Ashley's Never Sleeps: Bell's, Belgians, and When Hops Attack

» If you're in the mood to help Ashley's kill some kegs, Ann Arbor still has a number of Bell's beers left over from last Wednesday's 25th anniversary event with Larry Bell, while Westland has 20 or more Belgian ales still on tap from the Feb. 16-20 Belgian Beer Festival. As an incentive, a couple of Belgians (beers, not, you know, people) will be on special for $2 off a glass until the kegs blow, at which point a couple more will be given the "special" treatment.

Forecast Calls for Snow... and Beer

Can't be in Grand Rapids today for the Michigan Brewers Guild Winter Beer Festival? No worries! Stay warm next to your computer and follow me and a few thousand other maniacs on the Twitters as we stand outside in the snow and cold for hours drinking beer. It's just like being there! Well, except for the beer.

The Short Pour Heads to Winter Beer Fest

Some links of use for this weekend's winter warriors...

• Get your game face on. Michigan Microbrews has posted images of the guide for this weekend's sold-out Winter Beer Fest in Grand Rapids so you can develop your beer tasting strategery in advance. They also have tips on using social media during the event, if your frozen fingers can even work a smartphone.
  
• Yes, there's an app for this. Even better, Yeastbound and Down has developed a web-based application that includes the full fest beer list and lets you keep track of what you've tried and what you thought of each beer. The guys also break down which beers they're most interested in checking out.
  
• Our mugs overfloweth. Rachael Recker of The Grand Rapids Press reports "Interest is overflowing in Winter Beer Festival." She also offers advice for having your own beer fest if you were unable to get tickets, at least for Grand Rapids folks. (For a list of Ann Arbor-area breweries and the beers they'll have at the fest, see here.)
  
• In case you missed it. Michigan is an awesome place for beer. John Liberty of The Kalamazoo Gazette shows how awesome in his report on our state's beer boom. Take that, other states!
  
• Etc., etc. The full list of festival breweries and beers is at The Mash. If you're going to be using the Twitters while you're there, the official hashtag is #MiWinterBeer.

The Week in Beer: Craft Brews Can Beat the Winter Blues

Celebrating 25 years of Bell's beer at Ashley's.

It's spring! Wait, no, it's not! Oh, yes, it is! No, no, it's not! I give up. Whether it's 50 degrees outside or another ice storm is around the corner, your best course of action involves craft beer. It's the best way to celebrate the impending end of winter – or endure its depressing continuation. How and where can you get your fix? Read on for your latest Week in Beer.

Update to Bell's Anniversary Celebration

Eugene knows what's goin' on.

There are two substitutions on the draft list for today's 25th anniversary Bell's celebration at Ashley's. Bell's Sparkling Ale and Lager of the Lakes have been replaced with Debs Red and Golden Rye Ale, two beers rarely seen outside the Eccentric Cafe in Kalamazoo.

Debs Red was originally brewed for the bygone Eugene V. Debs Memorial Kazoo Night at Tiger Stadium, a silly event fondly remembered by Detroit geezers. It's a ruby red elixir in the ESB style, malty and balanced with Centennial hops.

The Golden Rye Ale is "a great food beer," according to my super secret source within the Bell's organization, wth subtle rye spice and well balanced malt and hop flavors.

That is all.

Road Trippin': Copper Canyon Brewery

Copper Canyon's Todd Parker and some of the many beers he makes.

In late January I finally got to drop by Copper Canyon Brewery in Southfield, home to brewing character Todd Parker, popularly known as "BeerTodd" to his legions of followers on Twitter and throngs of listeners to his "Toddcasts," recorded with the fine folks at Brew Bubbas.

If you're ever out that way, it's worth a trip. Despite being located in a sort of strip mall-esque area, Copper Canyon's interior is simultaneously spacious and cozy, with the centrally located fireplace, especially, lending a "lodge-y" feel.  The bar is also long and roomy, and seven Todd beers were on tap during my visit, four regular house beers and three rotating seasonals.

The house beers were Northwestern Gold Blonde Ale, Copper Canyon Alt, Devil's Peak IPA, and Buffalo Jump Stout. The seasonals included Apple Streudel Tripel, Gingerbread Cookie Beer, and Imperial Mild Ale.

Quick Guide to Ashley's Belgian Beer Festival

You like Belgian beers. Perhaps you've heard tell of a lot of Belgian beers being poured this week at Ashley's Westland location. You're interested, but don't really understand what's going on when.

The Week in Beer: Thawing Out with a New Brew or Two

Over 100 different Belgian beers are featured this week at the
Belgian Beer Festival at Ashley's in Westland, 7525 Wayne Rd.

Who could have guessed a week ago that spring would suddenly be in the air? Now It’s time to throw off that snuggie and go out and celebrate! And there are oh, so many ways to celebrate, so long as your idea of celebrating is like mine and involves delicious craft brews. Let’s thaw out and take a look at the forecast for the Week in Beer.

Ashley's Releases List of Beers for Bell's 25th Anniversary

Your correspondent shares a pint with Larry Bell in summer 2010.

Come party with Larry Bell at Ashley's in Ann Arbor Feb. 23 and sample from 25 different Bell's beers on draft to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Michigan's largest and arguably best known brewery. The following brews will be pouring all day:

Tickets Almost Gone for Ashley's Van Steenberge Dinner on Thursday

Photo credit: Flickr user HarlanH

As part of its Belgian Beer Festival, which begins Wednesday, Ashley's Westland is hosting a beer dinner featuring seventh-generation owner Jef Versele of Brouwerij Van Steenberge in Ertvelde, Belgium. Van Steenberge brews Gulden Draak, Piraat, and many other fine Belgian ales. Tickets are $100, and only a few remain, but your correspondent is authorized to offer a link for discounted tix ($75) for late-comers. Here's the menu:

The Short Pour Is in Love

Some Valentine's Day skinny to get your motor running...

• The word is chocolate. Blue Tractor has two special beers on tap for Valentine's Day: Chocolate Covered Cherry Stout, which is just like it sounds, and Schakolad Weizen, a wheat beer brewed with chocolate from across-the-street neighbor Schakolad Chocolate Factory. Good things definitely come in twos.
  
• Backwards beer. Not to be outdone, Wolverine State Brewing is offering the much-anticipated Revilo India Red Lager tonight, as well as some live music and specials for lovers. (Sorry, ladies, that sexy cherub is already spoken for.)
  
• You say Eyo, I say iO. Jolly Pumpkin's iO Saison Ale is back. And that's all I have to say about that.
  
• I wanna be...  As part of its "Beer Lovers Weekend," Arbor Brewing is pouring Sledgehammer Chocolate Stout, a beer that will pound you with dark cocoa-y goodness. Pound. See what I did there?
  
• Forget "Blue Velvet." Liberty Street Brewing's contribution to Valentine's Day beer is Red Velvet Ale, brewed with (surprise!) chocolate with a deep red color designed to mimic the cake of the same name. So good even Frank Booth might give it a try. Well, at least Bobby Vinton would.
  
• Love hangover. Tomorrow, if you're ready to be done with chocolate in your beer, check out the small-batch release of a Belgian Wit at Original Gravity, tapping at 6pm. I don't have any further details on this beer, but I know if Brad Sancho made it, then it's gonna be good.

Celebrate 25 Years of Bell's Beer at Ashley's... with Larry Bell

Show your love for Michigan's largest brewery Feb. 23 by coming out to Ashley's, where 25 Bell's beers will be on draft to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the brewery formerly known as Kalamazoo Brewing Co.

But wait, it gets even better. At 9pm, a cask of Hopslam will also be tapped and you will have the chance to hang with the man behind the beers his own self, Larry Bell, as well as Laura Bell, marketing director for the brewery.

Stay tuned for a list of beers, which Ashley's is still assembling. In the words of Flounder, "Oh boy, is this great!"

Update: Laura Bell is now not coming; Larry is expected to be there around 8:30pm.

The Week in Beer: Brew My Valentine

Forget the groundhog. I don’t think the furry little dude even tried to poke out of his hole last week. But for us above-ground dwellers, the snow and the cold are facts of life we just have to deal with for a while longer. And normally this time of year, we would deal with them by cuddling under a blanket with a lover or, for those who are on their own, a carton of ice cream and some cats. Normally, that is. This year I recommend instead putting down that carton, pulling on your coat, and getting out and about for an incredible Week in Beer full of new releases, fun events, and good eats. The cats will wait.

Big Ale Tasting at Arbor Brewing Thursday

Are you going to the Big Ale Tasting at Arbor Brewing this Thursday? 

If you answered yes, congratulations on your sense and good taste. If you said no, peruse the below list of beers that will be there and maybe that will change your mind. Note: This is only about half of what will be there, and a few listed are as yet unconfirmed.

• Duvel
• Belhaven Wee Heavy
• Belhaven Scotch Ale
• He’Brew Brewing Bittersweet Lenny’s R.I.P.A
• Great Divide Hades Belgian Golden
• Avery Hog Heaven
• Ommegang Three Philosophers
• Anchor Old Foghorn
• ABC Jackhammer
• Bell’s Batch 10,000
• Bell’s Third Coast
• Founders Backwoods Bastard
• Dark Horse Scotty Karate

I'm getting thirsty already. See you there!

Jolly Pumpkin iO Saison Ale Returns

"Be always drunken." –Charles Baudelaire

Some dedicated drinkers may remember back in September 2009, when Jolly Pumpkin Café & Brewery opened in Ann Arbor, that among the La Roja, Oro de Calabaza, and other great brews were bottles of something called Eyo Saison, part of the "Baudelaire" series that also included Ale Absurd Rye Tripple Ale.

Now it's back, re-christened as iO, just in time for Valentine's Day. If you missed it the first time around, iO Saison is a complex but easy-drinking 6.8% ABV concoction brewed with rose hips, rose petals, and hibiscus. Flavors include the Jolly Pumpkin funk along with tartness, floral and light fruity notes, and a dryness in the finish.

iO and Ale Absurd were conceived as a "liquid narrative" by brewer Ron Jeffries and label artist Adam Forman (see this MetroMode article on their collaboration) as a companion to a graphic novel Forman was working on.  It's not clear if the graphic novel is still in the works, but at least we still have the beer! Look for it at the café and wherever fine Jolly Pumpkin brews are sold.

Make Reservations for Blue Tractor's Mug Club Beer Dinner

Blue Tractor BBQ & Brewery has announced its first-ever beer dinner and private release for Mug Club members, Feb. 23 at 7pm. The event is hosted by Blue Tractor brewer Tim Schmidt and chef James Wilhelm and costs $35. The three-course menu includes:

• Appetizers: Sweet Jerked Nuts, Buffalo Blue Cheese Popcorn, Sudworth Bock Soft Pretzels with Smoked Cheddar Mornay
• Entree: Braised Pork Belly with Crispy Maple Glaze, Sunchoke Puree, and Glazed Carrots
• Dessert: Reverse Root Beer Float with House-Made Root Beer Ice Cream in Vanilla Cream Soda

Each course will be paired with Blue Tractor's hand-crafted beers, including a special release for the evening, Bourbon Oak Infused "Hands Off My Goat!" Oatmeal Stout. Guests will also have an opportunity to take home the bourbon stout in a fancy, German-produced, limited-edition growler for $25.

Not a Mug Club member? You can try to wait it out until Feb. 18 for the Tractor's "Freezing Pints for Prostates" event, where beers will be $1 and Mug Club memberships half-off for anyone hanging in the outside seating area.

However, space for the dinner is limited. Call 734-222-4095 to make your reservations now.

Local Breweries' Winter Beer Fest Lineups

If you're going to the Michigan Brewer's Guild Winter Beer Festival February 26 in Grand Rapids (better have your ticket already or you're likely SOL) and wondering how our local brewing establishments are going to represent, yo... well, let's just say there will be nearly 50 brews from nine breweries, which is solid representin'. The list is as follows:

The Week in Beer: Drinking in a Winter Wonderland

With the hype surrounding Snowmageddon 2011 all the rage this week, many people stocked up their beer cellars and prepared to hunker down at home in the face of Old Man Winter’s latest blustery assault. But for the more adventurous, there are a number of great opportunities to get out and enjoy our winter wonderland with some great brews designed to warm the nose and lift the spirits. Strap on your snow shoes and prepare to head out into your cold and frosty Week in Beer.

Wolverine Expands Staff, Beer Offerings

Travis Doyle is Wolverine's new tap room manager.

Wolverine State Brewing has hired Travis Doyle as its new tap room manager. Travis previously worked at Bell's Brewery in Kalamazoo and most recently at Jolly Pumpkin Café & Brewery in Ann Arbor.

"I liked the beers (at Jolly Pumpkn), but I really missed the atmosphere of being in a brewery," he said, when asked why he made the move to Wolverine. "There's something about coming to work and smelling the mash."

According to Travis – whose Wolverine nickname is "The Slugger" owing to his baseball pursuits – his job will entail "sleeping here" as well as long hours of tending the bar, booking bands and entertainment, developing and managing the decor and atmosphere of the Tap Room, and probably 1,000 other things he doesn't know about yet. Be sure to say hi next time you're in.