Enjoy! Thanks again to Brad!
Tag: Michigan Micros
Review: Red’s Rye PA
Maker: Founder’s, Grand Rapids, Michigan
Style: Rye Beer (in an IPA style)
ABV: 6.6%
Appearance: Big foamy head that sticks to the top of the glass. Body is pretty, slightly cloudy auburn.
Nose: Sweet, and fruity with a bit of spice
On the palate: The promise of the nose is brought to fruition: like eating a slice of slightly overripe mango with black pepper. The sweetness gets sweeter and the spice gets spicier. This beer has a big impact, but is never obnoxious or overbearing, to me anyway. As it sits in the glass, the spice component gets bigger and bigger and it starts to become more of a conventional IPA, albeit a very tasty one.
Finish: Long, and pleasantly bitter, with spice notes lingering as long as the hoppy bitterness does.
Parting words: This is a very well-executed beer, and for once that is not intended to be a back-handed complement. The big hops fit with the big spice and fruit rye brings to the party. I’m not a hop-head, but even I enjoyed it. Red’s Rye PA is recommended if you need some spice in your life.
Review: Siren Amber Ale
Maker: North Peak, Traverse City, Michigan
Style: Amber Ale
ABV: 5%
Color: Amber with a fairly decent head. Good body.
Nose: Sweet and a bit funky, maybe slightly skunky. Meh.
On the palate: Some fruity sweetness with a strong bitter note.
Finish: A strong, unpleasant bitter taste that won’t go away. Like old, low-grade Gorgonzola cheese.
Parting Words: Wow, what a disappointing beer. I found myself virtually chugging these just to get them out of my fridge to make room for better beer. It wasn’t any worse than any macro-brewed ale of the same style, but why pay micro prices for macro quality? If you see it and feel tempted, pass on it and pick up some of Bud’s American Ale. Or better yet, get a good Michigan Microbrew.
Review: Atwater Winter Bock
Maker: Atwater Block Brewery (Detroit, Michigan)
Style: Bock
ABV: 7.5%
Color: dark chocolate brown
Nose: malty, sweet, barley
Palate: Malty, sweet, a hint of bitterness, lowfat milk, a bit of spice
Finish: long, slightly bitter, malty sweetness
Parting words: This one lives up to its billing. It’s thick and rich and the sweetnes and ceareal notes were constantly taking me back to childhood breakfast tables. For obvious reasons, it reminded me a bit of Founder’s Breakfast Stout. A really excellent beer. I think I’ll be getting me another six pack very soon.
Review: Short’s Autumn Ale
Short’s Autumn Ale
Brewery: Short’s (Bellaire, Michigan)
Style: ESB
ABV: ???
Color: hazy copper
Nose: toasted grain with a bit of sourness, like onions past their sell-by date.
Body: Medium
Taste: Bitter, toasty, with a wee tiny bit of sourness. Bitter, but not excessively hoppy.
Finish: long dry, bitter
Parting Words: Nothing particularly Autumnal about this to me, but it’s a decent ale. The rotten onion note was a off-putting though. Not a bad choice, but Short’s makes much better beers than this.
Good News!
Good news for micro-brew lovers! Milking It brewery in Royal Oak, MI now has its products in finer party and grocery stores in Southeastern Michigan, in pint CANS, no less. I’m a big fan of the Axl Pale Ale. Pick up a six pack. Yes, now.
Now Drinking
Motor City Hard Cider
ABV: 6.5%
Dry. I’m not an expert on such things, but I think the folks at MCBW let this puppy ferment a little too long. I’ve gotten more apple out of bourbons and white wines that I get out of this. Not to say it’s undrinkable, it’s not, in fact it goes very well with food. But if you’re looking for a little hit of apple, you’re barking up the wrong tree. It’s a murky tan color and has a strange tangy smell to it. It has a bitter finish too, that is not very pleasant. If you see this in the store, skip it and get the ghetto blaster ale.
Now Drinking
Keweenaw Brewing Company Pick Axe Blonde
Style: American Blonde
ABV: ???
I was completely unable to find any information of the alcohol content of Pick Axe Blonde. For some reason, it’s not on the can.
At any rate, this beer delivers what it promises. It’s a perfectly blonde beer, with a medium-full body that is heftier than I expected. I do like my blondes with a lot of body . As the side of the can says it has just a kiss of hops, which is refreshing in these days of hop hysteria. It’s almost too full-bodied for back porch sipping, but it has a great balance of maltiness and sweetness. That and the busty blonde babe on the can, and you can’t go wrong. I think I’m developing a big crush on this blonde.
Last Night
Motor City Brew Works Amber Wheat
Style: Wheat
ABV: ???
In spite of what the brewer at Royal Oak Brewery would have you think, I do enjoy wheat beers. So when my friend ordered the seasonal Amber Wheat when we met up at the Motor City Brew Works (MCBW), I made it a pitcher. MCBW is best known for its Ghetto Blaster Ale, very popular in these parts.
The Wheat is a nice dark orange color and the pitcher came with an abundance of oranges. It is medium-bodied and a bit light on flavor. If you like wheats, then you may be a bit disappointed, but if you don’t, you might be pleasantly surprised.
MCBW is located in mid-town Detroit and has a wonderful brewpub that is perfect for warm-weather sipping. The whole building seems to open up into the outside, with the feel of a beachside bar. It has a fairly large, airy rooftop seating area, where my friend and I sat. As the setting sun beat down on us the pitcher shrank and the conversation grew, and I was reminded that sometimes it’s not about the beer.
Now Drinking
Axl Pale Ale
Maker: Milking It Brewery (Royal Oak, MI)
Style: American Pale Ale
ABV: 6%
Christy, barmaid at my favorite Detroit pub, and former King Brewery (Pontiac, MI) employee is a partner in this new microbrewery in my town, Royal Oak, Michigan.
It’s what I like in a Pale Ale. It has plenty of hoppy bitterness, but a touch of sweetness and a relatively dark color and full body with a tiny citrus tang in the finish. King’s will indeed be missed, but this beer is a fantastic start for Milking It. If this is any indication of what’s to come, Michigan is going to have yet another GREAT microbrewery.
Sipology 