Michigan Winter Beer Festival Preview

Michigan Expats - Commentary - See All Commentary

By Doctor

It's almost here. The Michigan Brewers Guild Winter Beer Festival at Fifth Third Ballpark in Comstock Park, MI is tomorrow. I've been looking forward to the festival ever since Santa brought me a ticket for Christmas. 

Excitement built when February arrived chalk full of great Michigan beer news and events so much so that I unofficially declared February Michigan beer month. And it hasn't disappointed. There's been some great beer news across the state, Harmony Brewing Company opened in Grand Rapids, the Traverse City Winter Microbrew and Music festival was a blast, and Grand Rapids inaugural beer week is underway leading up to Saturday's festival. 

Unfortunately, a cold has kept me from attending the various Grand Rapids beer week festivities, but it'll be worth it to be healthy for the festival Saturday. Fortunately, an old friend has been healthy and enjoying GR Beer Week and chronicling it over at The Starving Artist Blog with in depth food and beer reviews plus bonus recipes.


The good news, is that I'll be in the gates at the festival early and will be able to provide extensive and in depth coverage of the festival that you can look forward to next week. I'll be helping The Grillin' Guys produce their radio show live at the festival grounds Saturday morning from 9AM to 11AM. Jop and BBQ Bob will be talking with participating brewers about the festival, beer, and great recipes for the grill. Listen locally in GR on 107.3 WBBL or  live at the WBBL website. You may even be able to catch me on air.

Beer. Radio show. Early entrance to the sold out beer festival. Beer. Talking with brewers. As you can tell, I'm excited for tomorrow. So excited that I've been scouring the internet (well, Michigan beer enthusiasts Twitter feeds, blogs, and Facebook pages) for some helpful hints from fellow Michigan beer drinkers to maximize my experience at Fifth Third Ballpark. 

Tip #1: Pretzel Necklaces. From Momma Needs a Beer. I saw a few of these in TC and definitely am going to be stringing together some pretzels together for a tasty salty snack while waiting in line.

Tip #2: Water. The festival officially runs for five hours and features over 450 beers. It's a marathon. Just as important as food will be (see pretzel necklaces, above), so is staying hydration. However, since one hand will already be occupied by beer and I don't want to carry around a water bottle all day, I'm planning on filling up my CamelPack with water. Along with helping hydration this also has the probable secondary benefits of 1) being a conversation starter and 2) that there's the slight (read: likely) chance that later in the festival I'll try and convince one of the pourers/brewers to fill out the CamelPack with beer.

Tip #3: Attack Plan. With over 450 beers on tap and no federal agency telling me which beers I can and can't drink (although I'm pretty sure that's in ObamaCare somewhere just not implemented yet), one is left make their own game plan. Yes, you'll be walking around and can see what most of the breweries have on tap, it can be easy to miss a particular brewery or beer. Especially with certain breweries tapping special beers at specific times. The Bell's tent will be the place to be each quarter after the hour for their special taps.

Fortunately, others have done the leg work. The Michigan Brewers Guild has a list with all of the participating breweries and the beers they'll have on tap on their blog. Even better, The Beer Truck made a handy 8 page spreadsheet of all the beers on tap. Jim over at I'm a Beer Hound has already highlighted a handful of special brews he'll be seeking out tomorrow.

Therefore, tomorrow I'll be following I'm a Beer Hound's advice and planning my Winter Beer Fest victory attack plan, rifling through the beer lists and trying to come up with a somewhat just less than reasonable goal of beers to target Saturday.

Tip #4: Tactleneck. OK, I stole that from the world's most dangerous spy, Sterling Archer, but it's going to be cold out there folks. "What do you think this is, Miami Beach." "Not hardly." It's late-February in West Michigan, so that base layer Under Armour cold gear mock turtleneck is essential although I'm going with Spartan green instead of black or slightly darker black. Patti at I'm a Beer Hound even recommends an extra pair of socks in case you step in slush: "Look out for that first step. It's a doozy." Momma Needs a Beer also has specific tips for the ladies at the festival. I'm not sure about the socks, but I may stick an extra hat and gloves in my parka in case of wet heavy snow or tragic beer spillage.

Tip #5: Partner in Crime. I happened to be in Traverse for the beer fest there and made a unilateral decision to attend the festival. I certainly had fun and talking with brewers and fellow beer lovers is one of my favorite aspects of attending the festival, but there's certainly something to be said for having a wing man. Han and Chewie, Maverick and Goose, and Jay and Silent Bob. Quintessential wing men and partners that help each other make good decisions or make bad decisions epic, but definitely help make the stories better and clearer the next day. Therefore, the snow better not stop my buddy from coming up from Monroe or else I'll have to transcript my younger brother or put it up to auction.

Be sure to check the blog next week for my hopefully beyond epic recap of the Michigan Winter Beer Fest with pictures, beer reviews, stories, and various beer fest links. I'll also finish up February with a look back at beer month. In the meantime, get up and listen to The Grillin' Guys tomorrow morning, 9-11AM, live from the festival on 107.3 WBBL (they also have a mobile app) and follow happenings from the festival on Twitter using the #MiWBF hashtag. 

Let’s do another Podcast!

 

Michigan Expats – Culture – See All Culture

By Mr. Sig

That’s right everybody.  Mr. Sig is back and is here to stay.  For those of you who don’t remember, I used to record a podcast each weekend featuring artists from Michigan – or at least a connection to Michigan.  It’s been a while since I did this, and along with a new software program, so I’m a little rusty.  Cut-off first song and announcing the wrong episode number are only two of the blunders, but I had a great time.  I’m sure when I get back into the habit, I will be publishing excellent broadcasts across the fruited plain.

As for now, I hope you enjoy this week’s episode.  Episode 28 that is.

If you like this week’s episodes, go ahead and download them from Amazon.  This should keep me out of trouble in case anyone starts to wonder if this is legal.

Electric Six – Nuclear War (On the Dance Floor) – Purchase on Amazon

Andre Williams – Jail Bait - – Purchase on Amazon

Chiodos – The Words Best Friend Become Redefined with Lyrics – Purchase on Amazon

John Lee Hooker – I’m Bad Like Jesse James – Purchase on Amazon

Destroy All Monsters – Nobody Knows – Purchase on Amazon

Nolan Strong and The Diablos – Mind Over Matter – Purchase on Amazon

Den Shannon – Runaway – Purchase on Amazon

Iggy Pop – Real Wild Child (Wild One) – Purchase on Amazon

Valentine's Day Michigan Love Links

Michigan Expats - News - See All News

By Doctor

Happy Valentine's Day Michiganders and Expats. Hopefully here are a few links, pictures, and videos to help brighten your day.

Forget red roses or red wine on Valentine's Day today. The Detroit Red Wings host the Dallas Stars at Joe Louis Arena tonight with a chance to set a new NHL record of consistent home victories at 21. Let's Go Red Wings! Goalie Joey MacDonald has been fantastic coming up to help the Wings with Jimmy Howard out and has done it with his awesome Mackinac Bridge inspired helmet.

A Michigan Expat is making headlines today: Kate Upton, born in St. Joseph, is on the cover of this year's Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue that hits newsstands today. The coveted cover spot comes just one year after Upton made her debut in the issue and earned SI swimsuit rookie of the year honors. Is it too much to ask for SI and Kate to collaborate and shoot photos for next year's issue at a picturesque Michigan spot? Sleeping Bear Dunes perhaps? You can see more of Kate's SI photos, here.

Yesterday, I posted my recap of the 3rd Annual Traverse City Winter Microbrew and Music Festival. For more coverage, check out I'm a Beer Hound and MittenBrew's respective recaps.

Looking for some romantic love songs by Michigan artists to listen to this Valentine's Day. Listen to the podcast Mr. Sig and I put together a year ago in Michigan Expats podcast #23. Speaking of love songs, after the jump, check out the love song one Michigan fan wrote about Wolverine QB, Denard Robinson.

First, more Kate Upton. Yes, we have more Kate Upton with a Justin Verlander bonus. Check out the reigning AL CY Young and MVP winner of the Detroit Tigers with the Michigan born SI Swimsuit cover model in an ad for MLB 2K12.

Special Valentine's Day bonus video after the jump.

Traverse City Winter Microbrew and Music Festival Recap

Michigan Expats - News - See All News

By Doctor

Our unofficially declared Michigan Beer Month may not have hit 11, but it definitely was cranked up a notch or two following an awesome Saturday night in Traverse City at the 3rd Annual Winter Microbrew and Music Festival. The atmosphere, beers, and people all combined to contribute to a fantastic winter beer night.

When I found out that I had to come to Traverse City to help clean out my grandparents house which recently sold, I helped steer that date to February 11, so that I could attend the beer festival. After we loaded four vehicles with furniture from my grandparents house, I put on my warm clothes and made my way downtown to pick up the shuttle to the festival.

- - - I'm having trouble embedding the photo slideshow, but you can view more photos through Google + or on our Facebook page - - -

After initially going to the wrong parking garage (I know I've been away for awhile, but when did TC get all these parking garages?), I managed to follow the crowd and found the line for the shuttle which took us to the festival site at  The Village at Grad Traverse Commons. People were lined up all the way around both sides of the round about entrance at the front of the re-purposed old Traverse City State Hospital waiting to get their IDs checked and get inside the event.

Fortunately, I didn't wait to buy my ticket at the event because it was sold out and the will call line went quickly. Before long, I was inside the fence with my sample glass and five drink tickets following the crowds and entering the nearest of five beer tents searching for my first sample.

However, one of the first things I began to pick up on was that a number of people weren't drinking beer out of the logo plastic sample glass they gave us at the gate, but rather were enjoying beer in real glass logo pint glasses. Spotting the merchandise table nearby I quickly put two-and-two together and decided: "It comes in pints? I'm getting one." 

Now that I had my drinking glass, I quickly got my first sample: Furry Black IPA from North Peak Brewing Co. in Traverse City. North Peak was the nearest beer table and I've really enjoyed Black IPA's this winter. I was not disappointed as the Furry was one of my favorites of the night. 

Hopknocker IPA!

With beer in my glass, I set about exploring the festival which comprised of five large tents set up in a circle with camp fires in the middle, a Hop N' Brew Shack, and the requisite porta johns out back. 

All the beer was located in three tents. The fourth featured wines and ciders which is all well and good, but I was there to drink beer. The fifth tent featured Silent Disco. Now I've heard cool things about silent disco and it probably is a lot of fun in a club with lots of lights and people dancing, but it was a bit out of place in a tent in Michigan where people were carrying around pint glasses and wearing ski parkas. 

I hear a lot about Frankenmuth Brewery from my friend, BBQ Bob with The Grillin' Guys, but personally haven't made it to the brewery, so I made a point to visit their booth early. I sampled their Winterbock, and chatted with Joseph Osberger who handles their distribution. It just so happened that Joe was up next in the Hop N' Brew Shack, so I took my glass of their Batch 69 IPA (best American IPA I had Saturday) and followed Joe to the Hop N' Brew Shack.

Joe From Frankenmuth

Now the Hop N' Brew Shack was one of my favorite aspects of the festival. A small shack where brewers could cozy up with a small group of festival goers, share a special brew, and talk about the brewery and the beer being served. I do mean cozy. The shack fits about a dozen comfortably, but 20 or more crammed in for these special brewer greet and drink. Joe shared three of the only 801 bottles of Frankenmuth's New Year's Imperial Stout this year. A strong yet smooth stout, I'm going to be looking to get my hands on a bottle and shelve it for a year and let it age.

I returned to the Hop N' Shack later for Schmohz Brewery's Beer Engineer, Chas Thompson's, greet and drink. Chas brought along the Hopknocker Imperial IPA which was almost as big of a hit as Chas' coyote skin hat. 

One of the things I enjoy about festivals, and beer festivals specifically, are the people you get to meet. It was great to see Chas and others I recognized from Schmohz at the beer festival, but I also want to give a shout out and thank you to some of the other awesome people I met and hung out with at the festival Saturday:

• The four awesome gals from Kalamazoo - Amy, Jessica, Katie, and Lauren.
• Dr. Joel Armato (honorary title), Beer Captain, from New Holland Brewing Company. The NHBC Cabin Fever has been keeping me warm all winter.
• Jim from Arcadia Ales and the Arcadia Sky High Rye.
• Bruce Grossman of Acoustic Draft Mead and his Apple BzZz.
• Adriana Martin, Chef de Cuisine/Patissier at Adriana's Cakery. Major props for her delicious cupcakes. 

Thanks for the cupcake, Adriana

Overall it was a fantastic event. Beer, people, and music made for a fantastic fun February festival. I cannot wait for the Michigan Winter Beer Festival coming up February 25 at Fifth Third Ballpark. Be sure to come back in a few weeks for that recap.

Harmony Brewing Co. - GR's Newest Brewery

Michigan Expats - Commentary - See All Commentary

By Doctor

Grand Rapids added to it's respectable list of breweries last week when Harmony Brewing Company opened in East Town on Lake Drive joining an already stellar brewing community. I made my first visit to Harmony yesterday and enjoyed good beer, pizza, and service.

We'll start with the beer. Harmony opened a week ago with five beers on tap, and two of those five beers had already been tapped out by the time I visited yesterday with a fellow beer guy, Adam. Nonetheless, we enjoyed $1 off happy hour specials on pints of the Black Squirrel, a smokey peated porter; the Brownson Pinchot, an American Brown; and the Golden Lion Tamarin, a mild pale ale. 

Harmony Brewing Co. Beer Board

• Black Squirrel: I decided to go heavy to lite and therefore started out with the smokey peated porter. The Black Squirrel has a nice full body (a must for me), but they definitely ain't lyin' when they say it is smokey and peaty. Unfortunately, it was a tad too smokey for both Adam and I, but the full bodied finish and flavor gives me hope for future porters and stouts, so as the Honey Porter that the brewers mentioned is currently in the works.
• Brownson Pinchot: The best of the three that we tried. This American brown ale had a nice smooth finish and flavors of nuts, caramel, and a hint of raisins. The only criticism we had was that the coloring was a bit dark for a brown ale, but we aren't going to gripe too much about aesthetics when it tastes good.
• Golden Lion Tamarin: Good quality mild pale ale. Good flavor, balance, color, and hops finish.

Food: I'm a fan of artisan and coal fired pizza's, so Harmony's menu is right up my alley. They list a half dozen pizzas on the menu plus the option to build your own. We split a Crispy Pig pizza with prosciutto, ham, and cheeses which paired well with the Golden Lion and surprising well with the Brownson Pinchot.  

The Doctor is "Smitten with the Mitten" & the Browson Pinchot

Atmosphere: Harmony is located in a former liquor store, so it's not the most spacious place. There are only about six stools at the bar which is a little small for my taste - when visiting breweries, I prefer to sit up at the bar to chat with fellow beer drinkers and the bartender about beer. There are three booths across from the bar, a handful of tables in the main room, and additional seating in a small dining room in the back. 


Service: I was most impressed with the service at Harmony and it is one the primary reasons I'm looking forward to going back. Our waitress, Natasha, was quick to get us fresh beers, take away empties, and was courteous to ask us if we wanted to order another beer just before happy hour ended (we did). We also chatted with the general manager, J.P, and the co-owners and brewers Barry and Jackson VanDyke who discussed the beers on tap and in the works along with coming back at a less busy time to check out the brewery and chat about beer.   

And Michigan Beer Month continues here at Michigan Expats. I hope to post an update tomorrow, and am looking forward to the Traverse City Winter Microbrew and Music Festival this Saturday as well as Grand Rapids Beer Week and the Michigan Winter Beer Festival February 25th. And of course, you can get more Michigan beer updates by following us on Twitter @MichiganExpats. 

Super Bowl Game and Commercial Review

Michigan Expats - Commentary - See All Commentary

By Doctor

It's the day after and while you've no doubt read your share of recaps of the Super Bowl and the commercials, but you haven't read the Michigan Expats recap of last night's barbarism and crass commercialism complete from a complete Michigan biased snarky perspective.

The State of Michigan once again was a the heart of last night's festivities including the game, half-time show, and commercials.

First, congratulations to former Wolverines Mario Manningham and David Baas and Spartans Devin Thomas and Greg Jones of the New York Giants on their Super Bowl victory. Manningham made the play of the night while Jones thought that a Super Bowl victory to cap off his rookie season wasn't enough for one night, so he proposed to his girlfriend, Amanda Piechowski (a former MSU basketball player) on the field at Lucas Oil Stadium during the celebration.

Controversy: Conflict drives plots as well as anonymous blog posts so we'll start at the controversial Michigan moments from last night's Super Bowl.

1. Chevy v. Ford: According to the Mayans and the folks at General Motors, you have 10 months to go out and buy yourself a Chevy Silverado pick-up if you don't want to perish in the coming apocalypse with the rest of humanity and Ford owners. Ford sent a formal letter to GM to pull the ad, but GM ran the "good humored" ad last night which I found one of the funnier ads of the night.
   
2. Clint & Chrysler v. Politics & Copyright Laws: A year after Chrysler launched there  "Imported from Detroit" campaign with the well received Enimen "Born of Fire" ad, the automaker followed up the campaign with "Halftime in America" featuring Clint Eastwood and scenes from the Motor City. While my Twitter feed suggests that Michiganders found it a source a pride for Detroit, I wasn't nearly as impressed with the ad. For most of the  2 minute ad I thought it was President Barack Obama's first re-election campaign spot before Chrysler vehicles began popping up towards the end. Apparently we aren't the only ones who noticed political undertones.
   
   We have a lot of pride for Michigan and Detroit here at MichiganExpats.com, but we don't agree with the notion that 1) it's "halftime" in America nor that 2) Detroit or the auto industry is a model for making adjustments for the second half of America.
   
   We'd link to the ad, but for some stupid reason the NFL believes it has a copyright on the phrase "Halftime" and it has been pulled from Youtube. Way to follow up a good football night by being assholes NFL.
   
   
3. Half-Time Show Scandal: After nearly a decade of boring geriatric NFL halftime shows following the scandalous Janet Jackson/Justin Timberlake "nipple gate", last night's half-time delivered another censor moment when co-performer, M.I.A., gave the world the finger. Moving on...
   
4. Bad Political Ads: Those outside of Michigan were spared having to see former MI-Congressman, Pete Hoekstra's, senate campaign ad attacking Democratic incumbent, Debbie Stabenow. The ad has been attacked, for featuring an Asian gal using broken English (racism!). Hoekstra defends the ad. I just think it's a poorly executed that is also misleading because Hoekstra's Washington record is just as big spending as Stabenow's.

(Recaps of the game, half-time show, and commercials after the jump.)

(More) Winter is Coming?

Michigan Expats - News - See All News

By Doctor

A month ago, I wondered what happened to Winter. Of course, the next day the temperature dropped 30 degrees, snow came, and dozens of West Michigan schools had a snow day?

Most of the snow has melted over the past couple of days so much that the weather feels more like the first of April instead of the start of February. We're all familiar how quickly the weather can change, especially in Michigan, and we may yet have more snow on the way.

At least that is what the Prognosticator of Prognosticators and Seer of Seers said today. Yes, Punxsutawney Phil, awoke this morning at Gobbler's Knob in Punxsutawney, PA, saw his shadow, and predicted six more weeks of winter.

In honor of Punxsutawney Phil's prognostication; my enduring love for the Bill Murray classic, Groundhog Day; and our fondness here at Michigan Expats for John Kerfoot's Not So Pure Michigan parodies, we're going to share Mr. Kerfoot's, Pure Michigan: Winter Virgins video.

Enjoy the video and enjoy the rest of winter.