Possible Chicago>Michigan trip, have questions

Go to greenbush, right of the highway near a big rest stop, not to be missed. don't know about growler laws but bell's doesn't offer them but I know greenbush does. And at FFF I don't know if it is a law but they wont fill anything bu their own growlers.

 

i'd leave on a friday and work into a saturday.

leaving from the south side to FFF : 45 min. (so leave round 11ish am)
FFF visit 2ish hours. (eat here)
Leave FFF to Greenbush... another 45 min.
gb visit up to an hour...(food is there, just small menu)
gb to livery bout 20 minutes
livery visit bout an hour. (sandwiches, decent pubgrub)
from livery to bells about another hourish.
bells is two hours. (more sandwiches) three if you walk down the street to shakespeares or beer exchange. you can liquor store in kalamazoo at tiffany's... drakes party store was meh at best.

head north to grand rapids, hotel...(hour)
dinner (recommended, brewery vivant... really great food, duck confit nachos) two hours

sleep and start late. hotel should be walkable to founders/hopcat/downtown area.

now the nice part about grap liquor stores is they open fairly early. international beverage and or siclianos should be your first stops for bottle shopping. but consensus is varying.

breakfast at http://www.mariecatribs.com/ (generous portions) hourish.
get back to your hotel and ditch the car.
Get founders out of the way, 2 hours.
Get hopcat out of the way... 2 hours. (crack fries as an app with the cheese sauce. or mixed in with the macncheeze)

there's other spots fairly close... good retro vid game bar right across the way, stellas... there's pyramid scheme, they usually have on a good amt of shorts beer.

heard good things bout the grbc brewing co... but haven't been to the newly owned one.

either another hotel night... or sober up and then new holland on the way home... it's an hourish at best... our brewing company is in new holland as well... something to think about.... you could throw in the drive out to oddside, but that's entirely up to you... oddside and our should have beers at hopcat... (i would hope they would...) and you can go from there.

these are my thoughts. for outdoor recreation.... roadsideamerica.com

 

I Have Heard Truly Amazing Things About These. Would Eat.

 

You Dont Seem To Be Missing A Thing In My Book. This Sounds Like A Really Well, Thought Out Trip. I Think You Will Have Fun. I Love Dogs.

 

I just got back from a similar trip for the KBS release party... If you're going to Bell's, a little east of there is Arcadia (from experience, I'd say you can probably skip this one without missing much) and a little further east is Dark Horse (I'd recommend going to this one). Try to make it for the DH tour - for $6 or $7, you get the tour, 6-7 tasty samples (incl. BBPt5 if they have it), and a glass.

 

Is the search function broke?

*checks*

Nope. There's about one bajillion threads on this exact subject. Either way though, you'll have a good time!

 

listen to autumnaldave.

when i traveled around michigan in february, the lady wanted some dragon's milk from the source, so we stopped in holland. i was more than pleasantly surprised to encounter Our Brewing Co about 2-3 doors down from new holland. great stop, and looking forward to my next visit.

 

Here is our trip Michigan Beercation. Dark Horse is cannot miss. Go on a Sunday and take the $7 tour. Will be the best spent money on the whole trip.

 

Don't miss Brewery Vivant in Grand Rapids.

Some other options:

Dark Horse and Arcadia, while near Bells.

Odd Side Ales, while near New Holland.

There is also Saugatuk Brewing not to far from New Holland.

 

I'd personally avoid Tiffany's. Go to Drake or Mega-Bev. Both are close to 131. Prices at the General Store are on par with other retail. They usually have a good selection of Bell's. The food at Bell's is usually top notch. I highly recommend eating there. If you are in Kzoo early, walk around downtown.

 

There is also Shoreline in Michigan City since you will be there.

 

If you get to Bell's at 10:30 go into the General Store (opens at 10:00) for bottles and to kill time until 11:00 when the Eccentric Pub opens. And, yes, the food is very good if you want to eat there.

Regarding growlers: http://beeradvocate.com/community/threads/michigan-growler-laws.88085/#post-1303126

 

Don't forget about the time zone change. If you leave Michigan City at 9 Central, you'll get to Kalamazoo around 11:30 Eastern.

 

I've eaten there once, and I enjoyed the food more than the beer (although the beer is good too). The menu is more than pub fare. I didn't look, but maybe they have their menu on their website.

 

It's passable. You're better off taking the family to Redamak's in New Buffalo since you're right there. They have a couple Michigan beers on tap there as well. Also stop at Oink's for some awesome ice cream!

 

They're closed November - February

 

I was just there a couple weeks ago for my first time ever, and it is a wooded property with parking on both sides and the rear of the building, but I don't recall it being a corner lot. It's on the north (west) side of the road about a half mile north (east) from the main downtown intersection.

 

It seems like only Short's is releasing new beers at this time of the year, and they've all been sensational. You've probably read the various posts on this GL forum to know which of those to be looking for. Also, Odd Side Ales has two beers on store shelves now -- Citra Pale Ale and Simco Sensation. The Citra is very tasty, but I haven't had Simco to be able to comment on it. If it's brewed by Odd Sides then it's probably gonna' be good.