Hoppy attended the Great Lakes Beer Festival on August 16th. While there, he had an enjoyable time and sampled a number of beers. This fest was in a great location at the beautiful Dow Diamond Stadium. This allowed for indoor restrooms and an upstairs air-conditioned VIP area, where a tasty buffet meal was served. The delightful music was provided by Alex McMath Music, Fröhliche Musiker Blasorchester and Air Margaritaville and was perfect for a beer fest! They also had on-field activities such as corn hole and fowling. And what beer festival has a mascot? This one did! It was energetic, engaged and added to the festivities.
Given all of these positives, there were still areas where improvements could be made. Tastings were poured into plastic cups instead of the sample glassware preferred by Hoppy. (The sample-sized glass can also serve as a souvenir.) Also, Hoppy found only one brewery pouring their draft beer – Maple Grille Microbrewery. All the other beers were poured from cans by festival volunteers. I believe that the most important thing missing was the ability to interact with the different brewery representatives as they poured their fresh draft beer!
This is the list of beverage providers at the event:
Altes Beer – Detroit
Athletic Brewing Co (NA) – Milford, CT
Atwater Brewing – Detroit
B Nektar Meadery – Ferndale
Bell’s Brewery – Kalamazoo
Bier Distillery – Comstock Park
Biere De Mac Brew Works – Mackinaw City
Big Lake Brewing – Holland
Blackrocks Brewery – Marquette
Blakes Hard Cider – Armada
Brew Detroit – Detroit
Brew Dog Brewery – Cleveland, OH
Brewery Vivant – Grand Rapids
byGeorge Brewery – Munising
Carbliss – Sheboygan, WI
Cheboygan Brewing Co – Cheboygan
Cider Boys Hard Cider Co – Stevens Point, WI
Dark Horse Brewing Co – Marshall
Dragonmead Brewery – Warren
Founders Brewing Company – Grand Rapids
Frankenmuth Brewery – Frankenmuth
FUL Beverage – Detroit
Grand Armory Brewery – Grand Haven
GrandTraverse Distillery – Traverse City
Great Lakes Brewing Co – Cleveland, OH
Griffin Claw Brewery – Birmingham
Keweenaw Brewing Co – Houghton
Kickstand Brewing – Commerce Twp
Loggers Brewing – Saginaw
Long Road Distillers – Grand Rapids
Ludington Bay Brewing Co – Ludington
Maple Grille Microbrewery – Hemlock
Mass Bay – Boston, MA
Middlecoast Brewing – Traverse City
Midland Brewing – Midland
Motor City Brewing Works – Detroit
Mountain Town Brewing – Mt. Pleasant
New Belgium Brewing Company – Asheville, NC
New Holland Brewing – Holland
North Peak Brewing Co – Traverse City
Odd Brothers Cider – Homer
Oddside Ales – Grand Haven
Old Nation Brewing Co – Williamston
PerrinBrewing Co – Grand Rapids
Petoskey Brewing – Petoskey
Pigeon Hill Brewing Co – Muskegon
Red Rocker Brewing Company – Detroit
Revolution Brewing Co – Chicago, IL
Right Brain Brewery – Traverse City
Right Coast Spirits – Boston, MA
Roak Brewery – Marshall
Rochester Mills Beer Co – Rochester
Saugatuck Brewing Company – Saugatuck
Shorts Brewing Co – Bellaire
Sierra Rose Cellars – Kentwood
St Julian Winery – Paw Paw
St. Ambrose Cellars – Beulah
Surfside Tea – Philadelphia, PA
The Long Drink – Utica, NY
Three Bridges Distillery – Midland
TK Mulligan Craft Cocktails – Raleigh, NC
Toppling Goliath Brewing Co – Decorah, Iowa
Tri-City Brewing Company – Bay City
Tripelroot Brewery – Zeeland
Upper Hand Brewery – Escanaba
Vander Mill Ciders – Grand Rapids
Vosa Spirits – Detroit
War Water Brewery – St. Clair
Pictures follow:
