, 12 of whom are full-timers. It’s truly become a shining example of what’s right about Michigan’s burgeoning craft beer industry.

Muskegon is one of the state’s local municipalities that have approved social districts that allows patrons to purchase alcoholic beverages at licensed participating businesses and consume them within the designated “commons area.”

The state enacted this legislation in September of 2020 to help restaurants and bars that have been put on life support due to the COVID-19 crisis.

Count Pigeon Hill among its fans.

“It’s something our local chamber of commerce worked on years ago and we supported it then,” Brower said. “Despite all the woes that come with COVID, the resurfacing of this idea is a high spot. The community has rallied behind it, and the local businesses are all working together…”

As difficult as the pandemic-ravaged 2020 was, it did give the “Merry Band of Misfits” time to reflect on Pigeon Hill’s future.

“We had a fairly aggressive five-year plan in place going into 2020,” Brower said. ‘We had been on a crazy growth trajectory for seven years. At what point do we want to rein it in? We looked at being a lot more tempered in our growth.

We’re focusing on doing what we want to do not what we should do.”

MI Brew Trail | Spring 2021

Dunneback from 20 To truly appreciate this story, one centered on family, farming and fun (grandpa enjoyed his beer and dancing), a brief history lesson is in order — so please grab a beverage and enjoy the tale.

Ginsberg lives in the original farmhouse on the property with her husband, Matthew, and their three daughters, 3-year-old twins Lena and Leona, and Helen, 4. The historic farmhouse is where Ginsberg’s great-grandfather, founder Edwin Dunneback first lived. He had five sons and one daughter.

Edwin ended up passing the farm on to Ginsberg’s grandfather, Edward, who began hosting many barn dances, weddings and other events in the barn while selling produce. As Ginsberg tells the story, Edward and the woman who would become his wife met at a dance right here in their barn.

Sparks immediately flew.

to play a Saturday night barn dance at the farm. Grandma Helen came along to hear the music.

Grandpa asked her to dance and the rest is history. Grandma and Grandpa loved music and dancing.”

Ed and Helen went on to have three children, Pamela, Michael and the Dunneback Girls’ mother, Suanne. Before long, it’s the era of the Vietnam War and in 1968 Michael was drafted. As the only son on a farm, he could have easily gotten a farm deferment. But that wasn’t Michael’s way.

“He decided he was going to do his part for his country,” Ginsberg said. “Unfortunately, an enemy bomb struck the tanker he drove and Michael was severely wounded. He never made it home.”

“My Grandmother Helen’s mom had a band, ‘Ma Loveless and the Boys’ out of Ada. They were hired

“My mother was a senior in high school when it happened,” Ginsberg continued. “She went on to earn a degree in social work from Western Michigan University. Not long after, she felt the calling to come back to the family farm. She has been running the farm now for the past 40 years.”

stone hound from 24

again.”

As far as things we could have done probably to get the doors open more quickly? We lost two months, two solid months where we didn't have any contractors or anybody in the building. And then when things open back up, these guys schedule stuff out to try to maximize their time so they had a bunch of jobs backed This just went from being this up and they were working three a great business plan — you jobs at once. So we might see know, I didn't have any plan our electricians for two weeks for distribution. It was all about straight, and then we didn't see taproom sales, keeping it small, ‘em at all. And it was hard to get keeping it a community brewery. our drywall — they couldn't get So it went from this great thing the type of drywall that they with a ton of potential to being usually like because there's supply like, “Man, if I started on a year ago chain shortages everywhere. on the project, it's the absolute In the end, the weight was really last business that you want to killing me for a while but once be starting at this point,” with we opened the doors, all that everything [being] so uncertain.

But at that point we were already disappeared. This place was alive, it wasn't the finish line anymore. It deep enough in that it was like, was the starting point. “we're just gonna hold up and see how this quarantine goes and Q: On the flip side of that, what then kind of start plugging along did the extra time give you a was going to take, because that would have deflated me. But it was almost exactly a year ago, that's when the whole shutdown happened. I was meeting with my business partners that day, when all the restaurants and everything had to shut down.

Volume 2 | Spring 2021

Following Michael’s death, his father Ed couldn’t bear the name of the farm at the time, Dunneback & Sons, so his daughter Pam repainted the barn, Ed Dunneback and Girls.

He ended up passing the farm down to one of his five sons, Edwin, and his wife, Helen.

When Edwin took over, he hosted many barn dances, weddings and other events while selling produce in the farm market.

Today the farm remains the site of all kinds of fun activities, ranging from a live Fall Concert Series, live music every Friday, U-Pick fruit and veggies, wagon rides and Corn Maze, among other things.

The farm also hosts school groups and company outings for folks interested in getting an up-close look at farm life. You can also view animals, visit the gift shop and, of course, enjoy a craft beer in the microbrewery “The Girls” started pouring from in 2017. Their Dad, Steve, a builder, built the brew house where they produce three hard ciders, eight beers, and two chance to do that maybe made you a little bit more prepared?

A: We changed the layout of our tap room a little bit.It's one thing when you're talking to the architects and having them draw up your idea, but once we had the space starting to come together since it was moving at a slower pace we were like, “Oh well, you know, I wish the customers were right next to our POS system...”

And then looking at it when once we got the equipment in place we [said] we could add two more tables here, and it actually makes the space seem a lot better.

Little things like that, [where] if construction had been going maybe at a normal pace, we might have looked at it and thought, “Oh crap, we could have done something better.” We didn't really have a plan for how we were going to paint everything, so we had a lot more time to play with that. I started in my office, I got some colors to match our

seltzers. The barn that houses both the brewery and farm market was built in 1938 — so much history here!

“Our three staples are Dunneback Blonde, 5167 Ridge PA and their ever-popular Honey Crisp Ale“ Ginsberg said. “It’s a unique blend with honey crisp and apple juice.”

“It didn’t even have indoor plumbing. We’ve had many additions put on through the years,” she said. “My sister built a home on the other side of the property where she and her family live. It’s like a family compound.”

Many local youngsters get their first taste of working life at Ed Dunneback & Girls Farm.

A Wednesday Team Trivia Night is beginning to catch on as well.

They do have a kitchen (burgers and pizza is popular) that is run by a cousin, Kimberly.

“In the fall, we give a lot of young kids their first job,” Ginsberg said.

“It’s kind of a community staple.

They pick apples and pumpkins and help with the events we run events here.”

Their head brew master, John Stewart, is one of the few employees who is not a family member.

He previously worked at Perrin Brewing Co. and New Holland Brewing Co.

How do the families manage to both live and work on the historic farm?

“He is really good,” Ginsberg said. “I used to follow him around to see how he did it.”

“Maybe that’s why we started making our own beer. We must really love each other, at least most of the time, maybe?” she said, smiling.

“Now we have great-grandkids working here,” enthuses Ginsberg.

“We are the fourth generation with the fifth generation coming up through the ranks.”

Ginsberg and her family live in the original farmhouse that was built in the 1880s.

The Farm is located at 3025 6 Mile Road, Rapids, MI. Call 616-7840058 for additional information.

brand colors and then just started painting my office. I'm the only one who has to see this room really, so I just started throwing up paint and a couple little fun things out there.

the back, in the salad kitchen and dish room. So in the summertime when that place is crazy and you're hauling a rack of glasses through a crowd — I was just like, no, I'm not putting the dish machine in the kitchen here. It’s going to be at the bar.

I [also] knew where I wanted to put stuff [behind the bar] just because I wanted to be able to run with a minimal number of people — not just to save myself on payroll, but just because it's so hard to find staff up here. It's been cool to see it in action.

So that's just two steps — you take it out, put it on the drain board, throw it on there, let them cool and then the bartender turns around to the shelves right there for glasses. [We’re] just trying to eliminate as many steps and be Q: What did you do to make things behind the bar smoothly able to keep the bar staff behind the bar, so they can just engage with a minimal presence back with people that come in. there? And how has business been since finally opening up?

And I think my initial sales projections was maybe doing 200 A: [I was] looking at other breweries I've frequented, and also my barrels in the first year, which I thought we'd definitely be able time in the Filling Station. That to hit. I’ll have to look at it after we building was a train station right get through our first full month with a brewery shoehorned in. and really see, but I think we're Some things just had to be the way they were there, but our dish gonna shatter that. machine for washing glasses was down a ramp, down a hallway, in

Editor’s note: This interview has been edited for space and clarity.

www.MiBrewTrail.com | 33

Brew review from 14

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Five Shore Brewing opened last year with a bang, but quickly had to alter their business model on the fly due to the state wide shutdown. Ordering beers at the bar quickly changed to calling ahead for curbside carry outs. With canned four packs of beer like Benzie Original Lager, Running Circles NEIPA, and their Precious Cargo Fruited IPA series, they kept our taste buds entertained while we anxiously waited for the doors to open once again.

June came and those doors swung open.

Well, kind of: All seating was moved outdoors. One change they made during the shutdown was converting the large space next to the brewery into a hopping beer garden. Pun intended! It was summer time up north. Why wouldn’t you want to sit outside and drink great beer? The guys added numerous picnic tables safely spread out, with a line of people waiting to be seated.

Oliver explained, “Running a new brewery during a pandemic was literally making it up as we went along. Each week was different from the last.” Although Five Shores saw many wins throughout the summer, they never wanted to anticipate consistent wins to come. Not knowing if or when another shutdown was coming.

Winter arrived along with the second shutdown. Across the state no one was allowed indoors to enjoy their craft beer or food. So, Oliver and Matt had a large tent constructed over the beer garden. Wondering who if anyone would want to sit outside in the frigid temperatures drinking beer? To their surprise, they were blown away by the amount of people that huddled around a fire sipping cold beer while eating sandwiches with gloves on. The ultimate sign of great beer.

Make it and they will come! Year two for the brewery is underway with only good things on the horizon.

Along with Oliver’s beer, Five Shores also offers Michigan made ciders, meads, and wine. They have a delicious small plate menu that includes both vegan and gluten free options. With food and beverage items for your little ones.

Be sure to add Beulah, Crystal Lake, and Five Shores Brewing to your summer to do list. Make a weekend out of it to include Stormcloud Brewing Co., St. Ambrose Cellars, and Lake Ann Brewing Co. Create your own an all-Benzie County brew tour. It’s such a great area of the state to explore. Like one Michigander once sang, “it’s summer-time in northern Michigan.”

MI Brew Trail | Spring 2021

There has never been a more

IMPORTANT TIME to SUPPORT your local MICHIGAN BREWERIES.

Join us in sharing conversations and stories about Michigan breweries by listening to our new Michigan’s Great Beer State podcast! Check it out at MiBeer.com or wherever you find your podcasts.

To find breweries near you go to MiBeer.com.

Volume 2 | Spring 2021

www.MiBrewTrail.com | 35

BORN & BREWED IN MICHIGAN The Big Pitcher is our corporate giving platform designed to give back to the causes that mean the most to us. All causes we support fall under three categories: Social Justice, Environment and Arts & Culture and range from local, MI-based organizations to those that operate on a national-level. So, you can feel good knowing that the beer in your fridge tastes great and the people that made it are making the world a better place with your support.