Visiting Detroit

I assume you're planning on driving up to Detroit? Where are you staying specifically and how far are you willing to drive?

 

http://beeradvocate.com/community/threads/good-beer-stores-near-detroit.1961/#post-23088

There are some good suggestions for bottle shops in this thread. Some of them would not be too far out of the way when you head to Somerset.

 

On your way to Birmingham you should stop by Holiday Market in Royal Oak. Killer selection, and most everything is available in singles as well.

 

Holiday Market in Royal Oak: http://www.holiday-market.com/
8 Degrees Plato in Ferndale: www.8degreesplato.com
Cloverleaf in Royal Oak: http://www.cloverleafwine.com/

If you take Woodward north out of the city, each of these is just a short detour for you on your way to Troy and Birmingham. Highly recommend stopping at each of them to see what you can find.

Good luck. Report back.

 

stick to bottles at roast they have very bad tap lines/ slows in detroit is worth a stop/ in birmingham stop at big rock chop house very solid beers/ i will be at kuhnhenn on saturday or sunday they are definetly worth a stop

 

Stop at my house in Woodbridge tomorrow night only about 5 min from MGM. We are cracking some goodies....!

Be sure to hit up Forans Grand Trunk pub downtown. Lots of great Michigan taps and a decent bottle selection. Good fish n chips too. The new Clubhouse BFD in Rochester is good too, a 20 min drive up I 75 from Detroit. Well worth the trip and not too far from Somerset.

 

Oh yeah, I forgot to add:

Skip all the Detroit breweries (Motor City, Atwater, Detroit Beer co). You aren't missing much and are better off spending time at other spots.

 

Detroit Beer Co. isn't a bad lunch spot, and they brew some decent stuff.

 

Big Rock Chophouse is a must stop if you're in Birmingham. It's not absolutely required but I would recommend wearing a collared shirt and slacks or something along those lines otherwise you'll feel extremely under dressed. The food is bloody expensive unless you go during happy hour but the beer on tap is cheap in comparison. They also sell bottles which depending on what you get are on the pricey side but a lot of their beers are well worth it.

 

If I was going to go any of the breweries in Detroit it would certainly be Detroit Beer Co. If the OP finds himself with extra time to burn in the downtown area I don't think it would be a bad idea to stop there. The food and beer are solid, just don't expect anything to blow your mind and you'll enjoy it.

Also I highly recommend a trip to Merchant's Fine Wine in Dearborn. It's about 15 minutes from the MGM. It's the only store in the area that probably has a bigger selection than Holiday Market. I'd say the Michigan/US Craft selection is fairly comparable but the foreign selection is better at Merchant's. If you've got a good store in Cleveland for that stuff then maybe it wouldn't be worth your time. I haven't been to Merchant's since last fall but they had Nogne O Dark Horizon 3, some Drie Fonteinen, odd ball barrel aged Mikkeller stuff, interesting Italian brews. Basically a bunch of stuff I don't see anywhere else.

 

slow's, lots of rare taps and good ones.

 

Since you'll be staying in the city, definitely go to Slow's BBQ and Foran's Grand Trunk Pub.

Detroit Beer Co and Motor City Brewery both have good/great food. The beer, however, is usually just average.

 

I feel bad not supporting Detroit breweries considering that's where I live..... but I've never had a Detroit beer that's blown me away. It's all pretty average. Someone needs to fix that!

 

Start Brewing!

 

My girlfriend and I enjoyed the following bars/restaurants when we visited the city in December 2011 (my BA & RB scores are in brackets):

Michael Symon's Roast Detroit (4.9/98)
Slow's BBQ (4.6/94)
Detroit Beer Company (4/80)
Foran's Grand Trunk Pub (3.8/76)

In terms of bottle shops, we only had time to hit Ryan's Party Store on the way back home, but I was told that Merchant's Fine Wine and Champane Wine Cellar are the best local beer stores. Hope that helps!

 

snik will be at kuhnhenn tonight around 11 if you are interested in having a few. 734-788-3187 will have on my black double bastard hoodie

 

I'll second the slows recommendation. On the same block is Sugar House if you're in the mood for a tasty cocktail. ( Sugar House has a great blog too http://www.sugarhousedetroit.com/ )

Of the breweries within the city limits Motor City is the one I visit the most. The beer isn't going to melt your face but they have the 2nd best pizza in Detroit. (Detroit pizza bucket list 1. Amar Pizza 2. Motor City Brewing 3. Buddies ) Personally, I'd stop by Atwater too. They had some seasonal beers I really enjoyed at the MI Brewers Guild fest and they do a nice full flavored lager. The row of warehouse spaces that Atwater is located in usually has something interesting going on. Forans is worth a stop as well and it's a short walk from the two headed dragon of Lyfayette and American Coney Islands. I'm also partial to the Woodbridge Pub. Not the biggest tap list but it's MI beer heavy and I like their food better than Forans.

If you're up for a short drive you can hit up Dragonmead and Kuhnhenn in the same trip. Dragonmead has the bare minimum of food they need to offer to be a brew pub in the eyes of the law and I'd avoid the food. They have a binder of places that'll deliver to Dragonmead and I can't remember the name of the BBQ place but they're my usual go to. B Nektar meadery is worth a stop to try their line of ale treated meads. If you miss their sampling the party store next to the 7-11 on 9 mile and Hilton carries the full B Nektar line. (The ethiopian style coffee mead is fantastic) Further out in the Ann Arbor/Yipsi direction The Corner Brewery & Jolly Pumpkin are must stops. Both breweries do excellent sour beers. Shout out to the breakfast pizza at Jolly Pumpkin.