Michigan Brewery Road Trip

[zam216]

Hello all,
I apologize if this does not belong here, I will move it if so. I am from PA and my Fiance surprised me today to an early birthday present by telling me we are taking a road trip to Michigan from Philly for a brewery road trip in February. So I think were pretty much staying in southern Michigan and going as north as grand rapids. As of right now our first stop is Kalamazoo on Friday then grand rapids for 2 nights and going home Monday. I have done some research on some of the bigger breweries and it looks like I would be missing some in the Detroit area if we don't go that way. So I am thinking of going to the east side of Michigan for the third night so we can hit some of them. So my question to you guys who are local is what are the BIG breweries I should be hitting on this trip? I have a list I will provide below feel free to tell me if any are a waste or if there is better options then what I found. I was thinking to leave Thursday night to have it set to arrive at the first brewery as soon as it opens. The goal is to get to as many breweries as possible. I also am looking to get some 3 Floyds while out that way. Do you think it would be worth driving straight to 3 Floyds from PA and then work our way back up the west coast of Michigan to hit greenbush on our way to Kalamazoo or will I be able to get a good supply of 3 Floyds at the bottle shop in grand rapids? I wouldnt mind going to the brewery but if I can get a good choice of bottles in michigan thats fine with me. Also if you could add some good food places (brew pubs are good) in each area I will be in or any things I should stop and see that would be great.

Friday: Kalamazoo
***Possible stop at 3 floyds read above***
Bells
Dark horse
Arcadia
Greenbush

Saturday: Grand Rapids
New Holland
Crankers
Odd Side
Vivant
Founders
Grand Rapids
Sicilianos Bottle shop (will try to get shorts beers and right brain)

Sunday: Detroit/Deerborn area
Bad (on the way from grand rapids)
Kuhnhenn
Dragonmead
schramms
Arbor
Jolly pumpkin

Monday: Drive home
Looking for stuff to hit in northern ohio /pittsburgh area

 

[daksin]

These are all great places, but doing 6-7 breweries in a day is ROUGH unless you're only doing 4-8oz at each place. Also- I know you're looking to hit big places, but definitely don't miss River Rouge Brewing just outside of Detroit. One of my favorites- the owner Eddie is a great dude!

 

[druddle]

I'd suggest Atwater in Detroit. They have a large tap room, some great beers and they have a free parking lot.

 

[zam216]

Yeah were probably gonna do small pours and if we really like one we will buy a bottle or growler

 

[k1ngl1ves]

Don't skip Odd Side! Definitely keep it on your list! The Mayan Mocha Stout is one of my favorites! Arbor is amazing too!



You will not find 3 Floyd's in Grand Rapids. I have to stop at the brewery on my way to see my cousin in GR every time I visit. (I secretly only go to GR so I can buy Mayans. Muahahahahaha! Just kidding...?) You should be able to find some 3F in northern Indiana though. If you're looking for the elusive Zombie Dust... you won't find it. Lol! The brewery is a lot of fun, and I'd recommend you veer south and go!

Maybe you'll get lucky and they'll be bottling something in demand that day! Check their website on your way. They almost never post when they have ZD available or on tap though. They even put a No ZD sign up so the resell vermin stay away. Ask anyways, and tell them your story. They might have some tucked away. Good people. You can probably find it on tap locally too. To be honest though, ZD is nothing special. There's a great clone on hbt that's almost dead on. No pun intended. Lol!



February? I'm not positive, but I think that's Hop Slam season at Bell's. I'd probably drink myself to death. You might too! Lol!


If you're going to Detroit, stop at Adventures in Homebrewing! (www.homebrewing.org) Always wanted to stop there. Great prices!

Check out Bell's shop too! Great prices on tap handles.

 

[kaffeenjunkie]

Darkhorse Is quite the distance from Kalamazoo. About an hour and half.
Downtown kzoo you will find not only Bells and Arcadia but also Gonzo's Tibbs, Old Pennisula, Boatyard, Bright Eyes and a few minutes south One Well, Bravo Restaurant and Lattitude 42. All brewing some interesting beers.

To the west off U Ave Texas Corners Brewing not my fave, but it's there. There is also Rupert's, but the place has a rep as ****hole.

You do realize that kzoo is fifth in the country for breweries and brewpubs. Good luck and happy touring!

If your are hitting an LHBS stop in at O'connors in GR. Great people, nice space, and friendlier than the people at theaforementioned adventures in homebrewing.

 

[msu09]

Michigan is a great beer state! Bells and founders are no brainers. The others mentioned are great, too. In my mind there are four others that compete with any brewery in the nation.

Halfway between Lansing and Kalamazoo is darkhorse brewing. Best all around beer/food combo in the state.

In the Detroit metro is kunhens which has great award winning beer. Dragonmead is good if you like Belgians.

River rouge is a phenomenal small batch brewery. They rope off their brew area with caution tape.

Batch brewing in Detroit is also great. It really shows off the revitization of the city.

Others are good (founders, bells, jolly pumpkin) but these smaller breweries are amazing.

 

[menotu]

So many (almost too many) awesome breweries in Michigan. Looks like you have a great list and others have mentioned some cool options. Since your going to be coming in February you might want to check this out http://www.mibeer.com/winter-festival there sold out for Saturday but there's still tickets for Friday. This is a Michigan only brewers fest so you can check out a ton of breweries in one shot, they come from all over the state. There's like 100 brewers severing over a 1000 local beers. Its a an awesome time.

Also i like this site http://www.seekabrew.com/distro/index.html shows what states brewers distribute too, might be able to pick some stuff up that's not offered in your state. FYI 3 floyds isn't sold here so gonna have to head to the brewery if you want it.

Have fun, sounds like a great trip.

 

[sky4meplease]

Suagatuck Brewery (Bonfire Brown is a personal fav), Perrin in GR, Hop Cat in GR for food and beer.
If you precariously find yourself in Hastings Michigan try the Waldorf Brew Pub and hit me up for a home brew on your way out of town.

 

[LargeNCharge]

As a Michigander that has lived in GR, Detroit, and have family and friends in KZ, this is a great list, and I'm sad to say that many of these I still haven't been to. A couple additions you may want to consider if you have time or plan on making a return trip:

Grand Rapids: Schmohz Brewery is a tiny hole-in-the-wall but they make a fantastic cream ale and ESB. I've been told that their Bonecrusher Stout is really good, but not liking stouts myself, I can't speak from experience.

Detroit: Liberty Street Brewing Co. makes the best red ale I've ever had. I've had maybe half their menu and have never been disappointed.

Enjoy the trip! You can't go wrong with Michigan breweries!

 

[Homercidal]

Bells and Founders are must-sees IMO. That said, I rarely go to Founders because it's usually very busy and the people there are often too busy to chat with. THAT said, you might see if they have a tour running that day. I know they don't generally do tours unless there is a group that requests it in advance. I have no idea if Bells gives tours.

Hitting the big breweries is not a bad idea, but there are MANY smaller breweries in GR and Kzoo that are a lot more welcoming and personal than the big guys. A lot of them are probably willing to give a quick tour too.

I love Oddside Ales. Good, and unusual beers. Greenbush hasn't let me down with their beers either. I haven't been to visit either one (yet). If you don't get over that way, I'd at LEAST check out the bottles at the store.

Siciliano's Market is a really nice, very full featured LHBS with lots of wine, mead, cider too. And they sell cigars and coffee as well. Really knowledgeable and friendly people.

I'd double check Crankers. I think their beer is really very good, especially since the brewery first started, but I don't think you will find a brewery in GR. As far as I know Adam and his crew only brew in Big Rapids, about 15 minutes from my house. I think they ship their beer to Mt. Pleasant and Grand Rapids from BR. I frequent the Crankers in BR often and our club generally meets there except for special events. The restaurant in GR might be just fine, I just don't think you will get a brewery tour or get to talk with the brewers in GR.

Pike 51 is a nice small place near GR. White Flame is near there too. I like ELK brewing too. The Mitten is a cool little brewery across the river.

And remember, most of the Michigan beers that get put into bottles you can buy at Siciliano's Market.

I almost forgot about Brewery Vivant! IMO that's a cool place to visit and they have some FINE Belgian-inspired beers.

 

[ccaron93]

Your list is pretty good but ill echo others in saying to add Perrin to your Grand Rapids list.

I also enjoyed Latitude 42 not far from Kzoo.

In Ann Arbor & Detroit, try to squeeze Arbor and Batch into your trip. If you like Lagers stop at Wolverine in AA.

 

[druddle]

Detroit: Liberty Street Brewing Co. makes the best red ale I've ever had. I've had maybe half their menu and have never been disappointed.

Agreed. This place is awesome. I'm there typically once a week.

 

[Spartan300man]

So nobody mentioned Stroh's? I guess it has been a while since I visited Detroit! I miss the basket of pretzels and a plastic pitcher of Stroh's dark in that dingy dark wood Bavarian taproom before and after tours.

Another good place, across the border, is the Canadian club distillery. They used to have tours and a free session at their bar along the Detroit river. Anyone know if that is still there?

 

[beergolf]

So nobody mentioned Stroh's? I guess it has been a while since I visited Detroit! I miss the basket of pretzels and a plastic pitcher of Stroh's dark in that dingy dark wood Bavarian taproom before and after tours.

Wow. It is an understatement that it has been a long time since you visited Detroit. You probably paid about 75 cents per gallon of gas when you drove there.

 

[eadavis80]

I live in Metro Detroit and would love to do this sometime myself. I have been Founders and it was great fun. Two things I'll note from them: 1) their sandwiches are amazing and HUGE - you'll be lucky to finish one 2) another neat feature of their brewery is you can have them mix beers to create your own hybrid, so that can be fun. In addition, Hopcat has over 100 beers on tap, so you can get a TON OF VARIETY in one location. Have a great trip!

 

[MrHoppy]

I would not miss Dark Horse, it is about 35 minutes from Bell's. I live in the area and visit both weekly. If you are doing Greenbush, I would recommend Tapestry in Bridgman, Liberty in Benton Harbor and continue north on 94 to Paw Paw, about 35 minutes away. You could do Greenbush, Tapistry, Liberty, Paw Paw, Bell's and Darkhorse in about 120 miles, if you drink a lot of water on the way.

 

[zam216]

Here is the updated plan I have so far. This is based on location and time obviously. It looks like I may have some extra time in Kzoo but who knows how tired I will be after a long drive and some beers. As far as drinking goes we don't plan on full glasses of beer unless it is something really good. We will probably stick to flights and small glasses and just buy bottles/growlers to bring home if it is really good that way days like sunday are possible for us to go to all the breweries we can. We also will stop at a bottle shop in each city just to see if we find any whales or good prices on stuff we like. Let me know how this looks. This is also roughly the order we will go in.

Friday (Kalamazoo):
3 Floyds (weather dependent)
Greenbush Brewing Co. (weather Dependent)
Dark Horse Brewing Company
Latitude 42
Arcadia Brewing Company
Bell's Brewery

Saturday (Grand Rapids):
Founders Brewing Co
Odd Side Ales (weather dependent)
Perrin Brewing Company
Mitten Brewery
Brewery Vivant
Grand rapids
Elk Brewing
Hop Cat

Sunday (Lansing/Detroit):
Ellison
BAD Brewing Company (time dependent)
Witch's Hat Brewing
Griffin Claw
kuhnhenn
Dragonmead Microbrewery
Atwater
Batch Brewing
Arbor Brewing Company microbrewery
or Arbor Brewing company brewpub
Jolly Pumpkin Brew pub

Monday: Drive home
Still looking for bottle shops/breweries on the way home.

 

[ccaron93]

For a bottle shop in detroit you can try the new 8 Degrees Plato. I havent been yet but it should be in the Jolly Pumpkin/MotorCity Brewing/Jam & Snug/Hopcat area. Probably 5 minute drive from where Batch is.

On the way home, some stuff that looks only slightly off your path - Great Lakes in Cleveland (that whole market district is pretty nice), and Hoppin' Frog and Thirsty Dog in Akron. If any native Ohio people chime in with different advice take their word over mine though.

 

[sky4meplease]

Here is the updated plan I have so far. This is based on location and time obviously. It looks like I may have some extra time in Kzoo but who knows how tired I will be after a long drive and some beers. As far as drinking goes we don't plan on full glasses of beer unless it is something really good. We will probably stick to flights and small glasses and just buy bottles/growlers to bring home if it is really good that way days like sunday are possible for us to go to all the breweries we can. We also will stop at a bottle shop in each city just to see if we find any whales or good prices on stuff we like. Let me know how this looks. This is also roughly the order we will go in.

Friday (Kalamazoo):
3 Floyds (weather dependent)
Greenbush Brewing Co. (weather Dependent)
Dark Horse Brewing Company
Latitude 42
Arcadia Brewing Company
Bell's Brewery

Saturday (Grand Rapids):
Founders Brewing Co
Odd Side Ales (weather dependent)
Perrin Brewing Company
Mitten Brewery
Brewery Vivant
Grand rapids
Elk Brewing
Hop Cat

Sunday (Lansing/Detroit):
Ellison
BAD Brewing Company (time dependent)
Witch's Hat Brewing
Griffin Claw
kuhnhenn
Dragonmead Microbrewery
Atwater
Batch Brewing
Arbor Brewing Company microbrewery
or Arbor Brewing company brewpub
Jolly Pumpkin Brew pub

Monday: Drive home
Still looking for bottle shops/breweries on the way home.

So where do we start the pole to see how many they actually make it to? 🤕

 

[CrimsonYeti]

In northern ohio. Lookup
Fatheads
Great Lakes
Thirsty Dog
Brew Kettle

Cleveland has a brewery district. All local i believe.

 

[buckinin]

I second Fat Heads. My wife is from the area and we try to go there every year during the holidays when we're visiting her family. The location in Middleburg Heights (where we usually go) is closed Mondays but the one in North Olmsted looks like it's open Mondays.

 

[treacheroustexan]

If possible I also agree to not miss out on cleveland. Fat heads, great lakes, the brew kettle, platform beer co, market garden brewery and many more. They are all within a few minutes of each other.

Great lakes, platform, market garden and nano brew are walking distance from each other. I live by fat heads/ brew kettle and that's only 10 minutes from each other. Akrons not too far but has hoppin frog and thirsty dog.

Other than that, your list looks pretty good. I love going to 3F.

 

[cyberbackpacker]

You're truly missing out if you don't hit New Holland in Holland-- one of the best tours in the states (Saturday's only though), and between Dragons Milk, Night Tripper, Blue Sunday Sour, Pilgrims Dole... Yeah!

 

[NegativeCreep]

You're truly missing out if you don't hit New Holland in Holland-- one of the best tours in the states (Saturday's only though), and between Dragons Milk, Night Tripper, Blue Sunday Sour, Pilgrims Dole... Yeah!

Our Brewing Company is also right next door to New Holland. Just be careful at New Holland. After a long day of hitting breweries this whiskey flight ended my day quickly. Seemed like a good idea at the time, but I ended up on the end of a pier in front of a lighthouse as the sun went down yelling Pure #$%&'n Michigan. The wife was not amused.



If your short on time I would skip Atwater. Some people love their beers, but I've always thought they were thin, watery, and ehhh. If you still want to try some though Brew Detroit is a couple blocks away from Batch. They're contract brewers for Atwater and usually have some of their beers on tap.

 

[Toga]

Our Brewing Company is also right next door to New Holland. Just be careful at New Holland. After a long day of hitting breweries this whiskey flight ended my day quickly. Seemed like a good idea at the time, but I ended up on the end of a pier in front of a lighthouse as the sun went down yelling Pure #$%&'n Michigan. The wife was not amused.

View attachment 328649

If your short on time I would skip Atwater. Some people love their beers, but I've always thought they were thin, watery, and ehhh.

Atwater is a must skip. Most of their beers have an off flavor that screams... I forgot to treat my water for chlorine/chlormine. Many I know refer to Atwater as: asswater due to this. Batch could also be skipped. There are better breweries that are worth your time. I recommend starting your journey on the east side at Dragonmead, then on to Kuhnenn's. Just few minutes from Kuhnenn's is a brewery not on your list called Falling down which is worth the stop and blows asswater out of the water with amazing food and great beer. From there head west down the freeway to the Royal Oak area for beer and Mead. Bnectar n Schramm's for mead. Bastone, ROAK, and Royal Oak brewing company for beer. From Royal Oak Griffin Claw is just a short 10 minute drive north.

While in AnnArbor I do recommend Wolverine as a stop if you have time. They make only lagers and many are amazing.