Michigan beer.

Blackrocks (51K) & Short's (Freedom of '78, Huma, & Hopstache) get my votes for IPA's. Stouts, I'm not so sure on. Someone from below the bridge may have better advice on those.

 

Where in Michigan is your family coming from? Flying or driving?

Edit: nevermind on where they are, as I just learned to read.

If they're driving, it might be worth a short detour to South Lyon to get some growlers/howlers from Witch's Hat.

 

Anything from Greenbush (bottles) or Tapistry (16 oz. cans) will be very good. Greenbush has a DIPA called Brother Benjamin, their Star Chicken Shotgun IPA, and Delusion Imperial Stout should be findable. Tapistry's Enigma DIPA is excellent, and their Reactor IPA is also very good. If you like citra hops, Odd Side's Citra Pale Ale is very good, and the hops are so prominent that it drinks like an IPA. I think it is in bottles and cans now, but I recommend that the label date be checked to be < 90 days old. Many people really like their Mayan Mocha Stout too, although I'm not fond of it. All of these breweries are essentially Michigan-only (or slightly farther) so you'll not have seen them before.

 

River's Edge in Milford makes a couple of good stouts, the Dirty Frank got a bronze in the World Beer Cup recently. Not far from Holly, they can get growlers or howlers filled there.

 

Sorry for the threadjacking here, but does Witch's Hat fill other breweries' growlers? And, do they have packaged beer to go?

 

One more beer that I meant to add on earlier: it's a brown ale in 12 oz. cans from Pigeon Hill Brewing that's called OCP (for Oatmeal Cream Pie). If you've ever had a Little Debbie brand Oatmeal Cream Pie and liked it, you'll love this beer.

 

Yep, but they'll slap their own sticker(s) on it to cover any other brewery's logo/branding.

For the second question, it depends. Short answer is yes, but they don't always have stuff available. Last time I was there almost two weeks ago they were out of Train Hopper cans and the Rez Gets Smashed cans they still had were from an early March canning run. I think they have also canned Edward's Portly Brown before, but I don't know if they have it right now. I'd think they will do another canning run of Train Hopper before they release Well Water bottles on 6/26, but I'm speculating--zero inside knowledge on that.

 

Thanks - I'm thinking about swinging by on the way to my Mom's house on Friday and wondered what I should expect.

 

So Holly is a crap area for beer stores because of pricing. One town over is Ortonville. There is a store there called beer world. Their prices are much better and their selection is nice. Shorts, Oddside, Blackrocks, are all great. Also they carry some Bruery shelf stuff if that is something you don't get. Some Deschutes is also available.

 

All good suggestions so Ill just say this whatever they do don't get any beer at Alexs on Grange Hall and 75 that guy is crazy with his prices.

 

Thinking you might mean Dystopia, not Delusion. I could be wrong though.

 

Both names are listed as imperial stouts on the brewery's BA page, but it was Delusion that I've had in the past. Both have a rating over 4.0, so both should be a good choice. http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/25937/

 

Short's Freedom of '78 is a specialty beer that just hit shelves recently. Your family won't find it in grocery stores. They will have to go to a better bottle shop to find it. The same applies to almost all the beers shared in this thread.

Arcadia Hop Rocket is a DIPA that I like a lot.

If you like saisons, Brewery Vivant recently released Zaison, an imperial saison. I fucking love this beer.

Someone already shared it but Brother Benjamin from Greenbush is a very good DIPA.

It's a bad time of year for stouts. And the better ones we have around here are produced by the breweries you already have access to.

 

Greenbush Delusion is a Templeton Rye BA Stout and it is very good. Dystopia also solid. Tapistry also has some solid beers.

 

Another vote here for Brother Benjamin. Also, Distorter from Greenbush. Right Brain's CEO Stout is decent and easy to find, as is Rochester Mills Milkshake Stout. Cheboygan IPA #11 is worth a try (although I prefer their Lighthouse Amber). Short's Huma is a staple, and if you can find Hopstache, pick some of that up.

 

Big Griz from Perrin, a barrel aged brown ale, seems to be hitting distro this week. Also could grab some Lil Griz which I think is a really solid beer. I've still seen Hopstache on shelves in a few stores. This is one of the best ipas in Michigan. Freedom of 78 is also pretty solid.

 

True statements. For OP, Delusion will be much tougher to find, as it is a limited barrel aged release. Dystopia is their non-BA RIS, and much more likely to be sitting on shelves. No big deal, just trying to clarify for OP if he/she goes hunting for Greenbush beers (as they should!).