Day trip to Western Michigan

Michigan is known for many things – cars, it’s sports teams, the UP, and (in the last few years) it’s brewers have begun to make Michigan a beer destination. Late last month, a few chums (Eric, Justin, Nick) of mine and I opted to make a day trip to Western Michigan to visit a few breweries. We had been planning this trip for a few weeks. Specifically, the planning began soon after two of us were lucky enough to be able to procure a ticket for Founders’ KBS release.

Besides Founders, we also wanted to stop by the Livery and Greenbush.  Both the Livery and Greenbush have been on my ‘to-visit’ list for some time. I was really looking forward to having the opportunity to visit both.

Out of our group of four, I was the lone person that had been to Founders before and I was looking forward to this Founders visit more than the previous ones. The reason for this was a networking contact that Eric had gotten in touch with at Founders (we’ll refer to him as J). The two of them (Eric and J) had arranged a collection of activities for our visit. Eric did not share any of the plans beyond a tour of Founders and a cookout at J’s house so the rest of us had good reason to be excited about the trip.

We arrived at Founders at around 11a local time. After parking our car, we rendezvoused with J at a Founders bay door. J let us in and led us to the taproom (which was not yet open). Once inside, J had us all get wristbands and then he told us to order a beer and have it put it on his tab. It was the first in many instances of great hospitality by our host.

After acquiring a beer, all of us went out to the Founders taproom patio and took a seat at a table near the entrance to the taproom.  We then spent a half hour or so talking about baseball, J’s time with Founders, and how J found his way to Grand Rapids. After acquiring a second beer, Eric and I opted to exchange our KBS tickets for KBS before we began a tour of Founders brewing facility.

Now, in all of my previous visits to Founders I could only look through Founders’ windows and gaze at the shiny steel and space from outside. Even then, Founders’ space and equipment looked large. I can tell you that the view from inside of Founders looks much, much bigger. Case-and-point, the photo below. Said photo shows me standing next to a 550 bbl fermenter (note – 1 barrel is approximately 31 gallons). Founders is planning on filling a nice chunk of their north cellar with more of these gigantic fermenters. NOTE - a time lapse video of Founders' north cellar construction can be found here.

Super small me next to a 550 bbl fermenter

After the above picture was taken we made our way to the packaging hall, but not before we passed by fermenters that contained 2014 KBS. I think it was the first time I had ever held the bottled version of a beer while walking past the fermenting version of the same beer. It was an odd, but great feeling.

In Founders’ packaging hall we saw their bottle fillers (both the 12 oz and 22 oz), the machine that makes their boxes (fun fact – it’s a prototype that was never put into production), and where their canning line will go. Perhaps this is my mechanical engineering mind speaking but I thought it was all beautiful stuff (especially the Krones machines). The bottling machines were shiny, large, complex, and it all contributed to the act of putting beer into vessels.  I may have shed a tear in the pack hall.

Founders' bottling line

Founders' box constructor

From the packaging hall we walked into a neighboring room where their keg machine is.  Fun fact – Founders fills half barrels and quarter barrels. 

From the kegging area, we walked to their brewhouse and learned that they are adding onto it (more info on Founders expansion can be found here).

Founders' brewhouse

The brewhouse visit concluded our tour, and so we decided to go to J’s house and return to the taproom afterwards (at which time we hoped the crowds would have reduced in size).

At J’s house we enjoyed some homemade brats and cookies. We also were introduced to this lovely wife and got to see a part of his recently purchased house. We also gifted J w/ some beer from our brewery, including a keg of a recently packaged beer of ours. We would have put said keg on immediately, but fresh All Day IPA was on and that is not something that we could say no to.

J had invited some of his fellow co-workers from the packaging department to the cookout so that we could have a chance to meet each.  I was happy to learn that they are as relaxed as the packaging people where I work, and they were all funny and easy to talk with.

After the cookout we returned to Founders where we had a bit more KBS, I had my photo taken with Jeremy Kosmicki , and we bid J adieu before we departed Founders for Benton Harbor and the Livery. It was tough ‘closing’ the Founders portion of our trip, but I am really confident that we/I will be back again soon.

The Livery was an enjoyable stop but we were not able to tour their facility due to the time of our arrival, and we did/do not have a connection there. Fortunately, we did enjoy a few of the beers that they had on tap. Of the ones I tried, I enjoyed the English pale ale the most. Unfortunately, none of their acclaimed sours were available (we were told they would be available in a few weeks). While we were not able to take any of their sours with us this time, we left with a good reason (among others) to return in the future.

After departing the Livery, we made our way for Greenbush Brewing Company. I had never been to Greenbush before, but I had recently read that they were going to begin distributing to Chicago. So I was interested to try what would be coming our way. 

Greenbush photo #1

The first thing you notice about Greenbush is how beautiful it’s building is – large windows, gentle lighting, and an old, wood bar. Also, the beer that they had available ran the gamut from a pale ale and a porter to a weizenbock and a tripel brewed with Vandermill cider. Such a great variety of beer, and not a bad one in the bunch. Chicago is a very lucky city to be on the receiving end of their beer. I am looking forward to visiting Greenbush again.

Greenbush photo #2

Like all good trips, this one felt like it went by too quickly, but I know that I’ll make it back to Michigan for more beer and more memories in the future.

I hope it goes without saying, but for those of you who do not live in Michigan, do yourself a favor and plan a trip to the lovely MI. You will not be disappointed.

Ticketed beer events

Image found at images.cheezburger.com

A few weeks ago, Founders had an online ticket release for the opportunity to purchase their much sought after KBS. Founders chose to use Brown Paper Tickets (bpt) to sell said tickets. Within minutes, the bpt website came to a halt and crashed. Numerous people were enraged that their opportunity to purchase KBS tickets had been lost (see the comments on Founders facebook page to get an idea of how enraged people were). Some people blamed Founders (example comment 'I know ive decided to stop buying founders. ') and others blamed bpt (example comment 'Brown Paper Tickets totally hosed this sale.'). What I did not see/read were people realizing that the popularity of Founders, KBS, and beer as a whole, as the reason for the headache that was the ticket release. 

Now, I do not fault Founders at all. To me, they are one of the best, if not the best brewery in the world. They put out great beer, fantastic people work there, and every visit I have made to their brewery has always been well worth it. Secondly, they can only make so much beer. I am sure they would like to make more beer, but doing so takes money, space, planning, and time. All of which are things that may not always be available. Which brings me to my objective statement for this post - you, the (fe)male beer fan, will not always be able to get every beer you want. It is difficult to come to terms with that (I still get miffed when I miss a beer release in my local market). But the sooner we realize that  KBS, Dark Lord, etc are just beer the sooner it will be easier to cope with being denied a beer release ticket. 

In the last few years beer has become so very popular that acquiring a beer release ticket has become difficult. On the one hand, I am happy for this revival. The more popular that beer is, the more beer options there will be in each of our local markets (hopefully), and the more breweries that will pop up to help fill the 'local beer' void. In short, the more popular that beer becomes, the more beer that will (hopefully) be available for all of us to enjoy. Sadly, this also means that some people will look to make a quick buck by selling beer or beer release tickets. Those people are the ones that I wish would be eradicated out of existence. 

In a matter of weeks 3 Floyds will release tickets for what is, arguably, the biggest annual beer party in the Midwest - Dark Lord Day. I wish you all luck in acquiring a ticket but I hope that if you are denied a ticket, that you will keep in mind that it is just beer, and that there is a lot of other great beer out there. If that doesn't work/help, feel free to vent to me via this blog and we'll get over it together.

Out of the silence

Howdy gang!

As you may have noticed this blog has been a little quiet the last few months. I chalk that up to a few things: my wedding, the holidays, and my acceptance of a new job at a local brewery. Now the wedding and the holidays are one time and annual things, but my new job is more physically demanding than any other job i have held before, and i could not be happier.

I assure you that this blog is not 'dead'. Instead, please know that I will continue to update this blog albeit less frequently than I did in the past. At this time, my goal is an update a month. If I am able to meet that goal on a regular basis, I will try to increase the frequency to once every other week. Regardless, the important thing to know is that this blog will continue, and it will be better than it has been in the past!

Cheers!!

-Ethan

How to get more involved with your local beer community

For as long as I have been sharing news and opinions about the beer industry, I have noticed an increase in the number of beer fans around the midwest. Which is great! Amongst those fans are a few that want to get more involved in their local beer community but are not sure how to go about doing so. If you consider yourself in that group of people, then this post is for you.

With this post, my goal is to convey advice that may prove helpful to those people that want to take the next step with their involvement in their local beer community. What I share below is what worked for me. I hope it works for you.

While reading what follows below, please keep in mind the following:

• The advice I give does not guarantee, and it should not be assumed it will lead to a paying job
• This advice will not lead to immediate 'results'

Everything beer related that I have been able to be a part of at this time is a result of my establishment, and maintaining of a beer blog and the related twitter (@midwestbeerblog) and facebook feeds. I've been led to believe that they show that I am a guy that is passionate and appreciative of beer. So, my first bit of advice is to consider creating a blog (at the very least) to share your thoughts on beer. If you already maintain a twitter/facebook feed, consider adding in links to articles/posts about beer and what is going on in the beer industry.

I would advise against doing a beer review blog because those are a dime a dozen. In addition, it would be difficult to make your beer review site stand out amongst other, more established beer review sites. 

If starting a beer blog, twitter feed, facebook page, etc are not things you want to do, consider approaching your local brewery/brewpub directly. What I mean by that is to visit them face-to-face. Do not call or email your local brewery/brewpub to notify them that you would like to help them out on a voluntary basis. Instead, put in the time and effort to try and meet with a brewery employee and convey your desire to help out if needed. For me, my local is Half Acre Beer Company. The moment I knew about them, and confirmed that they setup shop a few blocks from my home, I walked down during the day and approached the owner/founder. I introduced myself and asked him to let me know that he could contact me if he ever needed additional (i.e. free) help around his brewery. I figured my visit would not be in vain because they were a young/new brewery that could probably use additional help doing things  such as labeling bottles and kegs. In this case I was right.

Do not fret if your local does not get back to you immediately. If they are a young brewery/brewpub they could be working to keep up with a rapidly changing environment that they may not be that familiar with. In other words - they may have a lot on their plate at the moment, but fear not - it is rare that anyone forgets offers of free help. 

If approaching your local brewery(s) does not bear any fruit, consider getting in touch with the your state's brewers guild (at this time I believe that North & South Dakota, and Wyoming do not have brewers guilds so consider being the person that tries to organize such a group). I got in touch with the Illinois Brewers Guild in an odd way. Specifically, I was the 500th follower of the Illinois Brewers Guild twitter feed (@illinoisbeer) and I was awarded a prize. In order to claim my prize I had to meet with a guild representative at a brewpub in downtown Chicago. During our rendezvous, I mentioned to the rep that I ran a beer blog and that I would love to help the guild in anyway possible. I gave him a business card and I was contacted by him within a week. Ever since that day, I have been helping to create material for the Illinois Brewers Guild website (illinoisbeer.com).

If none of the aforementioned ideas work for you, consider perusing facebook and twitter for established beer blogs and beer focused communities. They may be looking for additional help with providing news, opinion pieces, etc. An affiliation with an established beer community/blog may help you network with people that are already actively involved in your local beer community. At the very least, it is a great way to connect with fellow beer fans.

Perhaps most importantly, do not give up. Persistance and dedication to your goal will (hopefully) pay off in time. It may not pay off in the way you had originally wanted, but putting in any effort will bear fruit of some kind.

A beer community comprised of active, passionate, and involved beer fans is a good one, and being a part of one is a great connection to have!

Have a great week!!

Changes

I had been a practicing engineer since I graduated from college in 2005. I've designed exercise equipment, insulation systems for nuclear reactors, and hydraulic and pneumatic power units/systems for customers from around the world. All of that change this past Monday when I started working at a local brewery.

This career change came about for a few reasons - the owner of this brewery has known me for some time, (I can still recall volunteering there the first year they were open and I was their store's 1st customer), he knew I was looking for a job in the brewing industry, something came up at his brewery that he thought I'd be a good fit for, and I lept at the opportunity.

I have been looking for something new for awhile. At my most recent job I had become bored with the day-to-day routine and the fact that people who had been working there longer than I've been alive still only had 2 weeks of vacation for the calendar year. Couple that with my belief that how and with whom you spend your time is more important than money, and you have a person who will not hesitate to try something new and appealing.

It is a pay cut, with longer hours, but I am happier now than I have been at any job I have held prior to this one. My better half is quite happy as well. The combination of me coming home tired but happy w/ her appreciation of her newfound title of '(soon-to-be) wife of a brewery employee' makes her smile every time she says it or thinks about it.

Do I recommend such a job change to people? That is to say, a job change from what you're doing to something you'd prefer doing? Absolutely. You do not know how much time you have and who knows how many go-rounds we will have on this earth. So the best bet is to assume this is your one 'shot' at life and to make the most of it. I have chosen to do so, in part, by taking advantage of an opportunity to work at a brewery. And I know I am a happier person for having done so.



**NOTE** As a result of the hours of my new job the beer news relayed via twitter and facebook will be shared but (probably) at a later time because I do not utilize a computer during the day (and I do not have a smart phone). So, do not assume the absence of activity in the morning or afternoon is an indication that the 'feeds' are dead.