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2014 Traverse City Summer Microbrew & Music Festival

tcmicromusic
Mark your late summer calendars, there is a beer and music festival getting ready for your visit.

The 2014 Traverse City Summer Microbrew & Music festival is scheduled August 22 and 23rd at the Village at Grand Traverse Commons. Your standard admission ticket ($40 for a single day or $70 for the weekend) will get you access to 40 select breweries with over 200 different beers, ciders, meads, and wines.  Included are five 80z pours and a costom tasting glass.  You will also have access to brewery representatives, local food vendors, live music, and a silent disco tent (don’t feel bad if you had to look it up, I did too). There are also VIP tickets that get you into the festival an hour earlier than everyone else and also include side-stage viewing, home brewer’s tasting, private bathrooms (if you have ever been to a large festival, you know that can be a big bonus), seated dining area, lawn games, and more fun extras.

And that is just the beer,  Continue reading →

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Tri City Brewing Loons Summer AleThere are certain days, when it it cool outside, and a great comfort is sitting in a warm spot, perhaps by a fire, with a dark, heavy, full bodied beer. And there are also those days in early spring, when the wind is cool, but the daylight warms you, when a sweet, light, flavorful beer is what you need.   And then there are other days, often in the summer, when it is hot, and the sun is shining down on you, and what you really need is something refreshing, easy to drink, that will cool you down and quench your thirst.  This beer is in that last category. Continue reading →

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Let’s get right down to it here. This beer is for people who like pain. Are you part Cenobite? This is the beer for you. While drinking this I tried not to think of the words “searing” And “flesh.” but how does it taste? To be honest I’m not sure. As I sit here sipping this glass, all I can taste is the peppers. It is like having a glass of hot sauce. The bottle claims to be a barrel aged Lukcy Basartd, but any hint of that flavor is blown away leaving you with this hot drink of fire. Some people like pepper beers. I admit that I will always want to give it a try when I find a new one. But this one may be too much.

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stone sublimely self-tighteousMaybe I am a bad Michiganian   Michigander Mi..chi..gan…ite Northerner.  But I hate the winter.  I am already all set for March to come around and spring to start.  Some people will say, “Oh as long as it snows on Christmas, that is all the snow I need.”  That is close, but I don’t think that is even going far enough.  I am fine with mowing the lawn on Christmas morning.  So I will hold onto the warm weather for as long as I can, and when it is gone, I will find ways to try to bring it back.  Here is how I am bringing it back today.  I have some old videos from the summer here that I will be posting in a lame attempt at remembering the warmth that I am missing so much.  So follow me along to watch my cryptic review of Stone’s  Sublimely Self Righteous. Continue reading →

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Can-Stamp-mine-designI really can’t not share this because I think I could have used this item last weekend.  What you see here is a simple (good) and fun(better) solution to a common problem.  The ‘is this my beer?’ problem. This is The Can Stamp Now it is true, this product is not for every occasion.  I often find myself drinking something other than what everyone else is drinking, so that makes it unnecessary.  And usually when I am, it is out of a bottle and that would make in unfeasible.  But for those times when we all have a common drink, and that drink is in a can, it is a good idea to find a way to differentiate your own.  I used to do this by only cracking my can partially, but that is too easy to not notice.  What we have here is simply a metal stamp.  Press it into the side of your can to leave a nice little statement that can be seen, and felt by anyone who may be confused about the can’s owner.  Personally, I like the “in Use” one, but there are a number of choices in order to cut down on the, let’s be honest, astronomical chances that you and someone else have brought the same Can Stamp to a party.

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I had the pleasure of trying Sam Adams Utopias a number of years ago, and I was rightfully  blown away.  It truely is an experience I would recomend to anyone.  The metal bottle, the strong aroma and the pleasantly palatable flavor all create quite the memory.  And I was content in the fact that I probably would not get another chance to try it.  It is simply a luxury that I could not afford to make a habit of.  Well to my pleasant supprise, only a few years later I was presented with the opportunity again.  And again, it was quite the memory.  But after having two vintages of Utopias pass my lips, I was even more content with having my Utopias experience complete.  But then I had to see this.

utopias cigars

These Sam Adams Utopias seasoned cigars are available for a limited time from Ted’s Cigars.

From their website

The pairing is perfection. Rich nutty and fruit notes in the Utopias play well with the spicy complexity of the cigar, while the Dominican Republican, Nicaraguan and Brazilian tobacco blend provides a smooth, deep caramelized taste that compliments the Utopias’; woody, toffee flavors.

Now I am going to have to buy a set of these and track down another bottle of Utopias, for what I expect to be an extreme beer experience.

 

 

 

 

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So it sure has been a while hasn’t it?  well I would like to welcome you back to the new and improved This Week In Beer! So I have spent the last few months streamlining the website and cutting out much of the fat (no one really used that map anyway).  So hopefully this new site will usher in an era of smother functionality and smoother beer. I hope.

So beyond the trimmed down site, i have a docket of ideas for new features and shows.  The social site is still here, but it is seriously trimmed down.   The site is now responsive too so you should see a mobile friendly version when you visit from a smartphone or tablet.  I do expect to add features back in as I see the need for them, but for now I think all we really need here is a regular stream of beer related content for you all to enjoy.  and for me to enjoy as well.

But, I hear you say, did it really take you six months to redesign the site? It doesn’t even look that different, no way it took you that long!  You are right.  You caught me. There is more Continue reading →

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sobawcover

Is that a saying?  it really should be if it isn’t.  and you really don’t have to be a regular at Thirsty Thursday to know it.  But do you realize how interconnected beer and baseball really are?  If you are curious, or even if you aren’t curious yet, you might be interested in this. The Summer of Beer and Whiskey: How Brewers, Barkeeps, Rowdies, Immigrants, and a Wild Pennant Fight Made Baseball America’s Game.  Edward Achorn relays the story of Chris Von der Ahe, a St Louis entrepreneur who noticed that people were visiting his beer garden after baseball games.  So he did the obvious thing, he bought a baseball team in order to sell more beer, and in the process, injected some much needed fun into America’s favorite pastime.  Have I piqued your curiosity yet? A little bit?  want more? have a listen to this interview with the author on All Things Considered He paints a picture of the wild west atmosphere of baseball in the late 1800s and the wild character that was Chris Von der Ahe.

via The Summer of Beer and Whiskey | Uncrate.

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A Cryptic Beer Review

A cryptic beer review of Dark Horse Kmita KolschI bet you thought you would be going without any beer reviews again for a while.  Well fear not my friends because I haven’t forgotten you, and the beer will keep flowing here and the beer reviews will keep being posted.  Case in point, this particular cryptic beer review from me, of a beer from Dark Horse Brewing Company.  This my friends is the Kmita Kolsch.  What on earth is Kmita Kolsh? As they explain it,

“It’s our way of poking fun at the German purity law and those that insist beer has to be brewed to “style”. These Eastern European hops create a wonderful bitterness and aroma giving this beer a clean, crisp and dry flavor that works well with the mild sweetness from the malt. This beer is fairly light in color and body with mild flavors of malt and toasted malt. The aroma is hoppy, as well as the finish flavor of the beer.”

Sounds good to me. And as someone who has been pretty “meh” about kolsches in the past I have to agree that what they have done here feels right.  It feels fun with just a little bit of an edge to it.  Where as most times that I see a kolsch on the menu, I have to admit that i think to myself, “Self, do you like a kolsh?  I’m not sure, I can’t remember.”  And I think that that is because most of the time they are pretty unremarkable and quite forgettable.  But Dark Horse has gone about this right and made a kolsch to remember.  Check out my Cryptic Review of Dark Horse Kmita Kolsch after the break. Continue reading →

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A Cryptic Beer Review

A Cryptic Beer Review of Brewery Vivant EscoffierSometimes I find a beer to review that has a certain, experience, to it.  I don’t mean the bottle of rolling rock that has been sitting in the back of your dad’s fridge for years, watching the leftovers get moldy and the milk go bad.  That beer may have plenty of stories, and it can be fun to listen to at parties, but it certainly doesn’t have experience. I’m also pretty sure that it tastes like crap.  I am talking about a beer that tastes like it has the knowledge with living a life well-lived.

Brewery Vivant has been on my radar for a little bit, and I am always interested to see what they have going. You may be able to tell from my previous beer reviews.  And it is not just because I love Belgian style beers.They do seem to take the Belgian styles and add enough creative twists to them to make a nice catalog.  And as someone who enjoys a good canoe trip, I love to see more craft beers in cans.  Now that is not to say that they all twist in a good direction.  Anise? Not in my beer thank you (although for those of you who have been dying to pour a little jager into your beer,  knock yourselves out.  You sick bastards).  But here we have a good example of a beer that certainly seems to know what it is doing. A collaboration between Vivant and New Belgium (I feel like I’m hearing a lot about them all the sudden), that seems to make a good pairing. Speaking of pairing, since they tout this beer as a good one for enjoying with food, I will look forward to finding some nice pairings for this one.  So for a beer with some creative twist here is a creative beer review. Continue reading →