Michigan Brewer's Guild Summer Beer FestivalJuly 21 and 22, 2006Depot Town's Riverside Park was home to this year's Michigan Brewer's Guild Summer Beer Festival. Depot Town is a slice of Ypsilanti both chic and historic. First settled by the Huron Indians because of the flat area along side the Huron River, Depot Town hosts many other festivals including car shows, the Michigan Elvis Fest and the Ypsilanti Heritage Festival. But Elvis was hardly on the mind of the thousands of craft beer drinkers who pilgrimaged here to sample 200 of Michigan's finest beers (complete list at the end of this page). A few photos accompany this article. A complete album can be accessed by clicking here)
The ticket price of $35 was quite steep, and with it we each received 18 tokens and a plastic cup to use for samples. Each token could be exchanged for about 3 ounces of beer (really it was more like 5 ounces), which proved to be adequate for almost everyone attending. Additional tokens could be bought for 50 cents each. The token system seemed to work well. It forced us to be selective and pace ourselves. It was plenty of beer and there were very few drunks stumbling about...
As for the Michigan Brewer's Guild, they run a tight ship. The festival was very well organized and admission was speedy. Many, many revelers wore Brewer's Guild shirts of different designs and varieties. They had a centrally located tent providing both information and merchandise. The most popular shirt depicts logos of all of the member breweries...
A great thing about the fest was that there were a lot of places to find shade and take a break. The adjacent river was an excellent place to cool off. Tables and chairs were provided and many folks brought their own to create a "home base."...
Home brew clubs made it an outing, going after beers and returning to their tables to taste and discuss. Some Michigan craft beer lovers have their own mailing list...
Homebrewers had 2 tents set up for education and discussion...
And the Michigan Beer Guide tent provided newsletters and chit-chat...
Below is a typical sample of beer, poured for us by DragonMead Brewery (although they were a tad more conservative when they tapped the Excalibur Barley Wine! Wow, what a great Barleywine, with a distinctive champagne yeast aroma and deep copper, clear color and malty body. Not overly carbonated.)
And along with the beer, six brewpubs provided real pub-grub for the masses!
And of course brew festivals always bring out the usual cast of characters. Or should we say UN-usual...
And that's it, a great festival, indeed! We might have to invade again this winter. More photos are posted here. What's next?? 2007 Michigan Brewers Guild Winter Beer Festival, Saturday, February 24th, 2007 - Noon until 5 PM Below is a complete list of the Breweries and Beers at this year's summer festival... Arbor Brewing Company Arcadia Brewing Company Atwater Block Brewery Bastone Brewery Big Buck Brewery & Steakhouse Big Rock Chop House Bonfire Brewery Bo’s Brewery & Bistro CJ’s Brewing Company Copper Canyon Brewery Corner Brewery Detroit Beer Company Dragonmead Microbrewery Fort Street Brewery Founders Brewing Company Frankenmuth Brewery Grand Rapids Brewing Company Great Baraboo Brewing Company Grizzly Peak Brewing Company Hideout Brewing Company Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales King Brewing Company Kuhnhenn Brewing Company Leelanau Brewing Company Lily’s Seafood Grill & Brewery Motor City Brewing Works New Holland Brewing Company Rochester Mills Beer Company Royal Oak Brewery Saugatuck Brewing Company Schmohz Brewing Company Short’s Brewing Company The Livery Traffic Jam & Snug of MI It gets better! Six Michigan Brew Pubs served up a storm! Bonfire- FRI/SAT King-FRI/SAT Royal Oak- FRI/SAT Kuhnhenn- FRI/SAT Grand Rapids-SAT Only
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