Check Out These Upcoming Homebrewing Events

Earth Day, Arbor Day, Cinco de Mayo, Mother's Day... this time of year is littered with minor, rather inconsequential holidays. But one spring rite towers above them all: May 7, National Homebrew Day.

Begun in 1988 by decree of the U.S. Congress — perhaps the last time that august body did something nondestructive and even worthwhile — National Homebrew Day is celebrated the first Saturday in May each year by many thousands of bespectacled, bearded nerds; their curious friends; and, happily and increasingly, interested women, most of whom do not have beards.

The most visible celebrations are part of the American Homebrewers Association's Big Brew, an international, intercontinental, and for all we know, intergalactic event whereby nerds, friends, and nonbearded women get together and do what comes naturally. (That's brewing beer for you perverts out there.) According to the AHA, last year more than 5,000 people celebrated by brewing over 11,000 gallons at 291 sites on six continents.

The Week in Beer: Spring into a Season of New Brews

Leaves are beginning to appear on trees, flowers are popping out of the ground, birds are singing: Despite the frequency of gloomy days, the unmistakable signs of new life are all around us. That’s as good a reason as any to celebrate with lively new beers! And there’s plenty of them coming out as the spring and summer beer drinking season begins to heat up. As usual, your Week in Beer lays it all out for you.

My Dinner with Andre Beer

I'm sure I'm showing my age with that reference to the 1981 Louis Malle film, written by and starring Wallace "Never Go Against a Sicilian When Death Is On the Line" Shawn, but that's OK. Beer is an all ages show. Well, all ages above 21. At least in this backwards country. (I mean, really, you can connect directly to the filthiest porn sites, but you're supposed to enter your age to read about beer on the Internet?) Whatever, I'm already digressing.

Beer dinners! You love 'em! Ann Arbor has 'em! I've been to two in the past month, and tonight there are two more going on simultaneously, one at the venerable Metzger's German Restaurant and the other at the up-and-coming Grange Kitchen & Bar.

Dogfish Head Event at Ashley's Tomorrow

Hey, Dogfish Head beer lovers! Come out to Ashley's Ann Arbor at 7pm tomorrow evening and join the local Dogfish representative for brewery goodies and drafts of Dogfish beers including Midas Touch Golden Elixir, Palo Santo Marron, Burton Baton Imperial IPA, Aprihop, and 60- and/or 90-Minute IPA. Special bottles include My Antonia Imperial Pilsner and... well, you'll have to swing by to find out what else.

News and Brews Pouring Out of Wolverine

Things are moving fast at Wolverine State Brewing. Here's a concise summary of everything that's going on at 2019 W. Stadium courtesy of the Beer Wench herself, E.T. Crowe:

The Wolverine State Brewing Co. has received TTB approval on the new and improved Wolverine Premium Lager label (see above). Bottling for this best-selling premium lager will begin at Wolverine's new Ann Arbor facility in mid-May, ending the contract brewing arrangement with Michigan Brewing Company.

The label for Wolverine Dark Lager has been submitted for approval. Plans are to commence bottling this dark American lager in August.

The Short Pour Is Short

A few items for your Easter Sunday perusal...

• Coupon! Save! Save! Save! Yeah, I'm kind of late on this, but Arbor Brewing is fellow beer blogger Michigan Microbrews's Brewery of the Month, and he has posted a buy one, get one half off coupon for growler fills, good through the end of the month.
• Dinner decisions. On April 27, the same night as Metzger's German bier dinner, Grange Kitchen & Bar is also hosting a dinner, this one featuring Michigan brews. Event begins at 6:30pm and is $50 for five courses, excluding taxes and tip. Call 995-2107 to reserve and see the menu here.
• Name that beer.  Beginning April 25, submit your entry to re-name Wolverine State Brewing's The Beer Formerly Known As The Pride of Biscuitville, which fell victim to more silly, out-of-control "intellectual property" nonsense. The prize is a Mug Club membership or three free growler fills. Send submissions to etcrowe@wolverinebeer.com (subject line: New beer name). Winner will be picked May 8.
  
• More Wolverines. News continues to, ah, pour out of Wolverine. This coming Tuesday also brings the release of two new beers, 'Round 12 Drunkel and Faust's Hell, a blend of Baltic porter and maibock. And read about their plans to begin bottling in this AnnArbor.com story.

Get Ready for the Summer Beer Drinking Season

A few items to share regarding the upcoming summer beer season.  First, some news from the Ann Arbor Summer Festival and Arbor Brewing:

Join us on Monday, May 2, from 5-8pm as we reveal the 2011 Top of the Park schedule at a special announcement party hosted by our friends at Arbor Brewing Company. Be one of the first to find out which of your favorite bands and movies will be part of this year's amazing lineup.

We're also excited to tell you that this announcement party will serve as the launch event for a special, limited-edition seasonal beer, Festival Saison, developed in partnership between Ann Arbor Summer Festival and Arbor Brewing Company. The new summer ale, a refreshing Belgian-style saison brewed with lemon zest, orange peel and ginger, will be sold exclusively at Arbor Brewing Company throughout the summer months, with a portion of sales proceeds going to support Top of the Park.

The Week in Beer: Your Golden Ticket to Local Brews

Is it raining? Is it snowing? Is a hurricane a-blowing?

Only Mother Nature and that whimsical, enigmatic confectioner with the purple top hat know for sure. (For the record, that’s not Johnny Depp, but Gene Wilder — aka the real Willy Wonka.)

At any rate, though Michigan weather may be unpredictable, you know there’s always one thing you can be sure of: There’s plenty of good beer to be had, made locally by passionate and talented brewers (and their secret teams of Oompa Loompas), whose motto is, “If you want to brew paradise, simply look around and brew it.” Your golden ticket to the Week in Beer awaits.

48 Hours of Rat Pad

Attention, lovers of small-batch experimental beers, here's some good news for you from the Corner Brewery's Facebook page:

The third Wednesday of every month we release a special small-batch beer called the Rat Pad, however, this month we are doing 48 hours of Rat Pad. We’ll have one on Tuesday and one on Wednesday. The Rat Pad is a 10 gallon brew system at Corner Brewery used by local amateur and professional brewers to create interesting fermented concoctions for your drinking pleasure.

Rat Pads are released at 6pm and are available while supplies last. If there is any left at 9pm, you can take the Rat home with you in a growler.

This month the Rat Pads are:

The Hoppity Scotch Ale was brewed by Mike O’Brien and Jim Vandenbosch’s microbiology class at EMU. To best describe it, it’s an amped up dry hopped Tally Wacker Scotch Ale, ABV 6%, IBU 45. A smoky, rich, malty scotch ale with a hop character reminiscent of a pale ale. Served at 6 on Tuesday April 19

Mole, Mole, Mole was brewed by our very own Aaron Stryker. It’s a robust chocolatey porter, ABV 7.3%, IBU 40. Brewed up with chopped up chilies and all UK First Gold hops. Served at 6 on Wednesday April 20th.

You know what to do!

The Week in Beer: Liquid Relief for a Taxing Time

Too lazy today to repost it here, but the new Week in Beer column is up at AnnArbor.com.

Arbor Brewing Unveils New and Improved Happy Hour

Today Arbor Brewing launches its new and improved happy hour, which includes half-off beers and other drinks as well as specials on appetizers.  The hours remain the same, i.e., all day Monday, 4-7pm Tuesday through Friday, 8pm to midnight Sunday. Here are the price changes and other new specials:

Drink Specials
Enjoy half off of:

• Large beers
• Wine by the glass or by the bottle
• Well liquor

Food Specials
Monday through Friday 4-7pm only
Specially priced happy hour appetizers include:

• Nachos ($5 for bean, $6 for chicken or beef)
• Hummus and pita ($3)
• Roasted garlic ($6)
• Pulled pork sliders (3 for $5 – available only during happy hour)
• Sloppy Jill (tempeh cooked in sweet-spicy tomato sauce) sliders (3 for $5 – available only during happy hour)

So there you go. Disneyland now has a challenge to its claim of being the "Happiest Place on Earth," at least during certain hours of the day.

The Short Pour Has a License to Ale

Beer: It does a body good.

• We be ale-in'. Check out "What ales Ann Arbor," a short article in nationally distributed DRAFT magazine profiling four of our city's five fine brewing establishments. There's a plug for that wine stuff, too.
• Get your jollies. Whenever the current keg of Siren Amber Ale blows — perhaps as soon as Monday — Jolly Pumpkin Café will replace it with (drum roll) La Roja, which hasn't been on tap in ages. The bad news: The release of Biere de Mars Grand Reserve has been delayed to late April.
• Give me Liberty. On April 20, Foran's Grand Trunk Pub in Detroit is hosting a dinner featuring Liberty Street Brewing beers. At the same time, LSBC will be releasing 42nd Parallel, an imperial IPA with buttloads of Columbus hops to up the bitterness and aroma factors. It will be available in special bottles at the Foran's dinner and in casks served throughout the area — keep your eyes peeled. 
• Cruisin' for homebrew. Dates for homebrewers to remember: May 9, Grizzly Peak's Mug Club Brew-Off competition, and June 4, the 5th Annual ABC Brews Crews competition. Details on Brew-Off here; stay tuned to the Ann Arbor Brewers Guild for Brews Crews rules and entry instructions.
• What's in store. Speaking of homebrewing, the Adventures in Homebrewing store at 6071 Jackson Rd. in Scio Township is still not quite ready to open; however, they do have a brewing demo scheduled for May 21, so draw your own conclusion. Follow their Facebook page for updates.
• Wolverines!!! Tons of WSBC news, ably covered by my colleagues at Kalamabrew.  Also, two of the brewery's four new bourbon oak barrels, acquired from Kentucky distillers McLain & Kyne, will soon be aging the new 'Round 12 Dunkel and the Beer Formerly Known As Biscuitville. The other two? TBD. All I gotta say is:

The Week in Beer: April Is Wet with Local Brews

L to R: Michigan Beer Guide publisher Rex Halfpenny, owner Matt Roy, and
brewmaster Oliver Roberts host Wolverine State Brewing's April 3 beer dinner.

April showers bring May flowers, so the old saying goes, and while I don’t recommend you shower in it, there's almost as much beer pouring around these parts as there is rain. Your Week in Beer has you covered like a sturdy, wind-resistant umbrella of incomparable quality.