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The last time I sat in Frankenmuth brewery, I was sitting across from this chick who I kinda had a thing for. We were just in the beginning of this "thing" and she decided to come along for a little camping trip some friends and I had. We all decided to stop into Frankenmuth Brewery for a little r&r and abv. I cant remember what I ate or the beers I had, I do remember being nervous about picking up the check (was this one of those situations where I should pay for both of us?). I ended up paying for both of us and marrying the chick. The brewery has seen its shares of setbacks. In 1996 the brewery was introduced to a tornado. The tornado won, and took all the beer. The brewery remained a victim until 2003 when a new facility was built. Then in November of 2006, the building became a ghost town when the owners could not refinance the $4 million loan. Now, nearly three years later, the site that has been home to a number of breweries for almost 150 years will reopen to the public this Wednesday once again as Frankenmuth Brewery.

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Hops in the House

Last year I had ordered some rhizomes to help me crush two virs with one stone;extend my green thumb and harvest some home grown hops. I had them behind the garage their first season. It was the best I could find where they had access to a trellis and an adequte amount of sunshine, The trellis was a a couple nails on the top of my garage and some twine strung down, about 12 feet in all. Two varieties, Nugget and Cascade, were planted in two hand made containers and set to shine. The cascades took off like Danika Patrick in a gay bar. Growth was almost instantaneous and continued until they reached the top of the garage. They probably would have reached mush further but I had no other support system and they refused to be trained to grow downwards from the peak to the side. I saw maybe a foot of effort. The cones were fantastic and I was able to yield about two ounces when all was said and done.

The Nuggets were another story, but not a disappointing one. this variety has a slow start phase and new from rhizomes could take a season or ore to establish themselves. In fact, there was a chance neither variety would have produced at all. I had faith that I might get soem bloom from the Nuggets, but when late August reared its head, I lost hope. There was only about three feet of growth. Yet I was happy with my first season, and used some of those hops to dry hop (see previous post) a pale ale.

When summer turned to fall, I moved the pots to the side of the house (next to my very strange neighbor who wont talk to me outside, but will wave to me from his car and once gave my the middle finger for no reason). Here, they had the winter to settle and the spring to get some new root structure. My neighbor didnt give me the finger until after I had placed these here and maybe he was pissed about it, or just nuts. I'll take the latter.

Growth fromt eh cascades was / is enormoous. At first I thought I had a weed growing. The infant vines were so thick and white. I thought I ruined them in the transfer and some nasty being took their place. But after a bit of patience and development I was at ease, they were in face hops. Again the Nuggets lagged behind, about 3-4 weeks totla before I saw some sprouts. Next to the house they have probably 30 or more feet to grow. I have scaled the roof in three seperate intances to supply a sturdy trellis. Once they were knocked down by the wind, I only had some resistant clamps keeping the lines in place. I reinforced those bitches with some c-clamps so nothing will take them down.

Th nuggets are on full tilt, growing inches by the day and are sure to produce this season. The cascades might just take over the roof. Harvesting wont occur until later summer and early fall, so Ill have plenty of time to think of some great uses in the long run.

Motor City Brew Werks to help promote green alley

A great effort has been in the werks for a couple years now to redevelope the ally next to Motor City Brew Werks into a pleasant green alley. Great Article. I remember when the apartments they mention were first built and sold out in the hundreds of thousands. Crazy.

Check it out.

Welcome to June!

The month of June brings plenty of great Michigan craft brewed excitement to our hands and mouths.

June 10 I have yet to be to Cliff Bell's in Detroit, even after all the awesomeness I've heard about it before friend Matt Baldridge took over the reigns as Head Chef. All that will change on the 10th for Mad Hatter Day. 4 New Holland Beers on draught, including Brother Jacob Belgian Dubbel, Oak Hatter Aged in Oak Barrels, Mad Hatter IPA and Golden Cap Golden Cap Saison (already a summer favorite of mine). Beer paired foods will be available and best of yet, no cover. Prizes come to best dressed (come mad in a good way I suppose). 8-10pm. cliffbells.com

June 11 Copper Canyon will be celebrating its 11th anniversary with $1 beer all day and all night. This brewery also boasts a cigar menu, with specials taboot as well as great deals on food. coppercanyonbrewery.com

June 18 takes us to Rochester for the Rochester Mill's 11th anniversary party. $2 pints. Let me say that again, $2 pints. And a pig roast for all you vegetarians. I am assuming the celebration begins when the doors open with live music starting at 3 with Justine Blazer and then the popular Sun Messengers at 7. Oh, and this is a "beach party" lets hope for lots of imported sand to cover the floors. beercos.com

June 20th and 21st Rest up that Friday because June 20th and 21st Kuhnhenn Brewery is hosting its Summer Solstice Party. Twelve unique wheat beers will be on tap. Free food from 1 until its gone, live music at night. kbrewery.com

June 27th and 28th Finally, to wrap it all up, we have Lathrup Villages Art in the Park. Not only can you enjoy some sunshine and see some great pieces of Michigan made artistry, you can also visit the "Mini-Pub" where Bell's Brewery, Dragonmead Brewery, Motor City Brew Works, Michigan Brewing Company and possibly Dark Horse Brewery and Founders (between the circular and the website, they list the last two) will all be on hand to serve you $2 beers. lathrupvillageartinthepark.com

And there could certainly be more! This is just what I've gathered here and there to make a long needed post, but a worthy one at that!

MIchigan Brewery Updates for your Memorial Day

This weekend has a host of awesome events and news worthy beer stops for your memorial day celebrations.

For anyone heading to The traverse City area this fine memorial day, Jolly Pumpkin Artistry Ales will be hosting its grand opening in Mission Point on Friday the 22nd. Jolly Pumpkin is known for its routinely sour beers, which is a fermentation process of superior control. This expanse shows the popularity of these beers and also serves as a platform for more more experiments, both sour and non.

Also in the North Western is the 4th annual Beer and Brat festival at the Crystal Mountain Spa and Resort, Saturday the 23rd. Over 50 craft beers will be available from many Michigan breweries.

If your traveling to the Grand Rapids area, or anywhere South of that, you can stop by The Round Barn's "6 pack" release party on Saturday the 23rd. Another great crafter is making their mark in packaging and distribution. the Round Barn has grown extensively in their beer production process in the past few years. When I first visited, they only had a couple beers on tap. They are also a very good winery and produces of the popular DiVine Vodka.

If your stranded with a stay-cation this weekend, head over to your best Michigan craft beer supplier and look for two great new additions to the bottled arena. Dragonmead is now bottling its Armageddon Grand Cru in 750ml bottles. If your a fan of Final Absolution, which is a Belgian Triple, then you can up the game a bit with a Grand Cru, which is a Belgian quadruple. At 11.6% this is no joke. Also, Mount Pleasant Brewery is bottling. They are offering Railyard Raspberry Wheat, Coal Stokers Blackberry, Steam Engine Stout, Iron Horse IPA and the Cow Catcher Red Ale all in six packs.

A very exciting weekend indeed. I hope to find some of the bottled products for this weekends adventures!

Bombs in the Basement

A month or so ago I posted a blog on some fun of splitting batches into three gallon carboys for a little fun and curiosity. Here's a little update.

Well, I didn't do any preparatory sterilizing to the honey before adding to the carboy, I just put it in the microwave for a short bit to make it more viscus. That could have been a mistake since after a couple days I noticed what "appeared" to be the beginning of an infection. There were little white spots starting to form on the surface that were not anything related to fermentation. they might have been harmless, but I wasn't ready to risk it. Perhaps next time I experiment with honey ill dilute it in some water and boil it for a short amount of time.

So, with said infection on the way I thought it would be beneficial to bottle up and try to bypass any further harm. Mistake number two, I didn't take any preliminary hydrometer readings during the initial transfer or at bottling time. I made the priming solution on a bit of the high side with DME, bottled up and left everything in the basement in anticipation of bottling the other half and moving that portion upstairs (where it is warmer) and thus, having both beers ready to sample at the same time. Well, Saturday afternoon proved that wish wrong when Brittany had said "it smells like someone spilt beer all over the basement." Coming from the woman who has the best olfactory this side of the Mississippi, I didn't dispute that something could be amiss. Sure enough, there it was, the remnants of bottle, and a nice ring of sticky goodness surrounding all the others. A bottle Bomb. Glass was everywhere, and I could even pin point its direction of explosion from the mass in one direction. I knew this might have happened. All that unfermented honey (or partially) coupled with more sugar, equals more fermentation within the bottle and more pressure trying to escape. Give it enough juice, and it will. After cleaning up after this soldier I placed the remaining bottles in an empty case (hey, why didn't I think of that before hand?) and made my way upstairs.

Things were good until Sunday evening when Brittany and I heard a couple more explosions within an hour. The cat shot off the couch and made his way to investigate. In those 24 hours, I had lost three more.

The remaining tribe is holding well. Sampling one, it certainly was a tough pour. I bottled the remaining Weizen last week and am hoping to sample them side by side by Memorial Day weekend.

Bell's and Bayview

Being so close to lake Saint Clair, one of my longest regrets growing up and more now is that I dont take advantage of my backyard, so to speak. Plenty of my friends have sailed for years, but for some reason the sport has never completely hit my interest. All that might change now that Bell's Brewery is the newest sponsor to the Bayview Mackinaw race this July 25th. Rumor has it that Larry has had an interest in sponsoring in previous years, but ends never met up. That isn't surprising if you've at all passed through the gates of Bayview, you dont have to love sailing, hell, you dont even have to like it. But you do have to like booze. No. Love booze.