Sherwood Brewing Company

If you find yourself near Shelby Township, Michigan, you must stop by Sherwood Brewing Company. Located in a nondescript strip mall off Hayes just west of Hall Road, Sherwood has THE best beer and food in the area.

During my first visit at Sherwood I knew this brewery was special. There is a funky attitude to Sherwood, the brewery is a blast and the people here are like a big family. Everything I have ordered off the menu is delicious, I highly recommend the pizza with spicy beer sauce and the S'n'M burger with season fries. I try to get to Sherwood once a week.

As a coffee lover, I am a huge fan of the dark beers (porters and stouts). Sherwood is where I fell in love with beer, their Hazelnut Coffee Stout is amazing. Ray and Lisa are the owners, and they are always doing something new and different; for the Detroit Beer Festival they had their Jamocha Cocoa Coffee Stout, which was also delicious. Pictured above is their beer released on October 28, the Smoked Pumpkin Porter (along with favorite 1492 IPA). I really enjoyed the Smoked Pumpkin Porter, sometimes smoked flavor can overwhelm beer but this one has just enough. And it was balanced perfectly with the Pumpkin.

Sherwood is always hosting fun activities and daily specials, from Mugless Club Mondays, Trivia Tuesdays, Blues 'n Brews Wednesdays, and Ladies Nights on Thursdays. Fan them on facebook to know what their happenings are, and be sure to check out their website for the latest brewery news.


http://www.sherwoodbrewing.com/

Detroit Fall Beer Festival

Last Saturday was the 3rd Annual Detroit Fall Beer Festival. Featuring more than 300 beers from over 50 breweries in Michigan, this festival is one of my favorites in Michigan. Taking place in Eastern Market, this festival is smaller than both the Summer and Winter fall beer festivals.

I started at Sherwood Brewing Company, my absolute favorite brewery, and had Erica (one of their beautiful servers) pour a Jamocha Cocoa Coffee Stout. It was delicious.

Next I hit North Peak; I was able to taste both their Hooligan Hoppy Pumpkin beer and the Hoodoo mentioned in a previous post. Both are IPA's, which tend to be bitter. Hooligan was good, but I loved Hoodoo. At 9% alcohol, it was sweeter than I thought it would be. And the hops are from Old Mission Peninsula - go Michigan!

My favorite pumpkin beer is Screamin' Pumpkin from Michigan Brewing Company in Webberville. While I like to try new beers at the festivals, I made an exception for this beer. The brewery owner told me about mixing Screamin' Pumpkin with their Nut Brown Ale, and then poured the mixture for me. It tasted just like a Windmill cookie.

It was a festival full of pumpkin brews - other favorites of the festival include La Parcela Sour Pumpkin Ale from Jolly Pumpkin, Punkin Pie Whole from Right Brain and Funkin' Punkin' from Shorts.

So what does everyone think? What were your favorites from the festival?

Detroit Beer Week/Detroit Beer Fest

It's an exciting time for beer drinkers - it's Detroit Beer Week. From October 13-23, breweries in the area will have special events and dinners. One of tonight's events is the Dogfish Head Craft Brewery Beer Dinner at Slows BBQ. Beginning at 7pm, in Slows new private dining room, diners will have access to a special menu paired with Dogfish Head beers. Tickets are $50 per person, reservations must be made in advance. For more information or to access other Beer Week events, visit: http://www.detbeerweek.com/.

Saturday, October 22 is the Detroit Beer Festival at Eastern Market from 1-6pm. Tickets are $35 in advance, and are already sold out online. Traditionally this festival completely sells out, so don't wait until the day of and hope to purchase them at the gate. Some breweries may still have tickets, I recommend contacting them before you make the trip out. I anticipate the Michigan Brewers Guild will update the list of available beers throughout the week, the current list (as well the list of breweries with tickets) can be found on their blog, The Mash: http://www.mbgmash.org/. Be sure to pay attention to the special and limited beer releases, even though some are available at certain times typically when they run out you're SOL.

I hope to see everyone out this week, or at Eastern Market on Saturday!