Did this Kalamazoo College Make the First Student-Brewed Beer to Ever Earn a GABF Medal?

The Sustainable Brewing program at KVCC recently won a bronze medal at the Great American Beer Festival in the Contemporary Gose category.

Karl Klockarsr MiBrewTrail

On September 10th, Brian Lindberg and his team did something that perhaps no one else has done in the history of the Great American Beer Festival: They earned a GABF medal for a beer brewed by a college brewing program. Feel free to double-check our research, but we searched every single year of GABF medal winners (all posted here) and we couldn’t find a single reference for “university,” “college” or any other better-known brewing curriculum (like the program at UC-Davis, for example). Lindberg is the Sustainable Brewing Instructor at Kalamazoo Valley Community College, which took home a Bronze Medal for their “Sour Flower” contemporary gose; a fairly competitive category, with 118 entries from around the country. After all the judging was completed, the KCVV beer was bested only by Pennsylvania’s Workhorse Brewing and Iowa’s SingleSpeed Brewery. Not bad for a student recipe, brewed by college students! So … how does a community college put together an award winning recipe? What did they need to do to get their beers entered into the competition? What else did they send for judging...and are their students planning to go pro? We chatted with Lindberg in the wake of his team’s big win:

MiBrewTrail: Let’s start by talking about your program in general. What does KVCC’s brewing certificate look like?

Brian Lindberg: We started about six years ago, and the idea behind our program was [that] you’ve got these universities that really get deep into like the science of brewing, and we want to come from more of a practical approach. We want to bring in your weekend warrior home brewer, or a student that’s never brewed a batch of beer, and give them the education they need and the practical experience they need to get there, you know? Enough to be dangerous in the craft brewing industry. And to excite them, so maybe they do want to go on to UC-Davis or Western [Michigan University] or some of the schools that have in-depth, scientific programs that deal with microbiology, biochemistry and the stuff that melts most people’s brains when it comes to science. We’ve got a taproom on campus that sells our student beers; it lets students get in the building, work all the time on our little brew system and bring it through from grain to glass, and then to have the experience of actually serving that behind the bar to patrons. Now, obviously COVID has kind of slowed that down a little bit but we’re getting back there. Right now it’s an exciting time to be a student and also it’s an exciting time to be an instructor again.

MBT: And how did you find yourself at the helm of this program?

BL: Honestly, right before the program started was my first experience in the brewing world. I started my professional career as a microbiologist, working for places like Amway, Old Orchard juice brands - being a quality assurance personnel. I got kind of sick of that and I saw this opportunity at Saugatuck Brewing Company, where they needed someone to run their quality department. So I somehow convinced them to give me a job having zero beer background; maybe I had homebrewed once in my entire life. I took off running there, and the farther I got into it, the more I realized that a lot of people understand what they’re doing, but, but not why they’re doing these things. Like, you ask a brewer, “so why are you mashing at 67 degrees Celsius?” And they’re like, “well it’s because the recipe tells me to.” But why, you know? People struggle with the “why,” and so I

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found myself learning a ton but I wanted to understand the mechanisms behind why we’re doing this thing. So, short story getting longer, I was one of the first students of Kalamazoo Valley Community College’s sustainable brewing program, and fell in love with it. You know, loved it. I related really well with the full time instructor at the time, Mike Babb. We call him The Godfather because he kind of put the brewing program together; he was the mind behind it all. And about six months into taking classes, [Babb] approached me and said “we need someone to put our brewery together - would you be interested in being a staff member?” At the time I was like, “Man, I’m not qualified for this, I just got into brewing.” But he assured me, he saw a lot of potential in me and so I took the job and basically put together the little brewery there on campus. I taught some classes here and there, and figured out I really wanted to be a full time instructor. [But] I actually quit and I went and opened a brewery up in Grand Rapids with a family ownership team [Two Hops Brewing Company], and did that for about a year. Eventually there came to be an opening for an instructor at KVCC [and] I felt like the year of repetitive brewing on a commercial scale really gave me the knowledge to be a good instructor. I applied for the job, became an instructor and now this is the beginning of my fourth year.

MBT: Was this the first year that you sent beers for GABF judging?

BL: This is my first time personally entering beers in GABF. Previously, we had been entering beers in the US College Open beer competition; it piggybacks off the professional US Beer Open competition. The real barrier to entry for us was that until fall 2019 we weren’t a “real brewery.” We didn’t have a brewing license or brew pub license - we were this weird little brewery that was for an educational purpose and

Volume 4 | Fall 2021

so we weren’t able to sell any of our beer. We had to dump it all down the drain until that point [when] we finally got [legally] recognized as a brewpub. So we open our tap room, people start coming in … and then 2020 happens and everything shuts down. And we lose a lot of steam. Last summer we weren’t even allowed to be at campus because everything was so shut down. So this year, summer came around and our head brewer Elijah [Giles] was very keen on getting some beers in a competition that he was able to brew. So what we did is, over the summer, we took student recipes from the past and “rebooted” them. Why we chose this beer specifically was last year we had students brewing in the fall for their practicum, which is the capstone class we offer. Students have gone through all the other classes, their last class is to come in, they design beers and every day we’re brewing a batch of beer that they’ve assigned. One of our students, Teddy [Woznicki], had this idea for this hibiscus, strawberry and lime gose that he wants to make. So we came up with the recipe, we threw it in the fermenter, we put it on tap, and people loved it. We literally had people tell us, “this is an award winning beer - you need to enter this in GABF.” So, this summer, Elijah brewed Teddy’s gose again, we entered it in GABF and lo and behold, it ended up bringing home a medal! Which was a huge accomplishment, especially [since] we weren’t actually going to enter. But our head brewer Elijah was just very adamant that he wanted to get student beers in this competition and if not for him, we probably wouldn’t have actually even entered it.

MBT: Did you reach out to Teddy to tell him you were entering his recipe? Or did you let that be a surprise?

BL: Yeah, we let him know we’re

See Kalamazoo on 37 KVCC student, Bailey White working in the onsite facilities.

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is well known for their unique approach to beer thanks to talented founder Ron Jeffries. who creates open fermented, barrel blended masterpieces that are unlike any other beer you will find. La Roja is one of their signature offerings and is a great place to start your journey into sour beers. A gorgeous deep amber color, La Roja is brewed in the Flanders style, and then takes a siesta in bourbon barrels anywhere from 2 to 15 months. The liquid then gets blended together mad scientist style until the perfect combination is reached. This is kind of like wild west brewing, as conditions and natural ingredients change through the process, but under the skilled hands of Jeffries it all turns into magic in your glass. La Roja will draw you in with its aroma of caramel, hints of spice, and a bit of woodsy funk. Take a sip, and you’ll also get fruit notes, a bit of astringency, and some definite sour punchiness. It is wildly unique, and is an interesting, and perhaps unexpected beer to try this fall season. Also, keep your eyes open for a new beer from Jolly that they are rolling out this fall, Kiviuq Saison, which is brewed with lime and blackberry. As the weather gets colder, we move past the light lawnmower beers of summer, and welcome brews that have higher ABVs. This is time of year when I enjoy cracking open a double IPA, or an imperial IPA, and with literally zero remorse, happily indulge in these lovely little flavor bomb alternatives to the classic IPA. If you are new to craft beer, don’t be alarmed when someone tells you that these beers get double the hops of a normal beer. They do. But they also get about double the malt bill as well, so the resulting beer is round and robust, well balanced, and a bit boozy. These beers are not overly bitter, and even if they say they have an IBU of something crazy like 114 IBU’s, they drink smoother than a regular IPA that might clock in at 70 IBUs. A great one to try is Brother Benjamin from Greenbush Brewing in Sawyer. Yes, this beer has 114 IBUs, but the addition of more malt, and a generous dollop of local Michigan honey transforms it into a wonderful warmer of a beer. And I do mean warmer, as the ABV on this one is a hearty 10.1%. You will get that honey, and booze, right on the nose at first. Then you will find notes of citrus, grapefruit, and slightly bitter hops, with an exhale of alcohol. A sipper for sure. Many local breweries will offer these big beers during the colder months, so seek them out, give them a try, We always love to hear what you’ve been drinking and loving from all over Michigan. Feel free to reach and out let me know what is good at amyonthetrail@gmail.com. Volume 4 | Fall 2021

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Pictured are Pasteis, Brazilian Deep Fried Appetizers, a popular menu choice at 3 Gatos Brewery in Wyoming, MI. 3 Gatos Brewery is the realization of the dream of its founders and owners, Linus and Renata.

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and authenticity. It’s about the European beer styles and the way they are brewed for decades in their original locations. And pairing them with their local authentic food. It’s not about doing crazy things like adding fruits to Kolsch.” The De Paolis opened 3 Gatos (cat in Spanish) on July 2, a launch that, of course, was delayed by a pandemic that won’t seem to vanquish. “One of the things we’ve learned in life is that it’s never the perfect moment to do anything, whether it’s to quit a job, change countries, change carriers, open a business, etc.” said De Paoli of their decision to forge ahead with their business plans despite COVID-19 challenges. “There is only the now and the conditions you have to live with to do what you want to do.” The De Paolis’ craft beer beginnings date back to the early 2000s when the first German Hefeweizens arrived in Brazil. In 2011 they started home brewing and a few years later they began entertaining thoughts of owning their own brewery but didn’t act on it. As life would have it, things changed in 2015 when job transfers took them from their native Brazil to Cologne, Germany. There they kept home brewing and in 2018, “I got more serious about home brewing,” De Paoli said. “I got myself Cicerone Certified, did some training and took courses on beer sensory and beer brewing at the VLB in Berlin.” By then the beer bug had taken serious hold. It was time to get some professional experience. “In 2019 I took a buyout package at my old job to start an internship as assistant brewer at a small brewery in Bonn,” said De Paoli. “At the end of 2019 we got a call from the owner of Kitzingen Brewery in Wyoming, Michigan-- who I met at one of the courses I did at the VLB. He was exploring selling his brewery.” Germany, where the De Paolis lived for six years, has a reputation for precision engineering with its beer-making prowess not far behind. “Germans are the experts in brewing nice and clean pale lagers,” he said. “Nobody does it better and has more attention to detail than German brewers. But in the last 10 years or so, the country has seen a growing and creative modern craft beer scene that is not shy about innovating.” Sounds a lot like the evolution of the Michigan Craft Beer Scene, which just so happens has put out its big welcome mat for 3 Gatos. “The response has been awesome,” said De Paoli. “It’s been much more than we anticipated.” The name 3 Gatos? “It came to us before we knew we were coming to West Michigan. At the time we were thinking about doing the brewery in Europe. So it needed to be in a language that most Europeans understand, hence Spanish (but also Portuguese as Gatos means the same thing in both languages.” Their unique name has a decidedly personal meaning to the former engineers. “It had to be about us, who we are and where we came from,” he explained. “And we have 3 cats we adopted in Brazil 10 years ago and brought to Europe and West Michigan with us.” Their beloved cats are the inspiration behind the brewery’s name and logo. The couple’s experience living abroad and experiencing different cultures in countries like Germany, Belgium, Italy, Denmark, Netherlands and the Czech Republic helped shaped their vision for what they want 3 Gatos to be all about. Brazil, though, will always be home. “Brazil is our homeland, so we loved it there and miss it,” De Paoli said. “Germany was also awesome. The level of social justice, equality and inclusion and work/life balance is unmatched. And the beer, of course. Since Germany is also at the heart of Europe traveling to these other countries was a breeze.” Only open since July 2, 3 Gatos is already noted for its ambience, a place where patrons can feel right at home and relax over good beers and delicious authentic Brazilian comfort (street) food. Coxinha (chicken dumplings) and the Bauru, a popular Brazilian Roast Beef sandwich, are customers’ favorites. The brew pub has 11 beers, two ciders, 1 seltzer and 1 nitro cold brew coffee on tap. It will consistently offer its Minskin Kolsch, Foldex Hefeweizen and either the American Bobtail Double IPA or the Toyger IPA. “Because we lived in Cologne, Germany for 6 years it has to be the Minskin Kolsch, “ De Paoli said of his personal favorite. “For international food, we have a pork schnitzel sandwich. We have made a Jaggerschnitzel special and will make Belgian meatballs and Carbonade a la Flamande soon.” The De Paolis are thrilled to be able to share their Brazilian culture and European life experiences through food, beer and conversation at the former Kitzingen Brewery that they reinvented in their own image. “We want to create a culture of openness, inclusiveness, diversity and relaxation while having a good time with friends, old and new,” De Paoli said. “We have the perfect team here working with us. They are awesome with customers and fully embrace our values and culture.”

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stronger beers for the heavy hitters as well, such as our strong scotch ale, Kilted Pecker (8.3 ABV). Hoppy Pecker (5.6 ABV), a very mild brew, and Cherry Popper, a light wheat ale infused with tart cherries are a few other popular customer choices. “It’s crisp and light with no artificial flavors,” Olsen said. “Everyone likes it. It’s delicious.” On a recent Thursday night Derek and Jennifer Olsen got an early glimpse of what the Salty Pecker seems on track to become: a hotspot for locals to gather to watch the big game or for tourists who enjoy a taste of what the noted West Michigan craft beer scene has come to represent. “I just tapped a butterscotch porter (6.2 ABV) last night and think everyone who came in ordered one,” Olsen said. “We have about 4,000 Facebook friends. It’s dark, roasty and mildly sweet. Good for the colder months.” Salty Pecker doesn’t serve food but is food friendly, meaning patrons can bring in their own grub. “We’ve partnered with a couple of Food Trucks,” Olsen said. “That’s worked out well.” The brew house, due to popular demand, has already expanded its hours one month since opening. Originally open Thursday through Saturday from 4-10 p.m., Salty Pecker is now open from 1-6 p.m. on Sundays. “The support has been amazing,” Olsen said. “Much love to our community.”

MI Brew Trail |Fall 2021

Bell’s employees all pitch in for the hop harvest. Here, the hops are stripped from their bines using a hop harvesting machine. This is the first year that Bell’s has had their very own machine to use, and it has allowed the team to brew three different beers this year. BEll’s Brewery from 17

hops needed for the upcoming year. This year, the hops that the team harvested from their own farm will once again be going into their seasonal brew known as Sideyard. The big difference this year is that there will be three different versions of the beer. Thanks to the purchase of a hop harvester machine, which strips the hop cones from the bines automatically, Bell’s has been able to time out the the harvesting of three different varieties of hops, picking them at the peak of ripeness for each kind, and getting those fresh hops directly into the kettle within hours of picking. The traditional offering, Sideyard Ale, will be released at the Eccentric Cafe and store on October 8. It will also be in limited distribution throughout the lower Peninsula, Ohio and Indiana at better bottle shops. The Crystal and Triumph versions will only be able to be found at the General Store in bottles and the Cafe on draft. All versions will have been bottled, kegged or canned within 12 hours of the hops being picked. “This is a great team, and it is a great time to be a team,” said Mallett about the hop harvest. “Being able to do fresh hop beers, it’s just great. We’re bringing hops from hanging on the wire, to putting them in the kettle in a matter of a couple of hours. You just can’t do that with hops from Germany or Washington.” • Sideyard Triumph Ale (6.5% ABV): 6-packs of 12 oz. bottles will be available starting at 11 a.m. on Sept. 30. The Café will have it on draft starting at 3 p.m. • Sideyard Ale (6.8% ABV): 4-packs of 16 oz. cans will go on sale and on tap at the Café at 11 a.m. on Oct. 8. • Sideyard Crystal Ale (6.5% ABV): 6-packs of 12 oz. bottles, along with draft pours, will be available starting at 11 a.m. on Oct. 15. Amy Sherman is a regular on the MiBrew Trail. She graduated from Aquinas College and promptly headed into the kitchen, where she was a working chef for over 20 years. Running her own business, Two Chicks and an Oven, she’s worked the line, baked wedding cakes, catered, consulted, and taught cooking classes all over Michigan. She was the host of the television show Great American Brew Trail, as well as the co-host of the award-winning radio show Behind the Mitten. For the last five years, she’s been a journalist at some big media company, eating and drinking her way across the state. She resides in Grand Rapids with her hubs, three perfectly awesome kids, and two crazy cute chihuahuas.

Amy Sherman plants lips on one of her favorite beers, a Founders Porter.

Kalamazoo Valley Community College has its own brewery, part of the hands-on training that students in the school’s Sustainability program receive that prepares then for a wide range of skilled positions in the brewing industry.

Volume 4 | Fall 2021

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doing this again - because the beer was just that good. And so he was excited but again, we tried to temper that excitement a little bit. You know, this is a huge competition, and any sort of fruited sour category is super competitive. So we made sure he knew … but as soon as you know we got the notification that we won, yeah, it’s been crazy ever since. It’s been just a crazy cool experience for that student group that all worked together to help Teddy make that recipe, but then you know the students right now are super pumped about it too. This is something that you can potentially have on your resume in the future, you know? As long as you’re showing up to class, you’re doing the work, you’re spending the time, we could potentially put one of your beers in GABF. And you could win. Throughout this entire process, I just really want to stress that this wasn’t an instructor beer, this wasn’t a long-time trained brewer that made this beer. This is a student recipe, designed by a group of students, headed by Teddy. he was the head brewer for this batch, and you know we just helped facilitate it in whatever way we could to make sure that the beer could get out there to people. It was a student-led thing.

MBT: Did you send any other beers to GABF, or just the gose?

BL: Actually we sent four beers, mainly just because it’s pretty expensive to send beer. I was surprised the school actually let us send any. So we sent the fruited gose, we sent just a standard IPA, we sent a barrel aged stout ...

MBT: An IPA and a barrel-aged stout? You guys were taking some big swings.

BL: Oh, yeah. And this is the one we actually thought we were going to have the best chance of winning: a German smoked beer rauchbier. And the student used peated malt, which is a very hard ingredient to use because it comes through so strong and aggressive. But it just came out to be a super beer. [And] we ended up winning, in the end, one of the ones that we expected to just get wiped out in.

MBT: So now that you guys are a GABF award-winning program, have your students had any conversations about taking that experience and leveraging that and opening up their own space?

BL: At this point [there] honestly hasn’t been much conversation.

Every student that comes to our program, I feel like they already have their hopes and dreams of opening their own brewery. And so I’m sure

Teddy has in the back his head, “Man, you made this good recipe, this is a jumping off point to help open a brewery or open my own.” And I know Elijah, we work pretty closely together - he hopes to do it too but they’re both very level headed, humble brewers, and they’re taking it one step at a time.

Teddy’s super adamant about finishing his four year degree at Western, Elijah’s super adamant about finishing his Associates at KVCC, and so I haven’t heard any buzz about if they’re gonna move on and do anything crazy outside of school. They’re pretty adamant about finishing their education before jumping out and getting started in the industry. So, I think that’s a really cool thing too - to see that they haven’t let this get to their head.

This interview has been edited and condensed. www.MiBrewTrail.com | 39

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“With that came the need to add more tour directors to lead our events, which primarily happen on Saturdays,” he said. “West Michigan Beer Tours continues that work today and we have expanded to fields including event management, and marketing and communication assistance with our industry partners.” The company’s tour directors include Liberty and a “group of beer-loving independent contractors who are as passionate about discovering new Michigan beer as providing thoughtful service to our guests,” he said. “I’m fortunate to have a team of really great people, who also happen to know beer really well, helping to make our experience so rewarding.” There are a number of other tour operators around the state, but Liberty maintains that “we pride ourselves on our meaningful connections with brewery owners and staff earned over more than 15 years in the craft beer industry. We provide public walking tours and public bus tours, along with private bus and walking tours on request.” The company’s annual Halloween Bus Tours return this year on October 29 and October 30. It’s based in downtown Kalamazoo and features seasonal drinks, scary brewery décor, a fun-filled forest and a ghost-dwelling brewery. “Through our customized private tours or our specialty public bus tours, including the Hop Harvest Beer Tour and Halloween Beer Tours, we provide quality beer-drinking events in a safe and responsible manner,” he noted. West Michigan Beer Tours just concluded a typically busy summer season marked by private trips along the Lake Michigan shoreline and its popular walking tours. They also added Makers Mark Tours in Kalamazoo, highlighting local spirit, wine and beer producers in one event. “Many travelers head to West Michigan for bonfires, beaches and beer during summer. We’re happy to see them when they do. But the fall is pretty fun, too.” Owning and operating a brewery is an expensive and complicated undertaking requiring capital, creativity and plain old hard work. “A lot of people who are relatively new to craft beer are astonished by the costs associated with opening a brewery,” Liberty said. “During production tours, people often ask our brewery partners how much their equipment costs and are generally stunned by the upfront costs just to make beer. They also discover the amount of time and effort that goes into cleaning and maintaining their production space. Those aspects, as well as dealing with supplies and maintenance, tend to open a lot of eyes.” West Michigan Tours is successful but it is careful not to get ahead of itself with any grandiose plans to expand across the state. “We stick to what we know, which is the west side of the state,” he said. “We cover beer communities from Grand Rapids, Three Rivers, Battle Creek and South Haven, to Muskegon and Bridgman—and every point in between. As evidenced by the seven Great American Beer Festival medals earned by this side of the state, we’re pretty happy to showcase the quality beer here.” And Mi Brew Trail is happy to showcase yet another element of the state’s craft beer industry.

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Saucy Brew Works is noted for its wide selection of craft beers but also has an extensive menu that includes salads, sandwiches, its signature thin-crust pizzas and stone oven baked wings.

Saucy Brew from 10

cause who doesn’t love pickles on a pizza? And the Bees Knees, which is topped with crushed red pepper and a honey drizzle to give it a touch of sweetness with a kick of spice.” Guests can enjoy an eclectic offering of beers, everything from classic German and American beers, to experimental yeast and wild type brews. The brewery’s three signature can beers are Habituale, a Kolsch-style golden ale; Juicy Asap, an American IPA; and Love you, Bye, an Imperial IPA. “We have something for everyone’s tastes,” said Nicholson. Yet Saucy’s growing brand is not just about beer. It officially launched Saucy Coffee in July 2020 and has since put a coffeehouse in each of their four new locations, including its downtown Detroit brewpub. “We’re a lifestyle brand,” he said. “We wanted those who are non-drinkers to be able to enjoy our products, whether at home, at the coffeehouse or the brewpub. We offer a full selection of craft coffee specialties, as well as our 12 oz. packages of House Roast and seasonal roasts such as Boo Thang, Pumpkin Spice Coffee.” There are growing pains with any new business, but opening a “brewpub and the first restaurant to open in Detroit in 2021 during the midst of a pandemic has definitely been an uphill battle,” Nicholson acknowledged. “But we’ve learned a lot this summer and we’re learning more and more about what our Detroit customers want to see from us. We’re pushing to deliver the best service and product possible and the feedback we have received so far has been great.”

MI Brew Trail |Fall 2021

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Volume 4 | Fall 2021

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www.MiBrewTrail.com | 41

The former firehouse’s back door now houses the original brewing equipment for The Mitten. Although they now have a larger production facility across the street, The Mitten still uses this system for small and experimental batches of beer.

Flagship beers at The Mitten include Country Strong IPA (shown here), Peanuts and Cracker Jacks ale, and Triple Crown Brown, a 2016 World Beer Cup Silver Medalist.

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down next of kin through obituaries to fill in the gap that was lost. “It was actually really cool,” said Trierweiler. “We’d look up people with the same last names on Facebook, and ask if there is any chance you are related. And they’d say, it’s my grandpa. And then they would come in with stuff we didn’t have.” Some of the former members of Engine House No. 9, and their families, have started donating their old equipment to the brewery. They’ve received helmets, fire coats, pictures and other memorabilia. The plan is to put these items on display as another nod to the building’s history. Their research has been so extensive that the Grand Rapids Fire Department has actually approached them about filling in some of its own gaps. “The fire department has used a lot of stuff that we’ve found,” Trierweiler said. Although the two have gathered extensive history, they said they aren’t yet qualified to be historians for the fire department. “We just had stuff they didn’t have, and we are definitely part of the cannon now,” Andrus said. In addition to finding many historical items, the owners also found a few interesting things during renovations. Interesting might not be the right word, I’m going to switch that up and go with downright creepy. During the first stage of renovations, Andrus was the last person to leave the building, and the first to return the next day. As he entered the main floor room, he found very distinct, small footprints that looked like a child’s winding around in a circle on the floor. There was no discernible entrance or exit of the prints, showing that whoever this was hadn’t entered or exited the building. Next up during construction on the upstairs, a perfectly preserved footprint that exactly matched those found on the floor previously, was found on a board behind a wall that had not seen the light of day in 126 years. The coincidence was so strange that they saved the board and preserved it, and it can still be seen today, as part of the bar upstairs. The owners have never found any solid evidence of why or who might be haunting the building. “It seems to be more poltergeisty or pranky,” said Andrus. “It’s not an ill-intentioned spirit. It seems to be more like random stuff happens. It’s almost playful.” In response to the multiple events that occurred, the brewery keeps a ‘ghost journal’ under the bar at all times. Any employee who witnesses something out of the ordinary can write down what happened in the book. It has multiple entries, everything from lights flickering to strange noises. Back in 2017, I spent the night at the Mitten with Trierweiler, Andrus and the Grand Rapids Ghost Hunters. A professional paranormal investigative team, GRGH came into the brewery with specialized equipment to record any and all events that might happen that night. I’m talking a lot of equipment. I felt like I was at an arena concert for The Rolling Stones when they got it all set up. Electric magnetic recorders, sound recorders, video cameras. It took up a sizable portion of the second story room at the brewery. I learned that there are two types of hauntings. The most common is a ‘residual’ haunting, which is when a building holds a special energy that is manifesting itself. A brick building like Engine House No. 9 where the Mitten resides tends to hold more energy than those of other construction. The other type of haunting is known as an ‘intelligent’ haunting, which means that there is an interaction between the dead and the living. Some spaces might have both, and a haunting doesn’t necessarily mean that there was a traumatic event that occurred there. The ghost hunters started our night off with a special line up of protective prayers, which I’ll say was probably the spookiest part of the night. We stood in a circle together, and it was then that I caught the eye of Andrus, and I think we both had a thought of ‘what have we gotten ourselves into?’ As we asked for the full armor of God to protect us, a very cold shiver ran up my spine. I needn’t have worried. Recordings were started, I grabbed a pint of beer to calm my nerves, and we started exploring the building, as the ghost hunters followed along with handheld devices. It was super cool to check out the basement, where you can still see many of the original implements from when they used horse drawn wagons. We went through every nook and cranny of the building for hours. At the end, we said another set of prayers asking any spirits not to follow us home. To this day, I hope they did not. During our night of ghost hunting, there were several spooky things heard on the recordings that were made. You can actually listen to them through a link found on The Mitten’s website. The

MI Brew Trail |Fall 2021

name John is heard, some humming, and a sigh. Were they made by an actual ghost? Believe what you want, but personally, having experienced it firsthand, I say most definitely maybe, quite possibly yes. Meaning, I didn’t hear these things with my own ears, they were picked up by super sensitive ghost hunting equipment. What I did see was lots of creepy shadows, felt cold presences, and watched Trierweiler let out a squeal and run up the stairs like a bolt of lightning when the light in the downstairs hallway flickered and went out. It was the most entertaining part of my night. Since our night of ghost hunting, things have “kind of gotten cold” around the Mitten according to Andrus. “It’s really quieted down,” agreed Trierweiler. The owners believe that the paranormal activity is mostly tied to whenever a big change happens to the building, and they haven’t made any major changes lately. So far, only the Grand Rapids location has experienced supernatural occurrences. Crazy, unexplained occurrences are not the reason to visit the Mitten. Getting to indulge in incredible pizza and fantastic beer is, and it is a compelling one. Beers range the whole spectrum, and have baseball inspired names that unless you are a true fan, you might not always understand, but you will enjoy. Docks No-No is a big and bad double IPA, the Stretch is an easy drinking golden ale, Sweet Lou a creme brûlée imperial stout, and West Coast Swing comes in with notes of caramel. Triple Crown Brown, their version of a classic English Brown Ale, won silver in 2016 at the World Beer Cup. If Peanuts and Cracker Jacks is being poured, grab a pint of this unique brew and dream of a summer day at the stadium. Pizzas here are top notch, with hand stretched dough and homemade sauce providing the base for fresh toppings. These also follow the baseball theme. The Heater comes in hot with a habanero pepper sauce, spicy andouille sausage, jalapeños and banana peppers. Field of Greens is a vegetarian’s delight as it gets topped with artichoke hearts, broccoli, green peppers and roasted garlic. They always offer a specialty pizza of the week, but for me, the clinch hitter is the pizza flight. Pick any four of their specialty pizzas, and the Mitten will bake them up to perfection, and serve them up hot and bubbly on a big tray, for the ultimate sampling experience. “All of this was worth it,” said Trierweiler. “We undertook all of this with a purpose, and it was worth it. We had a vision and goal, and we were driven.” Whether you believe in ghosts or not, it really doesn’t matter at The Mitten. Come to experience an amazingly renovated historical building, chock full of cool baseball memorabilia. Wait for your table in an original Tiger’s Stadium seat, check out some of the firehouse’s history, and then tuck in to great food and beer. Whatever spirits might be here, I’m pretty sure they are all in for a good time, which you most definitely will have at The Mitten. Mitten Brewing Company 527 Leonard St NW, Grand Rapids, MI 49504 616-608-561 Mittenbrewing.com

There are two levels of seating at The Mitten, a popular brewery found on the West side of Grand Rapids.

Volume 4 | Fall 2021

The former firehouse’s back door now houses the original brewing equipment for The Mitten. Although they now have a larger production facility across the street, The Mitten still uses this system for small and experimental batches of beer.

This ghostly image of a footprint is permanently a part of the upstairs bar at The Mitten. Found during demolition of a wall that had not been opened in 126 years, it matched other mysterious prints found years earlier.

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