Filmmaker Kevin Romeo is taking a deeper look at the beer culture in his home state, with his project, The Michigan Beer Film, slated to premiere in September, and produced by Romeo’s company, Rhino Media.
Rather than starting from scratch in a warehouse space on the edge of town, co-owners Jason Spaulding and his wife, Kris, repurposed the early-1900s funeral home chapel and livery stables to house their small, niche brewery in the East Hills neighborhood of Grand Rapids, Mich.
Chef Justin White and owner Phil McFarland of Small Bar in Chicago collaborated with Michigan’s Greenbush Brewing Co. on Mr. Hyde, a Cream Stout made with Sumatran coffee beans.
Artist Adam Forman created the spooky imagery that’s been part of the brewery’s identity since it opened in 2004—from their toothy jack-o’-lantern logo to creepy scarecrows and pumpkin-patch graveyards.
Shelton Brothers: The Bane of New York Breweries?; Diageo Pressures BII to Bamboozle BrewDog; Shipping Beer via USPS Now Allowed; Michigan Brewing Company Losing Ground; and Tragedy Strikes Redhook.
Westvleteren Trappist Ales to make US debut in 2012; scientists decipher genetic code of Brettanomyces yeast; SABMiller purchases Foster’s Group; House Bill 4061 legalizes homebrew sharing at Michigan meetings; and Prohibition Pig to open in place of The Alchemist Brewpub.
Post office may permit mailing of beer and wine; Alchemy & Science preparing to conduct craft beer chemistry; Dave Farnworth passes away; Michigan now tagging kegs with bar codes; and November elections bring changes to alcohol laws in Georgia and Washington.
American brewers have never exactly been constrained by German purity laws, but founder/owner Russ Springsteen and head brewer Corey Wentworth are taking experimentation and extreme beer to new heights in Traverse City, Mich., at Right Brain Brewery.
Dogfish Head, Great Divide, Avery and Allagash pull back on distribution; Flying Dog files suit against the Michigan State Liquor Control Commission; and Free the Hops calls for a boycott of all products offered by ABI’s distributors.
Dark Horse puts its own unmistakable stamp on whatever comes out of its tiny seven-barrel system, whether it’s a brawling IPA, an experimental Belgian brew or an old-school craft classic bearing a new twist.
Why is Arcadia Brewing Company growing rapidly and gaining fans far outside its Michigan home base? For one, its head brewer, Josh Davies, goes to work at 3:30 in the morning to make sure his yeast is happy.
With all of the region’s successes and the outstanding and diverse beers available, I think it’s about time we give Midwestern brewers the praise due to them. They’ve got my vote for best in the industry.
Founders Brewing Company brews the kind of beers its brewers want to drink, and by gleefully smashing every convention it can get its hands on, the brewery has gained a rabid following.
The craft brewery Larry Bell founded on a Kalamazoo, MI stovetop, Bell’s Brewery, is the oldest east of Boulder. And while the craft brewing landscape has filled in considerably since its founding, Bell’s has retained its pioneering spirit.
