Grand Rapids and Traverse City

Hit Seven Monks in TC and Jolly Pumpkin in Olde Mission Penninsula. Those would be musts.

Oh yeah, and some quality time on the lake

 

North Peak is worthy of a stop in TC, plus you can check to see if Right Brain has re-opened in their new location. The move to the new place has been halted, and no update has been heard for maybe a month, but if they can get open again before your visit to town then their beers are always worth a stop there. A couple of new breweries are said to have recently opened in TC but I don't know anything about them yet.

 

I was just up in TC not too long ago. The JP on Mission Point was awesome, great area up there (as an aside, the wineries in the same area are nice too). I took the trip to Short's and it was totally worth it. Atmosphere was cool, sandwiches were great (on par with Founder's IMO), and the expermental beers were strange, but good.

 

The Filling Station is new up in TC. Cool remodeled old train station with good pizza and decent beer (http://thefillingstationmicrobrewery.com/). If and when Right Brain re-opens, these two will be near by. As steebo mentioned, 7 Monks is a must stop. I will continue to pimp Brewery Vivant in evey thread that asks what to do in GR. I highly recommend stopping in there for at least a pint.

 

Brewery Vivant is a great place to go for food, but you can also go just for the beer. You can sit at the 'altar' if you like to be front and center.

 

I stop in there for casual beers all the time when I am in GR, but am usually tempted by the food. The menu is fairly limited, but excellent. A burger with bacon mixed in or duck nachos? Yes please. Even if you aren't a fan of their four year around beers, they always have a bunch of brewery only drafts available.

 

Traverse City is now a "Top 7 Beer Town" according to the Travel Channel. http://www.mlive.com/business/index.ssf/2012/07/one_michigan_city_makes_travel.html

 

I live in TC, and would be down for a pint. 7 Monks, Shorts, JP, and Filling Station are all great stops. for something a little different, Tandem Ciders is also a great place to visit.

For food, find time for Frenchie's Famous for lunch, and Blue Tractor or North Peak are good choices for dinner.

 

Here is a place in between that you could hit. I know the brewer, from his days as a homebrewer. Have not been yet, but next time on the west side.

http://www.crankersbrewery.com/

 

Frenchie's is a TINY bistro (like, 2 tables small) that has great food. Their pastrami is to die for. They don't have beer, but there is a party store next door that has an ok selection.

I think I am heading out of town that weekend, but not until the afternoon on the 11th, and I'll be back on the 12th. If you get up here early enough, I should have time to get together on saturday.

 

Sounds good.

 

If you head through Ludington stop at The Mitten Bar. Great beer and amazing bloody mary's (Bacon Vodka) if your into that. They even have a Bloody Mary Brat made by a meat market down the street.