April - 2015
 |
| Brooklyn Lager |
However, the NYC experience was really more about cocktails than beer--I even had a Manhattan, made in Manhattan!
 |
| Double Chocolate Stout |
I almost totally forgot that I also had a Sea Salt Ale (crazy, huh?) at Mei Jin, a Japanese ramen bar which I gave away and then ordered a bottle of Sapporo with my ramen bowl--which seemed right.
And--the very first night we went for pizza in the neighborhood at Nick's Pizza, where I had a draft of an Italian lager--Moretti--in a great frosted mug. My mind was muddled (or was that from the cocktails?) in a blur of beers, and I might have forgotten it all if had not taken photos of all the beer except the Smuttynose!
 |
| Sea Salt and Sapporo |
 |
| Moretti on the right |
And--back to West Michigan!
April 8 - Mitten Brewing Company
A girls night out with J. and O. tonight led to an old converted fire station, which opened in 2012. We were upstairs where the original fire pole was still evident in the floor next to our table.
They are known for good pizza so we ordered a tasty pesto/chicken/artichoke pie to share. We were disappointed in the service at the Mitten and they had only 4 beers available for a flight tonight. They couldn't fill all the holes in the cute mitten board! They gave me the cider (on the left) by mistake, but then didn't charge me for it. The mitten flight cost me only $4, so I couldn't complain too much! It included a Country Strong (a West Coast Ipa dry hopped with simcoe), a Peanuts and Crackerjack Porter which didn't live up to its name, a Nitro Porter (with a head) and a brown ale, which, of course, was my favorite. J. ordered a glass of that and didn't do the flight.The owners tried to keep some of the charm of the old building, while gutting it to the brick. The floors below were cement, accommodating peanut shells. I found this funky purse hook in the upstairs restroom:
April 15 - 2015
Grand Rapids Brewing Company
 |
| Silver Foam 4.5% (American Lager), Rosalynn Bliss Blonde 5.2% (Blonde Ale) John Ball Brown 5.5 %(Nut Brown Ale) Senator Lyons Stout 5.4 %(Dry Stout-Irish) Rye-Heart(Well) Bock 7.8% (Rye Bock) Fishladder 6.5% (IPA) plus the extra Vander Brown cider-aged (Brown Ale) |
Aren't these brews so pretty? 14 house brews were available tonight and we sampled 7, all surprisingly quaffable, although the stout was especially disappointing. The extra freebie brown ale (they had two!) sample was the winner. This brewery wins so far in my book, with mostly good tasting stuff in their standard flight of six--or were we just extra thirsty after mailing those tax bills today? That was our excuse for going downtown--J. had to mail her taxes at the downtown post office.
This was their standard flight of six, small pours, but only $6. I ordered a hamburger with it but am too embarrassed to describe it--never again! Maybe save it for my year of burgers...
I laughed at the Vander Brown ale, some kind of combination of Vander Mill hard cider and the John Ball Brown, I guess. It was probably my favorite--but will likely not be there anymore if I come again.
April 20 - 2015 Village Inn Pizza and Sports Grille
Another flight--not at a brewery--but representing some big name Michigan breweries, with all stuff new to me!
 |
| Brewery Vivant Triomphe 6.5 % (Belgian IPA), Perrin Grapefruit 5% (American IPA), Bell's Smitten 6% (Golden Rye Ale), Founder's Devil Dancer 12% (Triple IPA). |
O. helped sample the grapefruit IPA, and surprisingly liked it okay. Turns out she is a bit of a sucker for the fruity brews, while J. likes stuff straight and simple! J. had a happy hour brew of Right Brain Northern Hawk Owl amber ale. Unfortunately they no longer have my favorite Boffo Brown on tap.
I was too busy yammering to pay much attention to these brews. I paid $1 extra for the Devil Dancer so paid $6.75 for this flight. The Devil Dancer is my all time flight high roller to date, with 12% alcohol! It is a limited series brew, dry hopped with ten hop varieties and supposedly available in June!!??
The grapefruit was also a seasonal from Perrin Brewing. The Triomphe is on the first tier at Brewery Vivant and readily available in cans all the time. I was trying out some new stuff tonight and none of these will likely make my top ten list this year!
However, I was talking more than making tasting notes--and making sure I got J.'s copy of her Almond Coffee Cake recipe!!
April 22, 2015
HopCat Brewery
Another beautiful group of home brews, but not as tasty as at Grand Rapids Brewing last week! We had a window seat with some fading natural daylight and parked in the best spot--right outside this window. We must live right ha ha.
HopCat opened in 2008 and has been an award winning brewery. It features an absolutely insane amount of drafts and bottles, but we are committed to trying Michigan craft drafts so that is what we did! The flight portions were $2 each, so $8 for this flight tonight, although the pours were generous...
 |
| Unite Ale 7.1% (American Black Ale) Zugspitze 5.4% (Hefeweizen) Hummingbird's Soul 7.1% (American Pale Ale w/Jasmine Green Tea) Rainbow Universe 6.9% (Blonde Ale w/Fruit) |
HopCat had 6 house brews available tonight--but 4 seemed like plenty for me! J. had a brown Humboldt Hemp Ale 6.2% instead of the black ale--which was from Arcata, CA. Our server said it would not taste like pot (not that I would have detected it anyway!). I think O. would have enjoyed the Rainbow Universe, with blueberries, raspberries and lemon zest!
Here are the 6 brews from the menu. Our server was helpful and knowledgeable and thought we might not prefer the Fox Widdett, an American strong ale--and we also avoided the IPA, which just might have been quaffable as well as sessionable at 4.6 %! The Jasmine stuff was unfiltered as you can see in the photo and was just a little bit bad, in my humble and unsophisticated opinion! The fruity tooty blonde went down easy. There was nothing here to race back for except for the crack fries--they really lived up to their hype tonight--hot and crisp and peppery!
 |
| "Crack" Fries |
No more breweries this month, but the discovery tour continues. Finishing out the month I had two more brown ales, one a little bland and one a little exciting.
Found in a 6-pack at a local shop was Lift Bridge Brown Ale (5%) from Keweenaw Breweing Company--an American Brown Ale that was smooth and easy, summer sessionable!
A GNO with J. and O. following a lecture at Meijer Gardens found me imbibing a rather delicious desserty beer from Gravity Taproom and Grille, on tap from Pigeon Hill--an Oatmeal Creme Pie Brown Ale 6%, a medium bodied brew with malt accents and hints of cinnamon, vanilla and caramel for $7.
Quite tasty, but probably not well paired, with this delicious sandwich:
 |
| Tenderloin Melt |
5-20-15Rockford Brewing Co.
One more brewery under our belt! I had a type of groupon that was expiring, so our threesome traveled to Rockford tonight to see what they had on tap. The groupon included 2 flights of four and 2 pints, so we all sampled the 8 brews we selected.
This selection included Aunt Jemima, Aunt Jemima Cask Ale, Carriage House, Kolsch, Obriens Red, Maestro, Sheehans Irish Stout Nitro and Heavy Metal.
They were out of their Brown which was disappointing but the Obriens Red and Heavy Metal were chosen for the two free pints.
My tasting notes were few, but we did not leave any beer behind. We shared a Hawaiian pizza from Vitales and went for a mini coffee/chocolate cone before returning home.
This is a very small venue and we sat at a high table with a view of the brew tanks.
No comments:
Post a Comment