Petoskey Area Vacation

Lake Street Market in Boyne City, which I don't even think is listed on BA, has probably the best beer selection in Northern Michigan. Check them out.

 

You should get in your car and drive to Short's. Totally worth it.

 

Petoskey Brewing and Beards Brewery, both in Petoskey, are definitely worth a stop. If you only have time for one, I like the beer better at Beards myself. If you have time, Shorts is in Bellaire which is about an hour from Petoskey and definitely worth the drive. The only good bottle shop I know of up there isn't too far from Petoskey Brewing, but I can't remember the name..

 

I stayed in Boyne City for a month last year and I spent some time searching out good brews in the area. I'm not sure about the Lake Street Market suggestion as of last fall they had a pretty small beer selection with not much that you couldn't already get at the local grocery store.. I found that Boyne Country Provisions has the best beer selection in Boyne, they got a nice selection of Michigan Brews with some locals from Petoskey Brewing company and they also have a good amount of beer from Chicago and imported beers. I didn't get a chance to check out Beards, but I thought Petoskey Brewing company was solid. As far as I can tell the best beer store in Petoskey is Toski Sands Market, they seemed to have the largest beer selection in the area and I found a few things there that I haven't seen before. I also stopped at Scoobys Bottle Shop which has a pretty small selection but they did still have a couple beers from Founders Backstage series. Hope that helped a little.

 

Drive to traverse city and hit right brain.

 

As a Petoskey local, drive to Shorts. Beards Brewery is good but nothing to write home about. Petoskey brewing is just terrible and marketed to the tourist that flood the area in the summer.

The best bottle shops are Toski Sands going towards Harbor Springs and Provisions in Boyne City.
Go to Traverse City for some good breweries/taprooms and bottle shops.

 

I have a dream of opening a bottle shop in Petoskey. :/

 

I agree with the recommendations above to go to Short's. Of the two breweries in Petoskey I liked Petoskey Brewing a lot when I visited there, but not so much Beards. I've read comments in these threads that they have improved, so I'll go back someday to try their beers again.

 

Do it and i will shop there.

 

Haha, I cannot agree more with you about Petoskey Brewing.

 

Things tend to stick around Lake Street Market for a while. Last time I was there, they had shelf Backwoods Bastard, a ton of stuff in their cellar, and some Backstage stuff that I couldn't find anywhere else. In terms of overall selection, Provisions is better, but I think the beer is just better at Lake Street. Maybe my experiences are unique.

 

Beards > Petoskey Brewing. Short's > anything in Traverse City. I'd take a trip to Short's and bring back as much beer as possible. It's some of the best in the whole country, and a lot of it is only available there.

 

Interesting, I had no clue they had a cellar. When I was there last fall I remember seeing one or two small beer coolers and the only Founders seasonal they had was Reds Rye and it was a little old at that point. I'll have to give that place a second chance next time I'm in town.

 

For sure. I know that Chris, the guy who owns the place, tends to snatch up as much of rare or rare-ish beers as he can and then puts them in the basement for a while -- as far as I know, it's all for sale.

 

Cool thread to follow as I will be staying in Petoskey the first weekend in June for a softball tournament

 

Well if anyone who comes to Petoskey area wants to get together for a beer, send me a BM. As far as i know, im the only dude from BA around here.

 

Just visited the TC/Torch Lake/Petoskey area in October. Was also in this area May of '12. After my experience with Petoskey Brewing, do not bother. Their beers are mediocre and the brewery experience is sub-par. Didn't get a chance to visit Beards, but I have stopped at Short's multiple times. An hour-ish away, worth the drive.

 

Beards is a really cool stop. I was there a few weeks back, and I'm glad I stopped in. Real small place, had some good beer, neat little setup, and the bartender was just a really good dude. And their clay mugs were really cool, too.