The Week in Beer: September Is a Banner Month for Craft Brew

The landmark Beer Depot sign, trashed by a 2011 windstorm, will return to downtown Ann Arbor soon, following a costly restoration effort. Photo credit: Flickr user Ross Orr.

September is a pivotal month for beer in so many ways. You have the Labor Day weekend, which typically involves coolers full of brew transported to points north for that last fling of summer. You have the noticeable cooling off as our spot on this rotating ball of space rock begins to turn away from the sun, sending a cue to brewers to start making heavier, maltier, and often more complex beers. You have Oktoberfest celebrations, with all the beer-and-sausage Bavarian caricatures that entails, ramping up. You have the start of college football season — kind of a big deal around these parts — resulting in, one assumes, an uptick in weekend beer consumption for many. And you have the harvest season, which in Michigan includes an ever-growing variety of hops. So while this next week is a little light on specific events, just consider it prep time as you get ready for all the other great beer releases and parties that will come fast and furious later in the month.

The Week in Beer: Seasons Change But Good Beer Remains

The beer garden at the Wednesday evening Ann Arbor Farmers Market, sponsored by the HomeGrown Festival, runs through September 5.

Update 11:25 a.m.: Correction: Forget what I said below about the midnight release of Fat Tire at Ashley's.

Say goodbye to the relatively tranquil and student-free Ann Arbor summer. Beginning this week the roads will be clogged with moving trucks, bars and restaurants will have longer lines, good parking spaces will become harder to come by, and things around town will get more hectic in general. At least we still have good beer, and we can even look forward to great fall brews like pumpkin ales and Oktoberfest lagers. But more on those another time; for now, let’s bid farewell to another season with one fantastic Week in Beer.

The Week in Beer: Sudsy Happenings for Your End-of-Summer Staycation

Magic solar panels atop Arbor Brewing turn sunlight into beer!

The frantic end-of-summer rush is upon us as folks try to cram in one last vacation or home improvement project before the school year and cooler temps make things a bit dicier, but if you’re more inclined to the “staycation” or “screw it, I’ll get to it later” side of things, then guess what? There are more festivals, tappings, and all around cool beery things to do than you can shake the proverbial stick at. So let’s tap into the Week in Beer, shall we?

The Week in Beer: Cheers to the Dwindling Days of Summer Fun

Shaggy, Matt, Dan, and Travis: The hardworking guys of Wolverine State Brewing, working hard.

The end of summer approaches and, considering the brutally hot 2012 edition of the season, this idea is welcome to some. Soon there will be students and football and cool days and chilly nights, but for now we still have a few more weeks of fun in the sun. Said fun, of course, must include beer, and just take a look at all the wonderful options for having fun, fun, fun until Daddy takes the growler away. (To drink it himself, of course.)

Drinking Beer to Help Keep the Huron River Clean

Pre-beer flows through the Huron River at Gallup Park, Ann Arbor. Photo by Flickr user orangeandbrown.

When people talk about a beer’s flavor, much is made of hops, malt, and yeast — all essential ingredients, to be sure — but you don’t often hear a lot about beer’s biggest ingredient: water, which comprises 90 percent or more of Our Favorite Beverage.

In recognition of this fact and to help ensure we continue to enjoy the blessings of high quality water, local breweries are again teaming up with the Huron River Watershed Council (HRWC) for the second annual Brew for the River, a series of beer release fundraisers beginning August 9 to celebrate Michigan’s cleanest urban river and help underwrite the HRWC’s efforts to keep it that way.

The Week in Beer: Hair of the Dog for your Summer Beer Festival Hangover

Bear Up a Tree, a collaboration beer between Arbor Brewing and Grizzly Peak brewed with honey malt.

Now that another Michigan Summer Beer Festival is in the books, it’s time to settle back down to the regular, slower paced enjoyment of great beer we know oh so well around these parts. As usual, there are great opportunities to leisurely tickle your taste buds with all varieties of our favorite nectar. Take a gander at your latest Week in Beer.