Northern Beers

We were so lucky that of all the people who could have shown up for our reunion, our friends Ethan and Josh were there. 

We had drinks at our former choir director's house one night and dinner there the next. His dogs were super friendly and climbed on my lap immediately - I didn't object, of course.

On Saturday, we decided to set off to see some beautiful Norther Michigan sites and to visit an ice cream place we used to love - Moomer's. I thought the stuffed (but real) animals in this display might like to taste my ice cream.

Michigan has always seemed like a beer wonderland to me, and this area was no different. Kira and I discovered a particularly impressive beer list at the Hofbrau (another old haunt) the first night we were in town. I had a great Vanilla Java Porter (delicious!) by Atwater, a brewery in Detroit. It's amazing to me that a remote, sort of truck stop kind of place like the Hofbrau would have such great beer. And yet, Michigan. 

Along with visiting Moomer's on Saturday, we went to Shorts Brewing in Bellaire, MI, per my request. I love the beer of theirs that I've tried in Ann Arbor and I was excited to try whatever they had on hand. Lucky for me, everyone else was up for a little road trip because it took an hour to get there.

Kira and I split a flight of tasting portions and I took diligent notes in the same notebook I used in Asheville before my voice came back. My friend Josh was rather impressed with my note taking - he said I was a beer connoisseur, though I told him it's mostly John's interest rubbing off on me. 

Shorts had a long list of beers on tap to try, and (not sure if you can see in this picture) all of the tap pulls were little legs wearing shorts...of course.

Visiting Shorts was everything I hoped - they had great and weird beer and great food. My favorite beer would have to be the OMGWTFBBQ, that tasted like bbq sauce with a sweet and smoky aftertaste. They also had a great and also weird bourbon barreled IPA that tasted first like hops and then like bourbon. But it was also good! 

After a stop at Moomer's, we decided to try another brewery in Traverse City - Right Brain Brewery. 

Kira and I also shared a flight here. We liked the Shrute Farms beet beer (yeah, as in, Dwight Scrute), though it was very earthy (like a beet). None of the rest really blew my skirt up, but I did like the special pour of their bourbon barrel ale that I requested. 

I loved getting to try all the fun Michigan beers and I was pleasantly surprised to see so many of them at the little grocery store in Interlochen. I was able to get some of Shorts' Soft Parade and Autumn Ale to take home. 

The next day, Kira and I set off for Canada. We stopped in Cadillac for breakfast at Cheryl's, and if you're in the area, I would highly recommend it. They have great breakfast specials with a view of the lake and delicious homemade cherry-rhubarb jam that I was able to get in a take-out container. If I make it back to Interlochen in another 5 or 10 years, I would definitely stop at Cheryl's again.