Must visit Northern LP breweries besides Shorts?

Jolly Pumpkin on Misson point. Right Brain in Traverse, as well as North Peak in Traverse. Also, Beards brewery in Petosky is tasty.

 

North Peak in Traverse City has good beer and great food.
Petosky Brewing, in Petosky, has a good light menu, and really good beer, especially the Horny Monk Belgium Dubbel

 

The Filling Station in Traverse City has really good beer and pizza. Jolly Pumpkin in a great place to visit also. Beards in Petoskey is small and they only have a few on draft, but it's a really cool little pub.

 

Pretty much what everyone else has said. Petoskey Brewing and Beards in Petoskey are good stops. Closer to Shorts is Traverse City, and there are a few spots to hit there. Jolly Pumpkin is my favorite. You'll find North Peak beers on tap more that JP beers, but that's ok. The food is really, really good as well, and it's a great scenic drive out there. Right Brain is really good, and I like their new location. Filling Station has very good beer as well, and their pizzas are top notch. It's also a very cool little location. 7 Monks is a good beer bar with 40+ taps and very good food as well. North Peak has good beers that vary a bit from what you'll find at Jolly Pumpkin, and they also have good food (see a trend here yet?). Terra Firma is another to look into. It's on the east side of town and has only been open a short period of time, but I hear they are doing good things.

Of those mentioned, you should be able to find bottles from North Peak and Right Brain, and cans from Right Brain and Petoskey Brewing if you wanted any to take with you. They all have growler fills as well.

Lastly, you can try Ferment downtown TC. I was underwhelmed when I was there last, but I hear they've gotten a bit better. Also, there is a new brewery in the old Right Brain location called The Workshop Brewing Co. I've never been, but I hear it's decent enough.

 

Surprised at the love for North Peak. Beer is OK, and the food is not very good. I would put The Workshop as a must stop in TC already, eventhough they have only been open for a few months. Terra Firma is also dialing it in, and would be worth stopping. As mentioned, the Filling Station has good beer and flatbread pizza. I haven't been able to make it to Stormcloud in Frankfort, but their beer sounds promising. Absolutely include a stop at 7 Monks.

 

You can get North Peak brews at Jolly Pumpkin as well as their own Old Mission brews. I highly recommend that place after visiting for my first time just this past week. Great beer, food, and service.

 

Nobody's mentioned Tandem Ciders yet so I will. Do it. Probably more scenic of a drive and area than JP, and the atmosphere is like nothing else. Will be a trip highlight guaranteed.

 

Tandem was great this past weekend, stopped in there twice. 45 North is around the corner from Tandem and they also have a couple of ciders on tap.

OP, if time is of concern... hit up 7 Monks they currently have offerings from Tandem, Terra Firma, Stormcloud, etc.

 

+1 to Jolly Pumpkin, Right Brain, 7 Monks and The Filling Station. The few things I've had from North Peak have been meh. Also, as someone who grew up in the area, I can't believe there's a brewery in Frankfort. Next thing you know there will be a few in Manistee.

 

A friend wants to open one in Kingsley. I'm not sure if he's insane or brilliant.

 

first, about GR: if you are going to Founders, go to Brewery Vivant as well. It's not far from founders, and worth the trip. God I love that place.

now, about JP: they brew in Dexter, and it's a production facility only. They have pubs in Ann Arbor (the primary location) and TC. TC also has brewing capabilities, but they brew the North Peak beer that is bottled. They also have a distillery on site where Civilized Spirits are created and bottled. The TC location usually only has 2-3 JP beers on tap, but they have all the available bottles. They will have 8-10 North Peak beers on tap, many are only available there (not in the downtown location, which brews it's own beers for on-site consumption). JP will also have really, really good food. I'm a sucker for the BLT, for what it's worth...

 

I personally haven't been there but have heard tons of positive reviews of Stormcloud, so I would put that on my own list if I were in the area.

 

I am a big fan of the beers that I had at Brewery Ferment, they were my favorite stop during my most recent trip to TC. Right Brain, Workshop and Filling Station are all worthy of stops. I am not going to say North Peak is not worth a look but it would rank behind all of those I previously mentioned.

 

for anyone in the area, they announced over the weekend they have two of their beers bottles, a cherry sour and a smoked honey ale. $6/12oz bottle I believe.

 

Brewery Terra Firma is making some decent beers...stop by 7 Monks beer bar if you get a chance...Ferment is up and coming...def hit up Beards in Petosky...Right Brain and Filling Station are both decent...just for kicks hit up Brew in TC...a coffee/beer bar that is unique and fun...cheers!

 

Who is 'they'?

 

Brewery Ferment.

https://www.facebook.com/BreweryFerment

 

I just stopped at Brewery Terra Firms today as my first stop on a 5-day pub crawl, and I was very pleasantly surprised at the quality of their beers for a newly-opened brewery. The brewer there was formerly at Right Brain, and most of us in this forum know how good that brewery was before he left there.

Of all of the breweries mentioned in the posts above my rankings are:

For beer - Brewery Terra Firma or Jolly Pumpkin (tie), North Peak, Right Brain, The Filling Station, The Workshop (all of their beers are only 5-6 percent ABV), Brewery Ferment (I visited them right after opening last year, and the beers weren't very good then).

For food - Jolly Pumpkin, North Peak, The Filling Station, The Workshop (appetizer-sized sandwiches but very good), and Right Brain (also just small sandwiches, etc).

7 Monks has excellent food and a great tap list.

Enjoy your visit to the TC area.