Rochester Mills Craft Beer/Dining Experience

I don't typically write on weekends, but the Rochester Mills Groupon is too good to not pass on to readers. For $48, you buy a craft beer and dining experience. The sessions will be held on Sunday or Tuesday nights from 7-8pm, and lucky buyers get:

     * 15-minute tour of the Rochester Mills Beer Co. brewhouse
     * 15-minute craft beer 101 session with a brewer
     * 30-minute food and beer pairing with a brewer and a chef
     * Full growler with a free refill when patrons return
     * Souvenir brewery pint glass

This is a $96 value! The deal runs through the next 5 days, but a limited number are available and when they are sold out you're SOL.

The Rochester Mills is located in downtown Rochester at 400 Water Street in the historic Western Knitting Mill building. One of the great things about the Mills is they kept the integrity of the building, featuring original hardwood floors, columns, beams and exposed brick walls.
 
The Mills serves 11 signature beers including Cornerstone IPA, Milkshake Stout, and Rochester Red Ale. I highly recommend the Milkshake Stout.

http://www.groupon.com/deals/gx-rochester-mills-beer-co?utm_medium=email&utm_source=channel_grouponicus-deals&sid=11035309&user=fd7d449f9f0e8fec321ed2b2ad78d44dfb9ae292d389890e4c7a2911660f9feb&utm_campaign=11035309&s=body&d=gx-rochester-mills-beer-co&p=2&c=deal_button

Olde Peninsula

While on my biercation, I visited Olde Peninsula in downtown Kalamazoo. We decided to stop for dinner based on a recommendation of the food.

 Serving a smaller craft beer selection, I would say Olde Peninsula is more of a nice restaurant than brewery. Their food was delicious, our recommendation was right on. I ordered a burger, and decided on a flight of beer.

My flight contained four beers - a Pumpkin Ale on nitro, the Jack-O-Lantern, the Midnight Stout, and the Haymarket Cream Ale. I really wanted to try their Stout Chocula, but they were out of it. The Pumpkin Ale was delicious, very smooth and creamy. My favorite pumpkin ale is Screamin' Pumpkin by Michigan Brewing Company, OP's Pumpkin Ale came close. The Midnight Stout was a dark beer with hints of chocolate and coffee, and the Jack-O-Lantern was a hybrid beer mix of the Pumpkin Ale and the Midnight Stout. The Haymarket Cream Ale was good, too - very light. Cream Ale's are a bit too light for me, but this one had good flavor. (Note: pictured flight is OP IPA, Midnight Stout, Jack-O-Lantern, and Pumpkin Ale; my flight came in small glasses as they ran out of flight glasses).

Similar to their Jack-O-Lantern hybrid, Olde Peninsula serves a selection of four additional mix-n-match brews, where they serve combinations such as the Midnight Stout combined with the Raspberry Wheat. They also serve several bottled domestics.

http://oldepenkazoo.com/

Dark Horse

If you find yourself near Marshall, MI I highly recommend making a trip to Dark Horse. Located in a nondescript building, my mouth was agape as soon as I entered - mugs from their mug club decorate every wall and the ceiling. It appeared as if there wasn't a single piece of real estate available for more members (apparently there is). Boasting nearly 3200 members in the mug club, it was awesome to see and should be experienced in person.

For those who frequent the Michigan Brewers Guild beer festivals, Dark Horse has an impressive showing. They had their regular beers on tap (Crooked Tree IPA, Amber Ale, Raspberry Ale, Reserve Special Black Bier Ale, and Boffo Brown Ale) as well as seasonals brews which included Scotty Karate Scotch Ale, One Oatmeal Stout, Thirsty Trout Porter, Smells Like Weed IPA, and Perkulator Coffee Doppelbock. I was disappointed that they were not yet serving their Tres Blueberry Stout, as this seasonal beer isn't available until December.

I ordered a One Oatmeat Stout (7.0% ABV), which was full bodied with hints of chocolate and coffee with a smooth, creamy head (pictured with Smells Like Weed IPA). Be prepared if you visit Dark Horse, many of their beers feature a higher ABV (alcohol by volume), as the weakest beer is 5.5%. 

Dark Horse beer is available in bottles (sold in cases or 6-packs) at many stores, and is on draught in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and Denmark.

Readers - which is your favorite brew from Dark Horse?

http://www.darkhorsebrewery.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?

Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA at Champagne's

On Thursday Champagne's Wine Cellars in Warren is hosting a limited release beer tasting featuring Dogfish Head's 120 Minute IPA. Per Dogfish Head:

"Too extreme to be called beer? Brewed to a colossal 45-degree plato, boiled for a full 2 hours while being continuously hopped with high-alpha American hops, then dry-hopped daily in the fermenter for a month & aged for another month on whole-leaf hops!!! Our 120 Minute I.P.A. is by far the biggest I.P.A. ever brewed! Between 15-20% abv and 120 ibus you can see why we call this beer THE HOLY GRAIL for hopheads!"

Champane's Wine Cellars has been allocated a limited amount of the September 2011 batch, and is charging $5 for a 5oz. glass.  This event is limited to 80 people, contact Champagne's Wine Cellars (586-978-9463) for reservations.

North Peak Hoodoo

 
North Peak’s Hoodoo beer is available this weekend - the hops were grown on Michigan’s own Old Mission Peninsula.  You can find it in Traverse City at North Peak and Jolly Pumpkin, as well as several bars and beer/liquor stores around the state.  Not a fan of IPA’s, but I’ll try a locally sourced brew.

Note: I checked at the local beer store for this and North Peak's Hooligan's (a hoppy pumpkin ale), they said both should arrive sometime next week.

http://www.theticker.tc/story/hoppin-fresh-beer