Mi.Craft.Beer.Culture I s s u e # 1 Au g u s t 2 0 1 4
Drink local, Eat local, Create local Our mission is to further the Michigan craft beer industry by fostering connections between brewers and their communities, highlighting the thriving craft beer, agricultural, recreational, art, music and food cultures in Michigan. Cheers!
Features
5 Detroit Festivals
Arts, Beats and Eats - Dally in the Ally Jazz Fest - DIY Street Fair
11 Atwater in the Park Patti Smith visits the beautiful new
Atwater space in Grosse Pointe Park
12 Ugly Dog Distillery
Hard work and intelligence have put this award winning distillery on the map
14 The People's Cider Co. Using Michigan apples and 'Dr. Tron's
Super Yeast!' Jason Lummen makes some premium dry ciders
23 Vandermill Cider
Jessi Boeheme visits Vandermill in Spring Lake Michigan
Columns 9
Mission: Michigan
Dennis Thornton talks fruit beers
15 Palate
This Milford eatery has intertwined itself in Michigan beer culture
16 Beer and Apples Did you know how important these two
industries are to the Michigan economy?
19 EatDrinkExplore&Think
Arctic Tapas: A Dinner Cruise on Wheels
22 The Sky is Falling Push Comes to Shove. Elena
contemplates "harvesting" a chicken
25 Cyclo-Mashing
Marquette’s Magnificent Micro-Breweries & Ore to Shore: Mountain Bike Epic
25 Wanderlust
A portfolio of America by Dana Clare
29 Art on Draft
Mike Williams is a U.K. based graphic designer who did our cover this month!
30 Sip and Spin
Mike Ross pairs Beer and Vinyl
MiCraftBeerCulture reminds you to drink responsibily. Do not drink and drive and do not promote under age drinking. Copyright 2014 Em&O Media. All Rights Reserved, 'MiCraftBeerCulture and 'Drink local, Eat local, Create Local' are registered trademarks.
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Mi.Craft.Beer.Culture MAGAZINE
S TA F F : Jason Osburn - Editor in Chief/Creative Director/ Writer Elena Flores - Managing Editor/Writer George Walsh - Copy Editor Alex Lundberg - Writer HopHead Fred - Columnist Jocelyne Elyse - Writer/Food Columnist Nick Lundberg - Food Columnist Jered Michael - Biking Columnist Jane Van Hof - Biking Columnist/Writer Jeff Howitt - Event Consultant/Writer Dennis Thornton - Columnist/Writer Michael Ross - Writer/Artist Patti Smith - Writer Jessica Boeheme - Writer Christopher Kendall Jeffers - Writer Brian Rozman - Photographer Michael Ross - Writer/Artist Contact us at: MiCraftBeerCulture 1752 Elmhurst, Canton, MI 48187 info@MiCraftBeerCulture.com MiCraftBeerCulture.com
Detroit Festivals -By Jason Osburn
Arts, Beats and Eats - Dally in the Ally Jazz Fest - DIY Street Fair Michigan’s summers are filled with festivals and I am not even referring to beer festivals which would be a whole article unto itself. Here’s a few of the bigger festivals in Southeast Michigan that happen in September.
Art, Beats and Eats
last year; participants in the Priority Health Zumbathon® Celebration increased to 1271 this year versus 771 last year. Other festival notables include Oakland County Parks’ Veterans Admission Program which gave 2000 veterans and family members free admission to the festival and the 3rd annual Family Days for Children with Autism gave 1600 children on the ASD spectrum and family members a special visit to the festival on Saturday, August 30 and Monday, September 1. Arts, Beats and Eats is a spectacular place for local restaurants to shine and I wasted no time hunting down the Lockhart’s BBQ booth and the Polish Village Cafe event from August 29th booth, both always offering selections. Another through September 1st. The great Priority Health Arts in Motion notable vendor this year was 5K/10K Walk/Run presented The Potato Factory who make by Life Time Fitness increased it a mission to employ inner to 521 runners versus 419 city youth. They offered some Arts, Beats and Eats is one of the largest festivals in the area. This year marked the 17th and attendance numbers this year topped out around 365,000 spanning the 4 day
scrumptious variations on their fried, butterfly-cut potatoes with toppings piled high. Arts, Beats and Eats always brings stages filled with National acts and throwback favorites but their local stages are the ones we are interested in. This year included some of our favorite locals including Flint Eastwood, Seven Birds One
Seven Birds One Stone were among the performers at many festivals in the area this year this year
Continued on next page
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Detroit Festivals
continued from page 5 Stone, Escaping Pavement, The Corktown Popes, Dragon Wagon, The Blueflowers, Ryan Dillaha and the Miracle Men, Whiskey Charmers, Laith AlSaadi, and American Mars. This year’s event hosted over 140 artist booth spaces and the annual juried competition which awards $7500 dollars in prizes in all varieties of media including ceramics, digital art, drawing, fabric/fiber/leather, glass, graphics/printmaking, jewelry, metal, mixed media 2D, mixed media 3D, painting, photography, sculpture, and wood.
Dally in the Ally
2014 marked 37 years of the Dally in the Ally. A 2013 poll among MetroMix readers awarded Dally in the Alley the honor of “Best Festival in Detroit”. In 2014 the festival was named “Best Summer Festival in Detroit” by Metro Times staff. The one day festival which began as an inner city art fair in 1977, as a fundraiser for the North Cass Community Union, has evolved into a full-fledged performing arts festival with four music stages, a community stage, kids fair, art installations, more than 150 local food and retail vendors and activities and
entertainment all day long. This year the Ally hosted a fifth stage, Ann Kennedy Community Stage. This stage is an eclectic interactive performance space that pays homage to Dally's community roots. It featured soapbox forums, performances, contests and a fashion show. Dally is working with Recycle Here to make the Dally in the Alley the greenest festival in Detroit. By requiring all food and drink to be served in compostable wares and staffing volunteers to ensure the right waste gets into the right can, Dally has reduced the amount of garbage by over 60 yards. This year, they brought in
Escaping Pavement performs at Arts, Beats and Eats in Royal Oak Escaping Pavement performs at many Michigan festivals. Described as, 'Americana on the rocks' Emily, Aaron, Niall and Evan will be performing at the MiCraftBeerCulture fundraiser, October 10th at Small's Bar.
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Detroit Jazz Festival
CARJACK performs at Dally in the Ally photo by Michael Rozman
over 150 new trash receptacles to be placed inside the alleyway to keep the Cass Corridor clean and kept up. This year’s music line up was truly inspired spanning all imaginable music genres from the dandy Behind the Times with their old-timey harmonies to Cold Men Young, a Hip Hop/Indie/ Progressive stage show featuring spoken word performances, a live dj, live instrumentation and a large amount of crowd participation. Some other great acts that graced the stage included: The Webbs (Scotty Karate of Dark Horse Scotty Karate Scotch Ale fame), Escaping Pavement, Carjack, Deadly Viper Assassination Squad, PALACES, and Radio Burns. If you weren’t able to make it this year or you’ve never attended one of the great Detroit festivals make sure you keep your ears open for it next year.
Also happening Labor Day weekend was the 35th Annual Detroit Jazz Festival. Detroit Jazz Fest is truly a world class festival and this year was no different. Keeping to their mission to: Foster the history and nurture the development of jazz. Perpetuate Detroit’s significant jazz legacy through educational and collaborative opportunities accessible to all. Present a world-class signature event that makes Detroit a tourist destination. This year the festival took place over several city blocks in downtown Detroit, from Hart Plaza to Campus Martius, with five stages and 100 acts over four days. It also offered educational activities for adults and children, fireworks, latenight jam sessions, and rare opportunities to meet the artists. This year’s artist in residence is Joshua Redman, one of the most acclaimed and charismatic jazz artists to have emerged in the decade
of the 1990s. For a sample of Joshua check out the Robert Altman film Kansas City where he plays Lester Young, plus it’s a great film. All of the talent at the festival was outstanding but I can’t mention them all. I will say that Dirty Dozen Brass Band is always a favorite of mine. (Must be my love of New Orleans) Stanley Clarke is amazing to watch and listen to as is Chicago native Ramsey Lewis, but the highlight of the festival for us was Pharoah Sanders. With a history going back to John Coletrane’s groups in the 60’s and described by Ornette Coleman as "probably the best tenor player in the world.”, seeing him is one of those shows you will never forget. Included in his performance were my favorite of his, ‘The Creator has a master plan’ and the Coletrane classic, ‘Giant Steps’. ‘The Creator has a master plan’ is a significant album in my personal music history and watching and listening to this master was a truly inimitable experience. Be sure to check out the iconic photo (on page 35) of Pharoah Sanders taken by Detroit photographer Brian Rozman.
Dally in the Ally works with Detroit's 'Recycle Here' to make Dally in the Alley Detroit's 'Greenest' festival
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DIY Street Fair
Another of the lesser known but in my opinion most fun festivals in the area is the DIY Street Fair and it was cancelled this year. That’s right, it was cancelled. The City of Ferndale had panned major construction on East 9 Mile just one block from the festival location so organizers had decided to cancel. Then, the Universe interfered and construction was postponed and the DIY was back on. Started back in 2008 as a festival for unsigned musicians and artists who weren’t getting shown in galleries, the DIY Street Fair has blossomed into a celebration of Ferndale, Detroit and Michigan. Featuring over 100 artists and vendors and 65 regional musical acts on two stages, 28 MICHIGAN Beers
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were on hand for the event. One of the festival organizers is Chris Johnston, coowner of the WAB (Woodward Avenue Brewers), the Emory and the Loving Touch, so you know Detroit BBQ Company was one of the the beer selection amazing food vendors at DIY Street Fair was good! Food vendors from a dozen Michigan Animal, plus, the Friday's after restaurants including a few of party was also Sadie’s of Hip my favorites: Treat Dreams, In Detroit, birthday party! Detroit BBQ Co., The Mac Another great thing about Shack, and El Guapo. The the DIY Street Fair, Theatre entire festival is free admission. Bizarre. http://theatrebizarre. A ‘Kids Zone’ features free com/ Ferris wheel rides, courtesy of The DIY Street Fair is a good Garden Fresh Gourmet, kept place to be introduced. They hold fast to a stage for the the kiddies happy. The music at DIY was awesome event and put on The Greatest featuring all local acts that Masquerade on Earth. Theatre we love. Passalacqua, Leopold Bizarre launched (illegally) in and His Fiction, Escaping the early days of the 21st century Pavement, American Mars, and year after year its creators Billy Brandt, Electric Lion return with a spectacular event Soundwave Experiment, Oak unlike anything else on earth. Bones , George Morris and the With the help of a Knight Gypsy Chorus, it’s awesome! Foundation grant they have Hard lessons, Jamaica Queens, found a new home in Detroit’s Deastro headline each night Masonic Temple and this year’s repectively. Great after parties Illusionist’s Ball, October 17th at The loving Touch with acts and 18th, will be the most like Mexican Knives and Little spectacular yet.
Theatre Bizarre is coming up October 17th and 18th. TheatreBizarre.com for details!
Dennis Thornton explores the use of fruit in brewing. The ancient history of the use of fruit in the beer brewing process is like the history of beer itself. Brews have always been made with what ingredients that were available to the brewers and of course fruit is one of those ever present ingredient throughout history. Molecular Archeologists have identified a fruited fermented rice beverage made in China around 7th century B.C.E.. What we consider the standardized beverage today, water, malted barley, hops and yeast, is almost ten thousand years of development by a variety of cultures across the known world utilizing different "malted" grains as a base with various plant derived flavoring additives. As Europeans developed brewing to their tastes and local flora, the current recipe came into being.
A favorite of the Editor's Dark Horse Tres Blueberry Stout
There is evidence of a fruited beer available for sale in England in the 1700’s and fruited beers have remained prominent in Europe particularly in Belgium where the home of spontaneously cultured Belgian Lambic. Like sourdough bread, lambic develops tart flavors that blend beautifully with the sweetness of a variety of fruits. Certainly, when I started drinking imports, lambics were the only thing I was able to find commercially available in this country. It's my guess that there were and are other seasonal and specialty fruit beers available in Europe but relatively few seem to make it to the U.S. market. In the U.S., fruited beers were instrumental in helping to build the craft beer revolution. Very early on, some of the major players used fruit beers to help win over American tastes. Craft beer pioneers Sam Adams high visibility did a lot to forward the cause of craft nationwide and their Cherry Wheat is still a massive seller and favorite of many. Here in Michigan, Bell's Cherry Stout was an early, popular bottled offering by the Kalamazoo company that helped put them on the map. Grant's in Washington, also know as The Yakima Brewing and Malting Co., made an apple ale that I drank many a pint of back in the day. Continued on next page
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Mission: Michigan cont.from page 9 In the current climate, fruited beers are everywhere. Even standard domestics have lemon and lime "shandy" style beer and beer -"rita" cocktail blends. Sorry for the big dogs, this swill will never sway the craft enthusiast; not with so many other amazing choices available. I'm personally fond of the "Brainless on" series by Utah's Epic Brewing, especially the "On Peaches.” Delaware's Dogfish Head is definitely among the most experimental, well-distributed brewery in the country. Many of their offerings attempt to recreate ancient brewing recipes. I've enjoyed their Festina Peche, Tweason'ale, a sorghum based beer brewed with strawberries, Midas Touch with muscat grapes and Raison D'Etre brewed with raisin. Here in ‘The Mitten’ the use of cherries is a no brainer but I'm a strawberry guy and Arbor Brewing's Strawberry Blonde is fantastic and a close second to Short's Strawberry Short's Cake. (I managed to get three 6-packs a few weeks back before it disappeared for the season.) In the store, seasonal and limited run products sell out quickly and at premium prices. Fruit beers have a short season and require so much intensive labor to prepare hundreds of pounds of fresh fruit that many breweries simply can’t produce enough to
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consider the retail market. This is a great reason why it's important to visit these artisans whenever possible. What's being tapped today may be gone tomorrow. As brewers pay homage to their forebearers and explore new flavors and ingredients, fruit beers continue to please, entice and sometimes confuse our palates. Whatever haze may lay on the history of fruit beer, there can be no question of its place in the future of craft beer.
At wa t e r i n t h e Pa r k
Fuego ~ This spice beer had some kick to it! The taste was malty and lightly spicy, but then the pepper kicked in during the finish and lingered in my mouth. This would pair well with a milder cheese, to balance things out. Red Crown Red ~ This Belgian
b y Pa t t i S m i t h The beautiful setting itself would
As one would expect from Atwater,
probably be enough for me to go there.
the beers are phenomenal. In addition
The German food on the menu would
to its classic beers (those mentioned
also get me in the door. But when you
above, D-Light, Pale Ale, Vanilla Java
add the beer...well, you have a trifecta
Stout, etc.), there is a variety of small
of pure heaven.
batch beers. We tried most of them, and found them outstanding. Here are
Atwater Brewing Company has
my three top picks, in no particular
been around since 1997, brewing at
order:
the corner of ---- in the Rivertown section of Detroit. The brewhouse has
Poor Boy ~ A smoked porter is a tricky
produced such outstanding beers as
beer to get just right. Sometimes they
Decadent Dark Chocolate Ale (a must
taste like an ashtray exploded in your
for chocolate lovers), Dirty Blonde,
mouth, and sometimes they taste
Purple Gang Pilsner, and small batches
like someone just showed the grain a
like Blueberry Cobbler Ale.
match. This porter got it completely right—enough smokiness from the
This year, the company launched
grains, but also enough rich porter
Atwater in the Park in Grosse
taste. This paired very well with the
Pointe. When a patron walks into
smoked meat that we had for our
the brewpub, she finds herself in a
appetizer.
converted church. It is roomy and
specialty ale was malty and crisp, with a slight hit of hops. I often find reds to be kind of bland, and not worth wasting the calories on. There was enough distinct Belgian malt to give it a robust flavor, but it wasn’t too overpowering. The food at Atwater in the Park is exactly what I want in my brewpubs— salty pretzels, cheese, meat, lots of sausage, pizzas, burgers. There is a distinct German flair to most of the food, and I found the kielbasa and latkes to be particularly good. (Not as good as my grandma’s latkes were, but still very good!). So if you’d like to feel like you are in Germany, but can’t afford a plane ticket (and don’t speak German), get yourself to Atwater in the Park! You’ll get some great beers, a beautiful location, and food almost as good as Grandma’s!
light, with televisions to watch the ball game, or board games to play while you wait for your order. On nice days, one can sit in the outdoor biergarten, which is spacious and beautiful—just the
Atwater in the Park 1175 Lakepointe St Grosse Pointe Park, (313) 344-5104
right atmosphere for enjoying a beer on a warm, summer day.
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Ugly Dog Distillery
Open 10-5pm Mon-Sat and 12-5 on Sun “Make a premium product and sell it at a reasonable price and not only will you have repeat customers but those customers will tell their friends” – Dewey Winkle
By Jason Osburn
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Michigan has always been a center of innovation. Hard work and smart engineering established us at the center of industry throughout much of the last century. John Dyer and Dewey Winkle embody those ideals and have built Ugly Dog Distillery, a perfect example of what intelligence, ingenuity and hard work can produce. Through clever practical engineering and a build-it-yourself mentality they are producing excellent quality Michigan made craft spirits at a price point that an average purchaser can afford. It all started on an annual bird hunting trip in Ontonagon where a group of friends sat around a campfire drinking a home brew. Someone commented on how good the beer was and someone else responded that yes, it was good, but it wasn’t liquor. Knowing John was an engineer someone in the group suggested he build a still and make some for their trip the following year. About 8 months later Dewey got a call from John. “He sounded excited.” recounts Dewey. He told me I had to come see what he had. Dewey
showed up at John’s and discovered in his garage a bag of grain and a handmade still John had constructed from an Anheuser Busch keg and a large copper bowl “borrowed” from John’s kitchen. (Apparently she spent a good six months wondering what had happened to her large copper bowl.) They got to work. “The first batch was pretty bad”, says Dewey, but they tweaked their recipes and processes and after a while began taking samples to their monthly poker games with the same group of guys from the bird hunting camp. They began doing blind tasting tests against name brand vodkas, Smirnoff, Absolut, then Stoli, Kettle One, then Belvedere and Grey Goose. They were winning hands down. The guys starting asking if he’d make them some, offering to buy it, of course John couldn’t do that, that would be moonshining and that is illegal, but John thought, if these guys think this is good enough to buy it I’ll bet other people would buy it to. They started doing their research. They discovered that a distiller’s license in Michigan cost ten thousand dollars per year. Neither of them had that kind of money so they decided they’d just wait and save. Then something incredibly synchronistic happened. Professor Kris Berglund, who
They have plans to expand their distillery with an 1100 square foot build out and have interest in moving into whiskey and other aged spirits but at this point don’t have the space for racking. Ugly Dog products are now sold at over 1800 locations in 4 states. Touring Ugly Dog makes me proud, proud to see this happening in Michigan and proud to see how hard work and ingenuity and cleverness can still build a successful business. Currently these guys are working 7 days a week to keep up with demand. Don’t feel bad making them work a little harder by buying a couple of bottles of Ugly Dog next time you are looking to stock your liquor cabinet or head out to a party. The Bacon Vodka makes an incredible Bloody Mary!
established the Artisan Distilling Program at Michigan State University, had been talking to Barbara Byrum, the County Clerk for Ingham County. These conversations spawned what was to become the Small Distilleries license at a much more favorable cost of $100 per year. John and Dewey were in business. To this day they are still using hand built stills including what is probably the largest homemade still in the state at 125 gallons. The distillery has an ingenious pump and pipe system built and designed by John as well as inventive designs on their condensers that limit the amount of distillation allowed through the system at one time, recycling the lesser quality alcohols back into the still to be re-distilled until they reach the necessary level of purity. A very clever water cooling system on their still outlets lowers temperatures of the distilled spirits to eliminate evaporation and to allow for instant “tasting” at this point in the process. In the corner stands a homemade grain centrifuge built from a washing machine which even further improves their efficiency by extracting nearly 100 percent of the liquid from fermented grain. A commercial centrifuge would have run thousands of dollars and taken up 4 times the space. One of the only pieces of equipment in the distillery which isn’t homemade is their 4 bottle bottling line where they still hand bottle and hand label all of their spirits. Each batch in the still will be collected into many half-filled 5 gallon carboys, each carboy filled from a different stage in the distillation. Then the tasting begins. The carboys will be sampled and labeled and ordered. Some of the carboys won’t make the cut and will go back in to the still. Some will be blended. Some may be used as is. Every spirit will have been distilled a minimum of 3 times before bottling.
Upper left: Their hand made 125 gallon still. Center: 2 of their middle capacity stills, also hand made. Bottom right: Ugly Dog's mascot, 'Ruger' and I chilling on the couch at the distillery
Ugly Dog produces seven different spirits: Vodka, Gold Medal winner at the Micro Liquor Awards, Beverly Hills CA..
Bacon Vodka, Gold Medal Winner, America's Fifty Best Flavored Vodkas, New York. & Bronze Medal, George Washington Cup Spirits Competition. Raspberry Vodka, Silver Medal, America's Fifty Best Flavored Vodkas, New York. Whipped Cream Vodka Black Cherry Vodka Rum, made from 100% cane sugar Gin, a personal favorite of mine Coming soon: Black Dog Spiced Rum
14495 North Territorial Road Chelsea, MI 48118 info@uglydogdistillery.com Tel: 734-433-0433
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The People's Cider Co. has brought a marriage and a son, he incorporated (2011) and expanded into an industrial space where he’s producing about 25 gallons per week of 3 mainstay cider varieties. “P.C.Co. Draft” a bourbon barrel aged dry draft cider 7-8% ABV – A serious cider for serious cider drinkers.
Jason Lummen is one of us; trying to escape his 9 to 5, trying to establish a profitable business doing something he loves, trying to balance work and family and pursue his dream. While traveling and living in the U.K. and Ireland, Jason identified with cider’s place in the Irish and English cultures and developed a passion for cider. He returned to the U.S. to discover the absence of good, dry style ciders, and a market where most people consider cider as simply an alternative to beer and most breweries who added a cider to their taps were really just trying to appease the non-craft-beer-drinking clientele that found themselves dragged into their brewery. Therefore, narrow-mindedly, these brewery owners thought: sweet. Allow me to be blunt, in the U.S. cider is not considered to be a ‘manly’ drink, but that is changing and changing quickly. Craft cider production in the U.S. has more than tripled in the last 5 years. Michigan is the 2nd largest apple producing state in the nation making it a perfect location for craft cider to take root. In 2002 Jason began, with direction from his now father-in-law, with his first 5 gallon batch in the kitchen of the apartment he shared with his, now wife, Katie. The last 12 years
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“Morrison’s Jig” a strong cider at 13% ABV – Aged 9 months in a bourbon barrel this cider is not for the faint of heart. “Mrs. Brown” traditional New England style scrumpy 8.4% ABV – Fermented with molasses and aged in a bourbon barrels, “Mrs. Brown” is lightly sweet with just the right amount of barrel presence. Jason was displeased with the consistency in the yeast available to him for production and decided he needed to solve the problem on his own. He took several of the yeasts he appreciated to a biologist friend and asked what could be done. The result: ‘Dr. Tron’s Super Yeast!‘. You will only find this in People’s Cider Co. and in my opinion it is cider making gold. PCCPeople’s Cider Co. is a hyper-local cider produced entirely from Michigan apples, most grown just northwest of Grand Rapids. Currently they self-deliver their product so their delivery area is limited by the cost of gas and the size of the order. “If someone orders
www.ThePeoplesCider.com
[enough kegs] I’ll drive it across the state” says, Jason. (Cider is legally considered a wine, allowing direct sale without a distributor.) This also makes People’s cider production seasonal, as is traditional cider making. When apples are ripe, you make cider. No apples, no cider. In addition, the length of time it takes to make cider is significantly longer than to make beer; months as opposed to weeks. Currently you can find People’s Cider on tap at a half dozen locations in the Grand Rapids area. They are currently in process of opening the Maryland Ave location to the public with limited evening hours Wed - Saturday, offering tours and bottle sales. As part of new legislation they are selling their ciders at The Fulton Street Farmers Market in Grand Rapids. This has been on Wed nights but as they progress into the season they'll be moving to other days. Look for updates through social media.
liqueur, the Belgian strawberry ale Fruli, or Short's Soft Parade.
Milford Road is a fairly busy thruway, particularly as it wends its way south from M-59 through the Village of Milford and connects with I-96. One time, traveling north from Kensington Metropark, I personally counted 70 restaurants. Indeed, many are fast food/ diner style, but there is still an ungainly concentration of full service bar/restaurants. When Joe Hibbert left the booming Uptown Grille in Commerce Township to open a restaurant in the heart of downtown Milford, some thought he was crazy. I might have been among them had I not been witness to Joe's pivotal role in the establishment of Uptown years before. As I got to know Joe personally through our mutual love of craft beer and craft food, I began to realize that he's an "if you build it they will come" sort of guy. And come they have to Palate of Milford. Some come for the beer. The only true modern multitap in the area, Palate boasts over thirty rotating craft drafts, more than half of which are Michigan products. The rest range from ultra-hopped new American style IPA's to Flemish sours and German wheat doppelbocks, as well as a host of bottled beers from both sides of the pond. Palate thumbs its nose at Leinenkugel with its own summer beer shandy cocktails: the Belgian wheat Wittekerke, hand poured and mixed with either lemon
Of course the craft drinking doesn't just include beer, fine wine, spirits, and specialty cocktails all complement the other reason people flock to Palate's door, the food. Palate's menu pays tribute to the standard bar and grille format, but nearly every item has a twist that makes it signature. The steaks, aged in-house for 28 days, are mouth watering and half the price of the downtown steakhouses. The burgers are also ground from a custom combination of aged beef roasts in an uncommon process that yields amazing results. The fish and chips are made with fresh halibut. The salads are seasonal and artfully composed. Fresh baked bread from Great Harvest Bread Company are grilled on a panini press, elevating their sandwiches well above standard bar fare. Their ‘small plates’ are portioned generously enough to be a meal for some or ordered in combination can be shared tapas style with a group. Palate also tip its hat to the traditional beer garden and trendy charcuterie joints with its sausage, cheese, and smoked meat combo plates and we all know how well these pair with excellent beer. Great food and drink are not the only concerns Joe and his wife Bristol, have to make sure Palate is not just another restaurant on the strip but a part of the greater Milford/Lakes Area community. They source their meat from the local butcher. They support area brewers by hosting beer dinners and often catering off site craft beer events. They also cater on and off site private and charity functions. Anywhere in the lakes area the call for "craft" is heard Palate is there to help raise the banner.
449 N Main St, Milford, MI 48381 (248) 977-0408
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Apples and Beer Let’s talk about two Michigan Industries, Beer and Apples. Not two that you would generally group together but their similarities are many. There are many delicious incantations of the two, apple ale, beer-battered apple fritters, beerbrined pork chops with roasted apples, even a James Beard Foundation recipe for Brown Butter Cake with Caramelized Apples and Sour Beer Caramel and of course, cider. But what I want to talk about is these two industry's contribution to the Michigan economy.
Did you know that Apples is one of the two most important fruit crops in the state? (The other being blueberries) Did you know that for every 1 job in a brewery there are 205 jobs created in retail in the U.S.? Did you know that the Michigan craft brewing industry directly contributed nearly 150 Million dollars to the Michigan economy in 2012 alone or that craft beer sales generated 400 Million in state and local tax revenue? Did you know there are apple trees covering
2014 Michigan Apple Industry AT- A - G L A N C E I N F O G R A P H I C
9.2 million
Michigan is the
SECOND-LARGEST
apple trees
apple producing state in the nation.
There are more than 9.2 million
(USDA Noncitrus Fruit & Nuts, July 2014)
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apple trees in commercial production, covering 36,500 acres on farms in Michigan.
bushels of apples
Process $$$
Shipping $$$
Suppliers $$$
Packaging $$$
Input Costs $$$
Apples are one of the largest and most valuable fruit crops in Michigan.
Schools $$$
40%
ECONOMI C IMP ACT
A BIG DEAL
million
Fresh $$$
850 family-run
In 2013, Michigan harvested an estimated 30 million bushels (1.26 billion pounds) of apples. Average apple harvest is about 19.7 million bushels (828 million pounds) per year.*
Farm gate value $$$
*2012 omitted
J AUG UN Local communities $$$
gobbled right up!
About 40% of all Michigan apples are sold ready to eat (fresh). The remaining 60% are processed into other products.
Nearly year round availability
Michigan apples are available August through June each year, thanks to our controlled atmosphere storage.
www.MichiganApples.com • 800-456-2753 • Michigan Apple Committee Michigan Apple Committee (MAC) is a non-profit governmental organization that works on behalf of growers in the areas of consumer & grower education, market development & research.
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36,500 acres on 850 family-run farms? Michigan is ranked #5 in the U.S. for most breweries, microbreweries, and brewpubs per state in the nation, thus earning our nickname “The Great Beer State.” Take a look at these infographics provided by The Beer Institute and The Michigan Apple Committee and be awed at the importance of craft beer and apples in the mitten. http://www.beerinstitute.org/ http://www.michiganapples.com/
The Michigan craft brewing industry directly contributed nearly 150 Million dollars to the Michigan economy in 2012
bEER InDusTRy EconoMIc IMpacT In
Michigan
natIonal economIc Impact In 2012, the U.S. beer industry’s total economic impact stood at more than $246.5 billion. It directly and indirectly employs more than 2 million Americans, paying $78.9 billion in wages and benefits. Of the 2 million American employees, more than 1 million are directly employed by brewers, importers, distributors and retailers. The majority of hard-working men and women directly employed by the brewers, importers and beer distributors receive good wages and company-provided benefits, including healthcare. Beer sales also contribute to the profitability of more than 576,000 licensed retail outlets in the U.S. The industry contributed $49 billion in business, personal and consumption taxes, including excise taxes and sales, gross receipts and other taxes.
Beer Industry dIrect and total economIc contrIButIon In mIchIgan Direct Economic Impact Jobs Brewing
WaGEs
EconoMIc conTRIbuTIon $148,382,900
590
$21,763,200
4,580
$294,119,800
$618,869,100
Retail
32,050
$633,318,000
$1,320,232,000
ToTal
37,220
$949,201,000
$2,087,484,000
Distributing
Industry-Related Jobs (by thousands) agriculture 1,480 business and personal services
9,810
construction 350 Finance Insurance and Real Estate
4,060
Manufacturing General 1,710 Retail
3,030
Transportation and communication 1,830 Travel and Entertainment
3,080
Wholesale 910 other
TaxEs paID Federal Excise – $110,029,800 State Excise – $39,205,300 Other State/Local – $144,670,400 ToTal – $293,905,500
TaxEs GEnERaTED Federal – $511,539,700 State/Local – $399,557,400 ToTal – $911,097,100
1,050
EsTablIshMEnTs Brewing – 120 Distributing – 141 Retail – 16,744
ToTal: 27,310
ToTal EconoMIc IMpacT jobs – 64,530 wages – $2,172,445,400 contribution – $6,077,971,400
www.beerservesamerica.org
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Mike Williams of One Third Beer Blog and, AIAAGD.com was our guest cover artist this month.
Mike Williams is a beer blogger and graphic designer based in Leeds, U.K.. We first started chating through a craft beer group on LinkedIn. We really appreciate the cover this month. If you're looking for someone on the other side of the pond who knows their craft beer I highly recommend him. Here's his bio: Based in Leeds, UK, I began my graphic design career with an interest in craft beer, since then, I have looked to develop this love of great beer into my design practice. I have undertaken a number of branding projects with fellow homebrewers and worked with existing commercial breweries such as Northern Monk. Alongside launching my freelance career, I run One Third Beer Blog which showcases the best art & design in the craft beer industry and hosts interviews with
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brewers. The first interview was with Cory King of Side Project Brewing and online soon will be a Q&A with Omnipollo's Karl Grandin. I've found that within the beer community everyone is open to conversation and willing to share their stories with you, there is also a shared interest with the creative arts as by it's nature, brewing beer is a creative process. I am currently looking to work with homebrewers and small breweries that want their beer to look as great as it tastes.
Website: http://aiaagd.com Email: readsemails@aiaagd.com Blog: www.onethirdbeerblog.com
A r ct i c Ta p a s : A D i n n e r C r u i s e o n Wh e e l s B y Jo c e l y n e E l y s e
Bent Larsen and I met in town at the local pub where we have mutual friends. He had never had a cake friend, and neither had I, so I gladly accepted the offer to be his cake friend. A friend with whom you chat over cake. It just so happens that my cake friend drives and owns the Arctic Tapas Company in town. Bent Larsen, chef and city boy, born and raised in Oslo, Norway. He did not want to live in the city anymore. He had found himself immersed in work and not directing his life, not creating. He wanted more. He traveled to Longyearbyen on vacation and while on vacation envisioned a new future for himself. He wanted to contribute to Longyearbyen, to this location he fell in love with. He was not impressed with the food he had found at the local restaurants and had a lifelong passion for the
Svalbard culinary history. His solution, a bus in which he could teach people about the history of the area while serving them a delicious, historical and culturally based meal while relaxing. Those who could not handle much physical activity or realized their gear was not warm enough, or maybe just
you to take your time and find the combination of flavors that you like” he kindly asked the guests. As the tour started, Bent began with a history of Longyearbyen and the evolution of the town. His introduction piqued the curiosity of his guests. They listened intently
“Play with your food. Do what your parents told you not to do. I want you to take your time and find the combination of flavors that you like” wanted something different, would not be limited to just staying in town. As it turns out the locals have also been seduced by his bus because it created an unique dining and drinking option. “Play with your food. Do what your parents told you not to do. I want
to passionate stories about the sites we passed and the food we were to be served. “This food is not to be eaten like burgers or pizza. We are not serving you tomatoes with a bunch of added salt and random seasonings. We are serving you Continued on page 20
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A r c t i c Ta p a s f r o m p g . 1 9
“Only one bus driver can have his guest’s drink wine while he drives them through town”—Bent Larsen traditional food This, my guests, is what the trappers, sailors, and old miners would have eaten back in the day. It is preserved by smoke, salt, and dry air. Natural techniques that preserve the food while allowing its original flavor to come through. It is healthy and will keep you alive. In fact this type of food is similar to what kept this town alive, including the wines, beer and spirits you are enjoying with it.”
2nd place Winner 2014 World Hot Sauce Awards!
The bus stopped at a view point and the first course began. A dry and traditional grainy bread with a cracker like texture, a slice of dried reindeer heart, dried cod with butter, and a slice of Fenalår, (salt cured leg of lamb). “This is food that could be made simply and lasted a long time. Appreciating its value is like appreciating an original culture. It’s old school and designed for survival, especially in an area like this when food was expensive and scarce. Eating this type of food kept people alive because it had fat, salt and protein. The natural flavor of products should be respected and not hidden by condiments. Catsup and condiments are NOT served on this trip.” These texture and big flavors went excellent with my glass of wine. After some more talk about the sights and history his assistant collected the dishes from the guests and Bent sat back in the driver’s seat and continued the tour. As Bent drove his assistant began to pass the second course. On one dish was butter and kohlrabi, earth food as he called it. Another plate held lamb sausage, slices of smoked reindeer leg, reindeer tongue, and water braised reindeer heart, traditional wine pickled onions, and a sauce of lingonberries in plain yogurt.
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On another plate was Lefsa bread, a traditional Sami food, with smoked salmon, cold smoked herring and smoked halibut, and sour cream. I admit I ate everything and left nothing left on any plate. I chose to compliment the course with aquavit.
The Sami people (also Sámi or Saami), traditionally known in English as Lapps or Laplanders, are the indigenous Finno-Ugric people inhabiting the Arctic area of Sápmi, which today encompasses parts of far northern Norway, Sweden, Finland, the Kola Peninsula of Russia, and the border area between south and middle Sweden and Norway. After about another hour drive we had reached Mine 7 which offers views of the whole valley. Mine 7 is one of my favorite places to go during dark season to watch the northern lights. This was a gorgeous place to begin the desert course. The seasonal cheeses were Norwegian Blatind, Lofaosten, and Capra, which are rated among the best cheeses to come from Norway. He described why he chose them and then explained how he had ‘extra’ aged a few of them to make the flavors even bigger. He explained that he loved that the Lofasten got its salt from being made near the ocean. Along with these cheeses were blueberry and raspberry compotes, a sweet flatbread, and a nontraditional brown cheese custard with cloudberry. The brown cheese, something served in many stews and traditional breakfasts, is something I despised when I first arrived here but have learned to love. I thought it was a very smart way to make people whom were not familiar with the cheese to like it. Brilliant!
Home of 'Country Strong' one of MICHIGAN's best IPAs! - Jason Osburn, MiCraftBeerCulture
Touring back down the mountain, the guests finished their desert course. After an hour and half drive we were back in town, near all the bars. Bent asked if there were any more questions about Svalbard and where he may drop them off if they did not wish to join the rest of us for drinks. I had never been on a tour that considered each persons needs so well. I never felt as if I was overburdened with information from a loud, boring, monotonous voice. I, like many of the guests, was allowed to relax and savor and enjoy my food while observing the views. Arctic Tapas is indeed a lesson in creating a dream and passionately carrying it out. I had a great time and we will still be cake friends.
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antibiotics and hormones, to something raised under a vague definition of “free range” that is nowhere close to the life my chickens have on the farm. The horrors of factory farming are well documented. Animals stacked on top of each other, living their entire lives in a cage no bigger than a sheet of notebook paper, de-beaked, defeated and fattened until the skin on their breasts splits open. Here I am with birds that I’ve raised since they were 2 days old. Birds that have chased down bugs, dined on leftovers from our Sunday dinners, enjoyed dust baths in my garden, and sunned themselves on my porch. (I can’t break them of it!) I know that this is the way I want to live; the way I increasingly feel compelled to live. I’m ready. I’ve been researching how best Elena Flores to “harvest” a meat bird, watched endless writes about raising chicken and her son YouTube how-to’s on technique (a great on a small farm in Ann Arbor. resource, btw) even studied the old French ways One of the new babies (chicks) turned up to finish a chicken from 4 weeks of age on. One with a bad limp this week. I’d noticed it laying of my favorite poultry/seed catalogs, Sand Hill down over the weekend but couldn’t investigate Preservation, offers Marraduna Basque and until today. They’re just about 10 weeks old at Dorkings, ancient heritage breeds reputed to redefine what we think “tastes like chicken.” this point. So, push has come to shove. I have sequestered the little guy and have put him My first response: Time to fatten him up. My second response: I’m sorry, what? Who am back on ‘grower’ feed. I am also giving him organic whole milk to add fat and flavor per the I! French Bresse recommendations. He (probably That’s the thing, I really don’t know. I know that my son and I eat chicken and a she but impossible to determine at this age) I know that the source of that meat ranges from has settled in quite happily. shed raised hens living in filth, pumped full of Continued on pg 34 I’ve been researching how best to “harvest” a meat bird, watched endless YouTube how-to’s on technique even studied the old French ways to finish a chicken from 4 weeks of age on.
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Vandermill Cider Jessica Boehme visits Vandermill: Spring Lakes Apple of it's Eye
Located in the quiet yet active, cozy town of Spring Lake lies an artistic blend of high quality Michigan apples, pressed without pasteurization, sugar, or preservatives into an all nat-ur-al, pure apple juice cider. Location: Vander Mill. When I walked in, I felt right at home with the smell of nature’s best in the air. We sat down at the bar and with the folksy decorations around and the use of mason jars as glasses, I was all sorts of giddy. It’s a perfect fit for my hipster appreciation mixed with my love of folk singers like Joan Baez and Simon and Garfunkel that made the tasting room feel just right. My mouth watered when I read about their menu and how they do 100% of their preparation in house. I’m all about supporting efforts to not mass-produce food but rather to create masterpieces of flavors and textures you’d never try otherwise. Their menu has varieties of starters, soups n’ salads, sopecitos (fried corn cups with your choice of filling, um, yum!), pizzas, sandwiches and sweets to indulge in, and of course the cider! I recommend getting and sharing flights of their ciders so you can try as many as possible. Vander Mill’s flavorful ciders are
listed on their chalkboard tap board with the following; Hard Apple, Blue Gold, Totally Roasted, Ginger Peach, and about ten other flavors that rotate on their tap.
sort their 40 bushel bins and make preservative and sugar free hard and sweet cider. You can find me at the bar afterwards indulging in some tasting sessions.
As someone who loves pecans, their Totally Roasted is a favorite; steeped in candied pecans bringing a nutty flavor to a semi-sweet yet tart cider. Recently, on a weekend Chicago trip we found Totally Roasted in a small dive bar and pointed to it like a proud dad pointing at his son. How can you not have Michigan pride wherever you go?
Having Michigan pride means supporting local businesses that continue to help Michigan grow as a state. Join me by putting on some flannel, channeling your inner folk, and head over to the west side to celebrate a high quality, authentic Michigan cider.
It must be because we can point out where we live on our hands. If you point to the middle, left side of your mitten you’ll point towards Dietrich family apple farms. Vander Mill works with this family farm to pick the best gems for their cider. You won’t find any out of state, shipped from miles away apples at this mill! What I’m most excited for this autumn is getting involved in the “life at the mill” during September and October. Each weekend during these two months, Vander Mill hosts educational sessions to teach folks about “real” cider. These sessions show the public how they process and
Hours and Contact Sunday-Thursday 11am to 9pm Friday and Saturday 11am to 10pm (Hours vary during seasons) Vandermill will be pressing cider every Saturday starting at 2:00 PM during the months of September and October.
September means the start of Cyclocross season in Michigan! The cyclocross season runs from September - January. Popular in Europe, cyclocross is making a splash in the states. It’s a mixture of road and mountain bike racing and running on a 2-mile lap course. Try a race and test your skill at clearing barriers, running hills and pedaling gravel through mud, snow, rain and sleet. Spectating at cyclocross races is so fun! Come on out and cheer with a cowbell, vuvuzela and beer! Fall Fury Cross Racing - sponsored by
Tailwind Series - sponsored by Rochester Bike Shop and Shorts Brewing Company
Kisscross - sponsored by Village Bikes, Freewheeler Bike Shop, Grand Rapids Bicycle Company, Velo City Cycles, Alger Bikes, Pedal Bicycles and Founders Brewing Company
Cross the Bay - sponsored by Jolly
Central District Cyclery and Harmony Brewing
Pumpkin and Einstein Cycles
UPCross - sponsored by Blackrocks
Brewery and The Bike Shop
* Celebrating the Art of Bikes and Beer *
Cyclo-Mashing Jorden Wakeley finishing Ore to Shore Hard Rock for 3rd place
Marquette’s Magnificent Micro-Breweries and the Ore to Shore: Mountain Bike Epic Race
Mountain bike racing is intoxicating;
nothing else creates the distinct thrill of heart-throbbing, breath-stealing, leg-pumping racing in the dirt. Just imagine lining up with a mass-start of mountain bikers who clip in at a screaming 30-mph pace out of a U.P. mining town, sprinting toward red, copper-ore gravel two-track where racers shred trail, tear over rocks, and climb killer hills while kicking up clouds of red dust that fills the lungs and shadows the granite outcroppings whizzing past, making it nearly impossible to see other racers. Over 2,000 cyclists participated in the Ore to Shore Mountain Bike Epic in Marquette County to gauge their grit and tackle the best point-to-point race in the Upper Peninsula. Celebrating its 15th year, Ore to Shore offers a race experience for everyone from novices trying out the 10 mile Shore Rock to weekend warriors battling the Soft Rock 28 mile course and elite and pro racers tackling the varied and rugged terrain of the 48 mile Hard Rock course. Though thwarted by a freight train blocking the race and a flat tire after “Misery Hill” last year, I knew Ore to Shore is an event worthy of the drive to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, and I determined to race stronger than last year, so I took my sons along to serve as pit crew and set out from Grand Rapids to Yooper territory to grind some gravel and measure my mettle. Racers return to Ore to Shore in part because the race promoter, Scott Tuma, puts on a well-supported event appealing to folks of all skill levels. But he also knows how well bike racing and craft beer go together in Michigan. Post-race this year, cyclists were offered three ales brewed on site at Ore Dock Brewing Company:
Jane Van Hof, dirty but happy with a 2nd place finish in her age group Bicycle racing operative, craft-beer intelligence agent, urban education rabble-rouser and partisanly punkish classical musician, Jane enjoys living a full and vibrant life. She received her Master’s degree in Socio-Cultural Foundations of Educational Thought from Western Michigan University, teaches writing in an urban middle school, professionally performs Baroque music, races bicycles with the Founders Racing team, romps through the Michigan outdoors, and loves micro brewed beer. Her joy in life stems from her three robust and witty sons who challenge her to remain tenaciously steady in all things. Jane resides in East Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Tim Foolery IPA; a collaboration beer brewed with the Marquette Homebrewer's Club, 100% Chinook hopped with a crafty malt curve. Ore Dock Gold; a light pilsner style ale. Belgian Wit; a complex, creamy Belgian style Witbier with clarifying citrus notes. The city of Marquette boasts three standout microbreweries that augment the gritty, gear
continued on next page 25
Cyclo-Mashing
Jeremy Karel celebrating a 1st place Single-speed victory
continued from page 25 grinding energy of the race weekend and brings mountain bike racers back to the U.P. I checked out the Vierling Restaurant and Marquette Harbor Brewery with Founders Racing teammate Dennis Murphy, and spoke with brewmaster Derek Anderson (better known as “Chumley”) about his take on craft beer and bike racing. “I just figured out that I’m the longest-serving Michigan brewer working in one location - I’ve brewed here since 1995”, Chumley shared. Both Dennis and I tried his piquant double pale, crafted with “Chum’s Brew,” his own secret blend of hops. Chumley created two more craft brews to put on tap in September for the U.P Fall Beer Fest: the “Big DIPA”, a double IPA brewed with Australian galaxy hops, and the “Little PIPA”, a peppercorn IPA crafted with a blend of New Zealand pacific jade hops and peppercorns. Over at Ore Dock Brewery, Declan the barkeep poured me a classic Farmhouse Saison with a satisfying, tangy taste. However, the Serrano Saison I tried next rocked my palate in an explosion of flavor! Declan explained that the brewers use serrano pepper puree from Rock River Farms which is processed through a cheesecloth to create a 2:1 ration of
Dennis Murphy enjoying a brew at Marquette Harbor Brewery'.
hot/sweet added to the Saison. This brew is worth a trip to Marquette just to savour the flavor! For the U.P. Fall Beer Fest, Ore Dock is collaborating with Arcadia Ales out of Battle Creek, MI to create an extra special strong bitter that Declan described as having “a funkified and barrel-aged” flavor.
a serious bonus,” reveals Jeremy. The vibe of Blackrocks Brewery celebrates craft beer, promotes local, live music, local folk art and encourages mountain bikers to “smash pedals and crush beer” all with a sense of humor that never detracts from taste, ambience or fun. Blackrocks represents the perfect amalgamation of all that resonates within the culture of Michigan craft brewing. I agree with Jorden and Jeremy and highly recommend patronizing this establishment when in Marquette!
The nano-brewery, Blackrocks, is, in the opinion of two pro-level Michigan mountain bike racers, the best in town. Local pro mountain bike racer and craftbeer aficionado, Jorden Wakeley, who Start of the Hard Rock race in took third place overall in the Hard Rock downtown Negaunee, MI race at Ore to Shore, claims Blackrocks as his favorite Marquette brewery. To celebrate his podium accomplishment, Jorden, who races Borealis Bikes, shared a 51K IPA with his grandma, sipping on a Grand Rabbits brew, at the bar! Blackrocks’ popularity comes also from offering live music five nights a week. Jeremy Karel, the first place winner of the Men’s Single Speed 48 hour Hard Rock race, and a micro-brew connoisseur himself, agrees. “Blackrocks is the main attraction in Marquette in terms of libations. If you happen to see Frank An Da Beanz playing while you're there it's
I’m writing this fireside on Old Mission Peninsula, north of Traverse City, Michigan. This still, cold morning on the lake isn’t any less beautiful than the faraway places I’ve been; different, but not any less magnificent. Magnificent, like the thunderstorm I slept through on the edge of the badlands
formations of Utah, or the brilliant night sky of Colorado. I’ve been back in the mitten for a few weeks and have had some time for retrospection of my road trip. In the end, I drove over 7,000 miles through 20 states in just 4 weeks. Alone. It is a time in my life that has significantly and permanently changed me. Life seemed to come full circle on this adventure, amidst all of the
in South Dakota after being confronted by a bighorn sheep. Beautiful, like the morning I woke up with the sun on
Yellowstone Lake and encountered a bison dropping to the ground 20 feet from me to roll in the dirt. Humbling, like the giant redwoods of northern California, the red rock
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stretching, the new brought light to the old. After a few days home I was ready to hit the road again. At this time my career has taken off so I have chosen to concentrate on work but I don’t anticipate this will be my last adventure.
work. When you’re
I’ve tasted the freedom of lone travel; each day scratching out a plan and letting it fill itself in with friends, sights, sounds, and feels. And so, my case of wanderlust has not been satisfied but only exacerbated. For years, I hoped for a lasting relationship with a man to love and start a family. alone, driving around 500 miles a day, you have a lot of time to think and consider the art of your life. When you’re
back country camping in a hammock feeling like a soft taco for a bear, you have a lot of room to test yourself. When you have that feeling in your gut and a voice in
I have not had success in this
pursuit so I chose to pursue another love; the love of life, of living! I felt this empty hole in my heart that created
your head that says, “This isn’t right for you”, you learn to trust
a real physical pain, I tried
lots of things to dull this ache – hitting the road was in large an attempt to cure this feeling. It worked, but in ways that I never expected it to Continued on pg. 32
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Sip and Spin A monthly pairing of our favorite records with our favorite Michigan Craft Brews. by Mike Ross
Record(s): 2 45s by Horatio’sHerbal Experience Beer: Unity Vibration Kombucha Beer, Ypsilanti As a longtime enthusiast of reggae and dub 45s, I’ve been flummoxed by Horatio’s Herbal Experience for some time now. As is practically traditional of Jamaican records, there is little to no information printed – though in this case, what info is there only serves to deepen the mystery. “Distributed by West Indian Radio.” Okay, that makes sense. “Channel 8 International Studio, LondonGermany-U.S.A.” Alright. “Rod
But weirder is the moniker. Sometimes billed to “Horatio & the Herbal Experience Band,” sometimes “The
This is heavy spliffed-out Rasta dub in its purest form, devoid of decoration and ornamentation. Bass and drums are to the fore in a slow throb, drenched in the herb and riding roughshod over a sweet melodica melody. This is how you define dub to someone who’s never heard dub. Dryden, Engineer, Multi-Media Studio, Detroit, Michigan.” Well, cool – a Detroit record, made by Jamaicans? It’s not out of the question. Detroit has always had a fairly surprisingly vibrant reggae scene. More mystifying is the tantalizing reference to SP-26843, aka a full-length LP entitled “Forward, Rasta, Forward.” I wish! In a word, unGoogle-able. Zilcho.
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Herbal Experience Reggae Band,” and sometimes – and this is my favorite – “The Horatio’s Herbal Experience.” And this is all in the space of just two 45s, mind you. Can’t decide? Use ‘em all. Oh – the music? It’s great. The first 45 features three songs – The Book of
Genesis, the Book of Exodus and The Book of Leviticus. This is heavy spliffed-out Rasta dub in its purest form, devoid of decoration and ornamentation. Bass and drums are to the fore in a slow throb, drenched in the herb and riding roughshod over a sweet melodica melody. This is how you define dub to someone who’s never heard dub. The second record, All the Love (just slightly differing versions on each side), is a more traditional loversrock reggae tune, this time with (ostensibly) Horatio on vocals, exhorting that “when I see her I’m going to give her all the love I’ve
got.” Female backing vocals emulate an approaching train over a fittingly quick gallop of a rhythm. The Beer! Of course I didn’t forget. Unity Vibration; of course it’s a great match for a reggae record, in name alone. But that’s not where the symbiosis ends. This fourpack includes two each of the ginger and raspberry-infused varieties; also available is a bourbon-peach. Certainly more giving than Horatio in terms of both origin and sheer availability, Unity Vibration takes kombucha a step further in its fermentation process, allowing the hops to flower into fullblown beer. Their self-proclamation as an “American Wild Ale” is one I can’t dispute; smooth with a tasty sour edge, and just a hint of an earthy aroma not unlike that of the leafy greens on the Herbal Experience sleeve. Unity Vibration would taste right at home on the Jamaican coasts and dank mountains, just as Horatio and company once upon a time made themselves at home right here in Detroit.
yourself. When you hit a major wall, you realize more than ever, the importance of friends and family. Finally, when you’re alone, and you persevere through any challenge, you learn to really like yourself, to respect
ever find him but for the short time my heart is beating on this earth I am going to enjoy
yourself,
and to have hope in your own endurance. It’s not that I’m closed off to the possibility of finding the love of my life now; it’s just that I have realized that we will find each other when the time is right, or maybe I won’t
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the journey. I am going to love myself and all those I’m blessed to have in my life with all that I am. I am going to eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die.
For more details of Dana's trip and more of her adventures follow her on IG @lotusblackbird
MiCraftBeerCulture
Who we are and Why we're here. (AKA a letter from the editor)
Welcome to MiCraftBeerCulture magazine! Our intention is to be an advertiser supported monthly free publication distributed to breweries, brewpubs, multi-taps, independent restaurants, and other supporters of the Michigan craft beer industry. Monthly topics will include Michigan Craft Beer and Brewing, Food and Cooking, Agriculture and Homesteading, Recreation, Art and Music, all drawing from the culture and lifestyle that surrounds Michigan Craft Beer. Join us for our next fundraising event, October 10th at Small's Bar. We have some great bands on the bill, Seven Birds One Stone, The Coleman Youngbloods, Escaping Pavement and an incarnation of the long lost Bored Housewives featuring Mr. Lance Sanders. We hope to see you there! Cheers! -Jason Osburn, Ringleader Contact us for info on advertising at advertising@MiCraftBeerCulture.com. Tell us what you think and share us with your friends!
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The Sky is Falling cont. from pg. 22
My chickens are a delight to me but, they are livestock. I’m amazed at this realization. If anyone was to bond with and have a pet chicken, it’s me. There is a line though. I didn’t see it initially but it’s there. These are animals that sustain us. Nothing is wasted. The steady stream of eggs go into our meals and baking. Their shells are baked, crushed, and fed back to them as a
calcium supplement. The coop litter goes to compost each spring and feeds precious nitrogen to our vegetable gardens all summer long. These animals are part of a cycle that a pet simply is not, at least in my mind. My beloved shepherd was my spirit. Losing her was like losing my shadow. My heart still aches for her. The chickens? Not so much. My investment in them is for product. I realize that now. I enjoy them, they are my beloved girls, but they serve a purpose. Truly, I have come into way too many chicks this spring, I picked up extras figuring I would inevitably lose a few here and there to predation or disease. I was vaguely thinking about culling for meat but mostly just in theory. Well, little one, you’ve forced my hand! I’m almost afraid of backlash from this piece. There are hundreds of websites devoted to pet chickens, chicken diseases, chicken first aid; you name it. I’ve even been on most of them. I researched (somewhat obsessively) chickens and chicken keeping for an entire year before acquiring my first round of chicks. I read my Storey’s guides more than I read the newspaper – I know! And then I got my chicks, moved them into the coop and learned how incredibly easy it is to keep chickens. More on that later. xoxo e
One Over the Eight
Pharoah Sanders performing at Detroit Jazz Festival 2014 Photo by: Brian Rozman
Sept. 19, THIRST WAVE DEPECHE MODE NIGHT w/ DJs Pleasure Kitten, Aaron Hingst and Elektrsonik wsg - no cover before 10 p.m.
Sept. 26, TOTAL FERAL COMEDY: Devoted Barn Fundraiser Live stand-up comedy with Brad Wenzel, Hailey Zuriech and more, hosted by Ray and Laura
Sept. 20, SPEEDBALL, Against the Grain and Her Dark Host
Sept. 27, RICKY RAT PACK with the Handcuffs featuring Brad Elvis (Romantics) and White Shag
Sept. 21, BLOWFLY with Downtown Brown and MistersHip.
Sept. 28, Listening Party for the new ELECTRIC SIX album “Human Zoo” with special surprises
Sept. 23, BITERS wsg Radio Burns and Rock & Roll Prep School Band Sept. 25, GRAVESTONE Goth Industrial DJ night - no cover before 10 p.m.
Oct. 2, Comedy Showcase hosted by Ray and Laura. Stand-up comedy in the bar room. Oct. 3, 800BELOVED with Siamese and the Last Ghost
Oct. 4, INDUSTRIAL IS NOT DEAD w/ DJs Elektrosonik, Void6 and Aaron Hingst - no cover before 10 p.m. Oct. 5, THE CHOP TOPS $8 in advance, $10 at the door Oct. 7, LEFT ALONE (Elvis from the Transplants), Break Anchor, Dewtons and CBJ Oct. 9, INOKE ERATTI with the Split Friday, Oct. 10 MICRAFTBEER CULTURE presents Seven Birds One Stone, Escaping Pavement, Coleman Youngbloods and Bored Housewives
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