Tag: Michigan Micros

Anger

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Maker: Greenbush, Sawyer, Michigan, USAwpid-20140908_191327.jpg

Style: Black IPA

ABV: 7.6%

Purchased for $11 for a 6 pack.

Appearance: Dark coffee, lacy, light colored head.

Nose: Grapefruit, lavender, coriander, toasted brown bread.

Palate: Sweet and spicy. Black pepper, coffee, hint of chipotle.

Finish: Mildly sweet and more dry hoppy spice. Black cherry, then a bit roasty bitterness.

Parting words: I’ll admit to being a man who got sick of IPAs. The IPA madness seems to have died down about so I came out of my hiding place to buy myself a pack of Anger.

Anger makes me happy. It has lots of hoppy IPA aggression but it is perfectly balanced by toasty and subtly sweet flavors. It goes ok with food, but some of the subtlety is lost. This is an IPA I can drink (a lot) and enjoy. Anger is recommended.

The Mitten

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Maker: Virtue, Fennville, Michigan, USAThe Mitten

Style: Dry cider aged in bourbon barrels.

ABV: 6.8%

Price: $17/750ml (Binny’s)

Appearance: Light gold and effervescent.

Nose: Apple juice, dry Riesling, hint of oak and corn syrup.

Palate: Light and bubbly. Dry but with a tangy apple flavor. Also some caramel and bitter oak.

Finish: More tart and then dry with a background of oak and caramel.

Parting words: Virtue was founded by Gregory Hall, former brewmaster at Goose Island brewery in Chicago. He founded Virtue Cider in order to make European-style farmhouse ciders. While a bourbon barrel-aged cider doesn’t exactly fit that profile it is very much in the spirit of the thing.

This is my first Virtue cider, having been disconnected from the cider scene for quite some time. It’s very well done and I will definitely be seeking more of these out in the future. The bourbon barrel makes itself known but does not overwhelm the crisp flavor of the cider like it does in other barrel aged ciders I’ve had. It’s priced like a special occasion cider but it does quite well with food. Think Gewurz or Sauv Blanc when pairing it with a meal.

I alluded to the price earlier. It’s listed at $17 at Binny’s but I’ve seen it for even more elsewhere. If you can get it for less than $20, it’s worth a buy. The Mitten is recommended.

Traverse City Cherry Wheat

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Maker: Atwater, Detroit, Michigan, USAAtwater Traverse City Cherry

Style: Wheat beer with brewed with cherry.

ABV: 6%

Appearance: Light auburn with a short-lived, foamy head.

Nose: Malt, sourness, fruit.

Palate: Medium bodied. Slightly sour with sweet malt and a splash of tart cherry juice.

Finish: Cherry flavor, some malt and a little hoppy bitterness.

Parting words: Not to be confused with Atwater’s Cherry Stout. This beer is also included in Atwater’s summer party twelve pack. It’s an easy drinking, lightly fruity and sour wheat beer. Nothing earth- shattering but tasty on a hot and sticky summer evening. Traverse City Cherry Wheat is recommended.

Thunder Trail ESB

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Maker: Arcadia, Battle Creek, Michigan, USAThunder Trail ESB

Style: Bitter Ale

ABV: 6%

Appearance: Burnt sienna with a frothy head.

Nose: Malt, yeast, hint of hops and figs.

Palate: Medium bodied and fairly sweet on entry. The bitterness grows and grows like a until it overruns the mouth.

Finish: Big hoppy bitterness. Dried flowers, grapefruit, dark toast.

Parting words: Thunder Trail is a reworking of Arcadia’s old ESB and it’s just as good, if not better (assuming it’s not just the same thing with a different name). Historically, Arcadia’s specialty is British style ales and this beer is an excellent example. It’s a classic ESB. Dark and rich with a lot of bitterness on the back end. Very food friendly and might lend itself to session drinking, even though that’s not something I really do with beer and the ABV is on the high side.

Anyway, I love this beer like I do most everything Arcadia does. Recommended.

Vanilla Java Porter

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Maker: Atwater, Detroit, Michigan, USAVJ Porter

Style: Porter with coffee and vanilla extracts added.

ABV: 6%

Appearance: Very dark brown, like coffee. Moderate head.

Nose: Vanilla syrup, coffee.

Palate: Medium bodied, semi-sweet and effervescent. Gas station vanilla “cappuccino”, a little bitterness and slightly sour.

Finish: Coffee and hint of fruit. Lingers for a while.

Parting words: This beer delivers on its promise. I taste vanilla, I taste coffee, I taste porter. I expected something a bit more intense than this, but I can’t complain that it tastes exactly how it is described on the label. It could have used more bitterness and a fuller mouth feel but it’s fine as a change of pace. Vanilla Java Porter doesn’t pair very well with food. It’s best as an after meal dessert pour. Vanilla Java Porter is mildly recommended.

Uncle Steve’s Irish Stout

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Maker: Short’s, Bellaire/Elk Rapids, Michigan, USUncle Steve's Irish Stout

ABV: 5.5%

Purchased for $9

Appearance: Black with a foamy chocolate head

Nose: Dark toast, molasses, malt.

On the palate: Medium bodied, dry and effervescent. Dark roasted malt and a little sourness. A little sweetness at the end.

Finish: More dark toast and bubbles. Fades fairly quickly.

Parting words: It doesn’t take a lot of guesswork to figure out what brand of beer a craft “Irish Stout” is aimed at. If you like Guinness, you’ll like this. It’s a bit of an improvement on Guinness, but not enough to make it a repeat buy for me since I’m not a fan of that style of stout in the first place. I prefer my stouts more flavorful and chocolaty. Uncle Steve’s Irish Stout is mildly recommended.

Noel de Calabaza

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Noel de CalabazaMaker: Jolly Pumpkin, Dexter/Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA

Style: Oak-aged, spiced sour ale

Notes: Blend 16, bottled November 19, 2012

Vintage: 2012

ABV: 9% or so.

Purchased for $11/750 ml

Appearance: Coffee brown with a robust foamy head on first pour.

Nose: Malt, balsamic vinegar, clove.

On the palate: Medium bodied and effervescent with underripe plum, hops, clove, aged balsamic vinegar

Finish: Fairly clean and short but with old, ashy oak that lingers for a long time.

Parting words: Noel de Calabaza is another holiday beer that defies expectations. It’s sour but in a more subtle way than many from Jolly Pumpkin. The oak rounds the whole thing out nicely. As you can tell from my notes above, it reminded me a lot of balsamic vinegar, the good aged kind. It doesn’t strike me as a particularly festive beer, but it’s really good. The price is acceptable. Noel de Calabaza is reccomended.

Bell’s Christmas Ale

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Maker: Bell’s, Comstock/Kalamazoo, Michigan, USABells Xmas Ale

Style: American Pale Ale.

ABV: 5.5%

Notes: 100% malted Michigan two-row barley, Michigan and Northwest US hops.

Purchased for: $10/6 pack
Appearance: Old gold with a big frothy head and a bit of sediment in the bottom.

Nose: Hops, creamy malt, dried flowers, tea.

On the palate: Full bodied and well balanced. Fruity malt and then the hops take over in a big way.

Finish: Dry and spicy, a quick shot of fruity malt and then hops until the whole thing fades away.

Parting words: Bell’s Christmas Ale is an unusual holiday beer because there’s nothing particularly holiday-ish about it. It’s just a good hearty pale ale. It goes very well with food, even rich food that one has around this time of year, so maybe that’s the idea. Or maybe it’s that it reflects the experience of a typical holiday family gathering. It begins sweet but ends in lingering bitterness. I may be over thinking this a bit.

At any rate, it’s quite tasty and the local angle in the malt and hops adds interest and softens the blow of the price which is a bit on the high side. Bell’s Christmas Ale is recommended.

Closure

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Maker: Greenbush, Sawyer, Michigan, USAClosure

Style: American Pale Ale

ABV: 5.9%

Purchased for: $10/6 pack

Appearance: Dark tan with a foamy head that dissipates fairly quickly.

Nose: Creamy malt, flowery hops, hint of sweetness.

On the palate: Cream on first entry, then springs into bloom. Dried flowers, coriander seed, epazote.

Finish: Fairly dry with big, brash hops. Lingers for a long, long time getting more and more bitter.

Parting words: Greenbush is a newish brewery in Southwest Michigan in the heart of wine country, the Lake Michigan Shore AVA, specifically. It’s a big, bold American Pale Ale that reminds me a lot of Bell’s Two Hearted Ale but it lacks the finesse of Two Hearted and the hoppy finish can get unpleasant when not drinking with food. I had it with a variety of foods and it seems to drink best with rich, spicy ones like sausage or pizza. Price is normal for a quality microbrew. I look forward to trying and reviewing more from this brewery soon! Closure is recommended.

Sleeping Giant

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Maker: B. Nektar, Ferndale, Michigan

Style: Wildflower mead aged in rye whiskey barrels for one year.

ABV: 19.5%

Purchased for: $25/375 mlSleeping Giant

Appearance: pale gold with big thick legs.

Nose: Brown butter, oak, overdone fruitcake, dandelion stems.

On the palate: Sweet and full bodied. Honey, citrus, cut clover, old oak, woodruff.

Finish: Sweet and viscous. Some acrid oak and orange peel. Then fades slowly.

Parting words: This is a good one. It’s much more drinkable than the first bourbon barrel finished mead they did. The bitter edges of the mead are taken off by the barrel aging and probably my cellaring for even longer. I still have one bottle held back in reserve.

It’s a cliché, but this mead is dangerous for the pocketbook and the brain. It tastes like a before dinner drink but it’s at an after dinner ABV. The price is steep but it’s a one-off and delicious. Sleeping Giant is going to be really hard to find at this point, but consider my recommendation as an endorsement of all B. Nektar barrel aged meads. Sleeping Giant is highly recommended.