A Brewery Birthday

Let me just say that spending the day going to different breweries and tasting great beers is the perfect way to spend a 28th birthday, or any birthday (21 and over of course).  Meg and I had the good fortune to spend the day in Traverse City, MI and check out three great Michigan breweries.  In addition to the beer we had a chance to have some good food too.

North Peak Brewing Company (who happens to be a sister of Jolly Pumpkin) was first on the list.  We started out with a flight of 5 beers to get a feel for what they had to offer.  Of note were Sally's Irish Stout (a smooth nitro stout) and the Porter.  Their take on the American Pale was also a good one.  Meg settled on a pint of that while I checked out they're cask conditioned chocolate stout.  Room temperature and wonderful.  I also gave a try to their 6th tap which was a Belgian Dark Ale.  The Belgians are growing on me.  If you stop there, try the White Cheddar Ale soup and get some of their wings made with a Cherry Ale barbecue sauce.

Next was Mackinaw Brewing company.  Meg had a cherry mead and I tried their nut brown ale.  For sustenance we tried their smoked meat platter.  It included portions of brisket, ribs and sausage, all with their house barbecue sauce.  This was an awesome seventh inning stretch.  Barbecue and beer, mmmmmmm.

Last on the list for the day was Right Brain Brewery.  It's located in a larger office complex that's rented out by a hair salon, a lawyer and some others.  They brew in one large room and have the taproom in another.  This was by far our favorite.  Meg did a six beer sampler (six ounce pours here people!) and I went straight for the IPA aged with California grapefruit peels.  Of note on the sampler was their Belgian Trippel (it was hoppy as hell, so I loved it), Distill My Heart Bourbon Stout and their Black Orchid Vanilla Baltic Porter.  I also thoroughly enjoyed my pint of their Triple Hopped IPA that was not technically on tap yet.  Thanks to Gavin for setting me up with that one after talking about being hop heads.

All in all it was a great time and I can't wait to get back up there again to sample more.  We look forward to going to Shorts too some time this year up in Bel-Air.  Until next time.

Respect beer.  Drink only the exceptional.

-Mike