Beer and Bacon

One of today's Living Social deals for Detroit is a set of I Wish Lessons for 'Beer and Bacon' ($20, regularly $45). Per their website, "Green-light the beer and bacon experience and you'll learn about the history, background, and finer points of the beers you're tasting while pairing each sip with bacon."

I took their Complex Beers Course and had a great time, and am seriously considering signing up for this course.

http://www.livingsocial.com/cities/14/deals/172071-choice-of-beer-bacon-or-whiskey-cupcakes-class

There are some awesome beer happenings this upcoming weekend/week, just to name a few:
Saturday, Dec. 3 - Kuhnhenn's Chili Cookoff, noon (Warren)
Tuesday, Dec. 6 - Jolly Pumpkin 3rd Annual Rare Beer Auction, 6:30pm (Ann Arbor)
Friday, Dec. 9 - Sherwood Ugly Sweater contest, 9:00pm (Shelby Township)

If there is anything I missed (which I am sure I have) please post in the comments below. I hope everyone has a good weekend!

Jolly Pumpkin Cafe & Brewery

Last week I visited the Jolly Pumpkin Cafe & Brewery located on South Main Street in downtown Ann Arbor.

Walking in I had high hopes, the Jolly Pumpkin Restaurant in Traverse City is one of my favorites - the food there is amazing and the beer selection features brews from North Peak and Jolly Pumpkin. The Ann Arbor Jolly Pumpkin left much to be desired. It was the first stop of many on our Michigan brewery vacation, and I can't imagine we'll go back.

Being a dark beer fan, I strayed from the Jolly Pumpkin sours and ordered a Tortuga chocolate stout (made with real chocolate). I ordered a half pint as this was our first stop, and I'm glad I did. The beer was horribly bitter, and was served warm (perhaps it cask, but wasn't advertised as such). Chocolate stouts are one of my favorites, but I did not like this one at all. (Note: JP Bam Biere on left, Tortuga on right).

We ordered lunch, we split a cobb salad and pizza. The salad was good, and the restaurant gave us two small plates instead of making us eat off the same large plate. We ordered the Carnivores pizza (i.e. meat lovers), it was somewhat greasy.

While the decor inside Jolly Pumpkin Cafe & Brewery was fun, overall it was a disappointing experience. We'll save ourselves for the Traverse City location.

http://www.jollypumpkin.com/annarbor/Default.htm

Grand Trunk Pub

A few nights ago I had the fortune of attending an event at the Grand Trunk Pub on Woodward Avenue in downtown Detroit.  Located near Campus Martius Park, this is pub a gem for Detroiters wanting to get their local brew on.

From the moment I saw the door, I knew I was among friends. I told the waitress my taste preferences (a porter or stout, sweet versus dry), who recommended the Coal Stoker's Blackberry Ale from the Mt. Pleasant Brewing Company. It was love at first sip; a combination of their raspberry wheat with their stout. The result was sweet, the flavor from the blackberries and raspberries reminded me of a berry cobbler.

And check out that lacing:

I moved onto my second beer from Mt. Pleasant, their Gambler's Golden Ale. While I did not love it as much as the Coal Stoker's, it was still very good. According to Mt. Pleasant, this beer pairs well with spicy food, so if you have something hot on the menu you may want to check it out.

Grand Trunk Pub will be on my list of places to visit again. I did not order off the menu, but the food coming from the kitchen looked delicious. And the beer menu was amazing, from Atwater to Founders to Shorts to Jolly Pumpkin, this pub had it all.

 

http://www.grandtrunkpub.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?

Happy SOUR Hour

Last night I was finally able to get out for Detroit Beer Week.  I attended the Happy SOUR Hour event at Slows BBQ in Detroit, which featured sour beers from Jolly Pumpkin and Leelanau Brewing Company with special guest Charles Psenka.  Beer was available by the bottle, glass, or flights of five.

Flights included:
1. Leelanau Brewing Company Good Harbor Golden Ale
2. Jolly Pumpkin Oro de Calabaza
3. Jolly Pumpkin La Roja
4. Jolly Pumpkin Fuego del Otono
5. Jolly Pumpkin La Parcela

I am not a big sour beer drinker, but I thought all of the beers were good.  My favorite was La Parcela (JP's pumpkin ale), followed by Oro de Calabaza.  My date for the evening is a big Jolly Pumpkin fan, and loves sour beers.  His favorite of the flight was also La Parcela, followed by La Roja.  I followed the fight with a glass of Jolly Pumpkin's Bam Noire, which was also delicious.

It was nice to be were able to visit with Charles Psenka. and see Aaron from the Tashmoo Biergarten.

The fun evening was capped off with dinner at Slows...definitely put me in the mood for the Detroit Beer Festival on Saturday.  Hope I see you there!

Tashmoo Biergarten

Today I visited the Tashmoo Biergarten in Detroit - what an awesome place! Located at 1416 Van Dyke, Tashmoo is only open Sundays from noon - 9pm, with next Sunday being their last day for the season. It was a great time - family friendly with board games available on the tables and corn-hole games being played in the lot. Sorry, no dogs allowed.

Entry was free, beer tickets were $2 each, and each glass started at 2 tickets (Jolly Pumpkin was 3 tickets). The beer list was great - I love porters and stouts, so I quickly ordered a Founders porter. The Biergarten was wonderfully simple, the food and beer lists were written on chalkboard and the tables were made from old doors. Great atmosphere, it was very relaxed and chill. I absolutely loved it, I wish I could've stayed all day. I look forward to visiting next year.

http://www.freep.com/article/20110925/COL20/109250330/Sylvia-Rector-Tashmoo-Biergarten-ready-pop-up-Detroit-s-West-Village