Detroit Trip Questions

Supposedly it's on right now

 

Lotta good suggestions here. A few that I haven't seen (or missed):

From Chicago, you might want to stop at The Livery in Benton Harbor, about 25 minutes north of Greenbush of the I-94. They have some real gems. Also, Jolly Pumpkin has a cafe in Ann Arbor that always has 2 or 3 things on tap that are usually hard to get in bottles (right now, it's De Viento and Biere De Mars) - it's my favorite place to drink a beer in SE Mich, if crowd and hassle are taken into account. Beyond that, I would definitely second others that Kuhnhenn and Bell's are great stops. Both have bottles (and growlers for kuhnhenn) available that are hard to find in normal liquor stores. DRIPA and Fourth Dementia (Bourbon Barrell if you're lucky) are worth the trip to Warren.

For things that are hard to get outside of Michigan, I'll second the Short's - India Spruce Pilsner is being released this week. And Brewery Vivant out of Grand Rapids has a number of cans that are fantastic, particularly Zaison, Big Red Coq, and Triomphe. They're having a tap takeover at Wurst Bar in Ypsilanti on June 18 to boot.

I'm a Chicago transplant to this area, and I can attest, they're not hurting for good beer!