Michigan Summer Beer Festival
The 14th annual Michigan Summer Beer Festival is this weekend, Road Trips Foodies. The oldest and largest of the four festivals staged each year by the Michigan Brewers Guild, it takes place in Depot Town of Riverside Park in Ypsilanti, Michigan, July 22 and 23, 2011.
Featured are more than 450 different beers from more than 50 different Michigan breweries. And, yes, there’ll be food and music, too.
Participating are Arbor Brewing Company, Arcadia Brewing Company, Atwater Block Brewery, Bastone Brewery, Bell’s Brewery, Big Buck Brewery & Steakhouse, Big Rock Chop and Brewhouse, Black Lotus Brewing Company, Blue Tractor Brewery, B.O.B.’s Brewery, Bravo! Restaurant & Cafe, Brewery Vivant, Cheboygan Brewing Company, CJ’s Brewing Company, Copper Canyon Brewery, Corner Brewery, Dark Horse Brewing Company, Detroit Beer Company, Detroit Brewing Company, Dragonmead Microbrewery, Fenton Winery & Brewery, Founders Brewing Company, Frankenmuth Brewing Company, Frog Island Brewing Company, Great Baraboo Brewing Company, Grizzly Peak Brewing Company, The Hideout Brewing Company (brewers of the inimitable Cherry Mango Chile Pineapple Pilsner), Hopcat, Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales, Kuhnhenn Brewing Company, Liberty Street Brewing Company, Lily’s Seafood Grill and Brewery, The Livery, Local Pub and Brewery, Malty Dog Brewery & Supplies, Michigan Beer Cellar, Michigan Brewing Company, Midland Brewing Company, MillKing It Productions (MIP Brewing), Motor City Brewing Works, Mount Pleasant Brewing Company, New Holland Brewing Company, North Peak Production Brewery, Odd Side Ales, Old Hat Brewery & Grill, Olde Peninsula Brewpub, Original Gravity Brewing Company, Redwood Brewing Company, Right Brain Brewery, Rochester Mills Beer Company, Round Barn Brewery, Royal Oak Brewery, Saugatuck Brewing Company, Schmohz Brewing Company, Sherwood Brewing Company, Short’s Brewing Company, Sullivan’s Black Forest Brew Haus, Traffic Jam & Snug, Tri-City Brewing Company, Unity Vibration Living Kombucha Tea, Wolverine State Brewing Company and Woodward Avenue Brewers.
Insider’s tip: the fest provides the chance to sample Kombucha beer, crafted by Tarek and Rachel Kanaan of Unity Vibration Living Kombucha Tea. Kombucha is a raw, living, fermented, naturally-carbonated, unpasteurized beverage with a long history in Russia and China. The lightly sparkling beverage is made by fermenting black or green tea and sugar with a culture of various bacteria and yeasts (often referred to as a SCOBY: Symbiotic Colony of Bacteria and Yeast). Originally marketed as non-alcoholic beverages, testing has shown that most are actually over 0.5% alcohol — so they’re now in the microbrew category.
And, for more on beer, be sure to visit our sister site: Road Trips for Beer!
(Photo courtesy of Unity Vibration Living Kombucha Tea)