Earthen Ales

 

 

This was one of the coolest breweries I have visited in a while. First, it is housed on the grounds of a former hospital/asylum. Kudos for gentrification! The staff was super friendly. I really enjoyed Juniper Rye. There are not enough beers with either rye or juniper. This one hits all the marks. Ale of Islay was also great. All of the beers were solid. This is a great unique place.

As a local, this is one of my favorite TC breweries. Owner/brewers Andrew and Jamie are awesome. I always enjoys stopping in for a chat and fine ale. They really do a great job on there beer quality and consistency. Most of their beers and small batches are excellent. A must stop if you are in traverse city.

Hidden in an old historic Hospital complex building right under a water tower makes it tricky to find but worth the trip. nice beer garden view, Staff was friendly and able to talk to you about the beer. All five ales we tasted were refined and solid. Will visit again when in the area.

We stopped here to try their beers as part of our weekend pub crawl. If you are a local, you can probably find this place, but if you are not, use the landmark that the brewery suggests by looking 'under the water tower' to get there. This brewery is located in an outbuilding on the grounds of a former hospital complex, and having the water tower in view after getting to the back side of the 'hospital' will get you there after driving up a one-way street. Parking is at the rear.

The inside has a cool vibe to it. The long bar lines one wall, and tables/chairs fill the rest of the place. A small patio is out the rear door where you have a great view of guess what... the water tower.

There were 8 beers on tap so we ordered two 4-glass sampler flights to try them all. Every one of them was brewed properly to style, and consistency is the name of the game here because we scored every one of them at 3.5 or 3.75 (out of 5). The pale ale and the DIPA were described as using Norwegian yeast, but I overlooked asking the brewer/owner when he stopped to chat with us why he uses it. We didn't detect any kind of taste from any esters that was new to us.

There are some snacks available to help suck up the alcohol, and the chips & dip were good. This brewery has been open only about a year, and they are making good beer, so the place is a worthy visit.