Big Ten Road Trips, part 6, Michigan State

So, you are taking the trip from Illinois to Michigan State University, in East Lansing. From Champaign to Spartan Stadium, it's about a five and a half hour drive. (Since the University of Michigan is closer to Detroit, Detroit will be featured in the next segment).

On your way up, you'll pass a couple of breweries that were featured in the Northwestern trip, Flossmoor Station, and Brick Stone. Once you turn east onto interstate 80, you get the opportunity to go to some really great breweries.

The first that you'll come across is in Munster, Indiana. It's Three Floyds Brewing Company. Three Floyds is awesome. Go there. If you've been before, go again. If you haven't gone, it's well worth the trip. They make awesome beer. They make Dark Lord. Their current tap list is amazing. From their usual suspects that are great (Alpha King, Gumball Head, Dreadnaught) to the things that are rarer (Admiral Lord Nelson, Ruggoop, Moloko, Munsterfest) to the things I've never heard of from them before (Sodom, Ice Grill, Owd Engwish Barley Whine) you're sure to find something you like.

A little further down I-80 is BrickWorks Brewing Company in Hobart. If you took the turn off of 80 and went up 94 along the coast, you are close to Shoreline Brewery and Restaurant in Michigan City, Indiana. (I went to Shoreline in March of 2008, shortly before starting this blog). Shoreline is really on the shore. This weekend may not be the greatest time to go there, but if you want to go to the beach and have a beer, this place would make a great day trip.

As you continue up 94, you'll pass Round Barn Winery, Distillery and Brewery, in Baroda, Michigan. A little further up 94 is the Livery, in Benton Harbor. I've tried some of their beers at the Great Taste of the Midwest, and was impressed. Next is Old Hat Brewery and Grill, in Lawton.

Keep driving, and you get to Kalamazoo. Home of Bell's Brewery, and the Eccentric Cafe. They have a live updating tap list. It's not easy to read. Hell Hath No fury is on tap, as is Expedition. Those are worth stopping in for.

From Kalamazoo, there are two ways to get to East Lansing, stay on 94 and go to 69, or... go up 131 to Grand Rapids. Neither are bad options.

On the I-69 route, you go to Marshall, Michigan. In Marshall is Dark Horse Brewing Company. Some of my favorite beers from Dark Horse are Double Crooked Tree, Three Guy Off the Scale Barley Wine, and Plead the 5th Imperial Stout.

If you went up to Grand Rapids, you can go to Founders. As of today, they have Breakfast Stout, Nemesis, Looking Glass, and some other good beers on tap. When Kridz and I went there in 2008, they had just moved locations and their deli wasn't up and running. If you are going up Saturday, October 16 for the football game, it's their 7th Annual Harvest Party, for their release of Harvest Ale. It costs $8 for admission, for that you get a pint of Harvest Ale, and can keep the glass (while supplies last).

Once you get to East Lansing, it seems the only place that brews their own is Harper's Restaurant and Brewpub. They appear to have 6 original beers on tap.

If you are looking to take a different route back, than the one that got you there, there aren't too many other options (other than the ones listed).

If you are looking to hit the best breweries and not get off the path too much, here's the route I recommend.

Take 57 to 80 to 94 to 69 up to Lansing. You'll be able to hit Three Floyds, Shoreline, the Livery, and Bells. On the way back, take 96 to 196 to 94 to 80 to 57. You'll be able to hit Founders, and in Holland, Michigan, New Holland Brewing (along with going past Shoreline, and Three Floyds, Flossmoor and BrickStone).

If planned correctly, with enough time budgeted, you can get some great beers, from some great breweries. It's a good 5+ hour drive each way, so if you leave Saturday morning, (they are an hour ahead) you'll have to leave by 5am. But, most of these breweries are also bars, so they are open late. It's a good drive, and worth it. If you want to pick up extra beer, you can ask at the brewery where they recommend purchasing their beer at (if it's not sold there, Three Floyds and Founders do sell on site).

Virgin Beer Night at the Blind Pig

Tonight, the Blind Pig will be tapping four beers they haven't had on before.

Founder's Devil Dancer Triple IPA
Jolly Pumpkin Calabaza Blanca
Jolly Pumpkin Oro de Calabaza
Jolly Pumpkin Luciernaga (the Firefly)

If you haven't had many Jolly Pumpkin beers before, it's probably because they normally come in 750 ml bottles. Them being on tap is a relatively new experience.

This is the writeup of their beers from the Jolly Pumpkin site.

Calabaza Blanca- Aged in large oak casks and refermented in the bottle, Calabaza Blanca is a Belgian Biere Blanche. Spiced with orange peel and corriander, you'll find it refreshingly tart, with a wonderfully dry finish. 4.8% ABV

Oro de Calabaza- Brewed in the Franco-Belgian tradition of strong golden ales. Spicy and peppery with a gentle hop bouquet and the beguiling influence of wild yeast. 8% ABV

Luciernaga "the Firefly"- An artisan pale ale brewed in the Grand Cru tradition. Enjoy its golden effervescence and gentle hop aroma. Coriander and Grains of Paradise round out the spicy palate, melting o so softly into a silken finish of hoppiness and bliss! Make any season a celebration!

Currently, the only one of those you can find anywhere else in CU is Luciernaga, and that's across the street at Radio Maria.

Bottles of Devil Dancer are all around town, the only other place I recall it being on tap recently was at Crane Alley. Having that beer on draft is quite a treat.

From Founders website.

Devil Dancer- When you dance with the Devil the Devil don’t change. You do. Massive in complexity, the huge malt character balances the insane amount of alphas used to create it. At an incredible 112 IBU’s it’s dry-hopped with a combination of ten hop varieties. This one can age with the best of them.

(If you want to do an experiment, try the Luciernaga at Blind Pig, then run across the street to Radio Maria to see if there's a difference.)

Founders rare beers; CBS, Black Biscuit, El Diablo Del Noche

After the Crane Alley Founders Beer Dinner, there were some awesome beers that Crane had on tap from Founders Brewing Company. You've probably had their Breakfast Stout, Kentucky Breakfast Stout, Porter, and many other of their beers. But, you may have not even heard of the ones that were on tap after the dinner.

If you've had Kentucky Breakfast Stout, and know the story behind it, you know Founders takes a version of their Breakfast Stout, and ages it for a year in Kentucky whiskey barrels. It's an awesome beer. Founders doesn't get all the barrels from the distillery in Kentucky... at least they don't get them all right away. Some of those barrels make a trip up to Canada, where they spend some time holding maple syrup. Then those barrels make the trip down to Grand Rapids.

What comes out of those barrels when they hold the breakfast stout, is an amazing beer. It's black, with a light caramel head. It's an opaque beer. It coats the glass. It smells of alcohol, coffee, roast, and maple. It feels thick, and chalky (which was unexpected). In addition to coating the glass, it will also coat your mouth.

It tastes of dark chocolates, syrup, coffee and had a slight alcohol burn (is that a flavor?). This beer was had several days prior to having the BrewDog's so, I guess I didn't know alcohol yet. As it warmed I noticed a cherry flavor.

This was a great sipping beer. You aren't going to want to try to chug this thing. I don't think I'd be able to drink 16 ounces of this beast. This was a killer beer. I didn't intend to do it, but it got Chipper Dave's burp test, and it was very bitter. The hops weren't noticeable in the smell or flavor, but they did make an appearance in the burp.

Crane Alley received a few of the goblets that you see in the picture, that are inscribed with Founders. Which is a very nice touch for this beer.

The second beer I had that night was the Black Biscuit. This beer was also black, but had a much lighter head. It looked visibly thinner than the CBS. It smelled like sugar, syrup, and chocolate. There didn't seem to be any hops present. It felt thinner than the CBS, but it was still a thick beer. It had some effervescence, but that didn't cut the thickness.

It tasted a little bitter, and also very sweet. I found it hard to describe as I was taking my notes. There was some chocolate, and also coffee. This beer tasted green/fresh. As though it could use a bit of time to develop.

Originally, I thought this beer was supposed to be a Black IPA (which is the new IT style; everyone's making a black IPA it seems). But then found out this is a Black Old Ale. I believe it's something like the Old Curmudgeon that's been made with black biscuit malt. So, it's an Old Black... kind of like Uncle Ben, of the wild rice fame.

Regardless of the expected style, it's a real good beer. Like the CBS, I don't think I'd want to drink much more than 8 ounces at a time.

I had only intended on drinking the above two beers, but then another co-worker showed up, so I had to have another. The third was el Diablo del Noche. This one was a black IPA. I previously had this beer on Dark Lord Day on cask. I didn't take notes then, and I didn't take notes this time. It's a black IPA. So, it's hoppy, with a strong roasty almost coffee flavor. If you can find it, you'll probably like it.

I'm not sure where you'll be able to find these beers, other than at the brewery. They make special appearances for certain events, so if you are looking for them (and if Founders is in your area), call up the brewery and ask for the sales rep, he should know where his kegs are. If you find them, take your time and enjoy them.

Crane Alley Founders Beer Dinner

Monday, July 5 was the Crane Alley and Founders Brewing Company Beer Dinner. I gotta say, I was a huge fan. I love Founders beers. There aren't many in their lineup that aren't awesome examples of their style. Brewers in the midwest can make some great beer, Bells, Great Lakes, Three Floyds, and Founders are all great breweries that make great beer. Founders everyday lineup (and things you can still find on shelves at stores and at bars, here in central Illinois) are some of the best beers you can have. If you don't get Founders in your area, chat me up, we might be able to work something out.

When I think of regional specialties, I think the west coast is probably best known for their work with hops. The southeast (below North Carolina) to me is an area that works well within their restrictions (ABV and other weird laws). To me, the beers that are done best in the midwest are stouts and other black beers. If you look at the Beer Advocate top 100 US beers, you'll see a lot of stouts (imperial stouts) from the midwest. Three Floyds Darklord, Founders Breakfast Stout, Goose Island Bourbon County Brand Stout, Surly Darkness, Great Lakes Blackout Stout, Bells Expedition... sure there are stouts on that list from other places in the US, but there seem (to me) to be more that are located in Big Ten Country: Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota. We do stouts right.

So, going into the dinner, and just knowing what was on tap at the bar that night, got me real excited. Looking at the beer on the menu, there's probably things you've never heard of, there are things I've never heard of. I was joined for the evening, by Kridz and Kellz.

The first course was a butternut squash soup with pine nuts. It was served with the dry hopped pale ale. The soup was awesome. It seemed to have the consistency more of baby food, than of a soup. It wasn't a stew, and wasn't liquidy. It was great. Overheard outside was that the pine nuts added a nice crunch to go with the smooth texture of the soup. Some people thought it had some spice to it, which was cut nicely with the pale ale.

The second course was a scallop with citrus supreme, sriracha glace and leeks. It was served with Devil Dancer, which is a triple IPA. Kellz is relatively new to beer, and she doesn't seem to be too much of a hophead, so the triple IPA was probably overwhelming to her. Additionally, she didn't like the fishy taste to the scallop. (She's new-ish to being a foodie too). Kridz ate her scallop, I got to eat about 3/4 or more of Kellz. The scallop was fully cooked (at the last dinner with them, Kridz' was sort of pink/fleshy) but this time, it was white all the way through. I didn't expect that I'd like the citrus on it, but was pleasantly surprised. The leeks were awesome.

The next course was awesome, and worth the price of admission to me. (Also worth the price of Kridz ticket too). It was a Mishima Ranch Wagyu Tenderloin, with mussels, chantrelles, and madeira. This was served with Black Biscuit. Black Biscuit was an awesome beer, I figured it was a dark (black) Old ale. It's 10.5% ABV so it packed a punch. I believe it was aged in the same maple syrup bourbon barrels that Founders uses for the Canadian Breakfast Stout. It was a delicious beer. Brad (chef at Crane) actually used some of the Black Biscuit for the cooking of the mussels. According to the Founders sales rep, only one sixth barrel made it downstate, and Crane Alley used some of it for cooking!!! The beef was served rare. Yes, it looked pink and almost purple. You can see the marbling in the picture, even if you don't click on it. It was fatty and tender and delicious. Neither Kridz nor Kellz like rare meat (both would prefer it almost medium) so I got lucky and got to have most of their portions too. I don't think you can see it in the picture, but there are two pieces of the meat on the plate. Due to their not liking rare, I pretty much got to have almost 5 pieces of this awesome meat. You'll also notice on the plate that there were chantrelles mushrooms. These had a strong nutty flavor, and seemed to go well with the beer. Neither of the girls were big fans of the mushrooms, so I ate a couple, and then passed them to the wine guy from Piccadilly, who was more than happy to eat them.

The next course was an Ellensburg Farms lamb rack. This was served with a pear and chayote (like a pear) mix, along with red potato and lots of mint butter. It was paired with El Diablo Del Noche. The beer was a black double IPA. This was also served rare, so I pretty much got to eat three lamb racks. You can see the pear and chayote mix at the top of the plate. I thought that was rather good, and was surprised that I liked it. Why is lamb served with mint? It was too minty. Granted, that's just my tastes, but I didn't like the mint. All the other foods let the course be the star, but the lamb had a huge mint flavor. Don't get me wrong, it was good, but just wasn't for me.

The final course was a goat cheese cheesecake, with a brandied bing cherry, and a chocolate covered bacon. If you've never had chocolate covered bacon, you may think it sounds terrible, but I assure you, it's AWESOME! This was served with Cerise. To me, Cerise tastes like a tart cherry pie filling. It's not sweet like a maraschino cherry, it's got a slightly tart bite to it. It went really good with the cheese cake. You'll notice there's a chunk taken out of my slice, it looked so good when it came out, that I forgot to take a picture until after I tasted it. I love cheesecake. I love soft goat cheese. This was outstanding. Samantha Duce did this desert, and she's great with deserts. I could probably eat this all day, every day.

But, since Kellz gave me most of her main course foods, I took two bites of the cheesecake and gave the rest to her. Yes, I'm a nice guy. I bought Kridz ticket, so I figured if I ate most of Kellz food, she could eat the part she liked best from my plate. *edit; Kellz says Kridz ate my cheesecake... I did mention the beers were strong, didn't I?*

Upon completion of the dinner, the Founders rep had a quiz, if you got the question right, you won a Founders shirt. The first question was "where is Founders located?" I had my hand up at "where" so I won the first shirt... yay me. Kridz also won a shirt, and I think Kellz did too. Everyone got a Founders magnet and a bottle opener.

After the dinner, Aaron tapped Canadian Breakfast Stout. This beer was awesome. If you can find CBS, get CBS. It's the same beer as KBS (not breakfast stout though), but there's a little twist to the story. KBS is aged in oak Bourbon barrels. But Founders doesn't get all the barrels from that distillery, some travel up to Canada (eh) and are then used to hold maple syrup for a while. After that, Founders gets the barrels and then puts the beer into them. So you get a lot of maple flavor, oaken flavors, bourbon flavors, coffee... the flavors go on and on. It's an outstanding beer.

The meal was awesome. The beer was awesome. The company was awesome (we sat with Tom, Nancy, Eric, Ellen, and... um... that guy from Red Star). It was a good time.

If you are into food, you should try to get to a beer dinner, if you don't want to do a Crane Alley dinner, Radio Maria also has beer (and wine) dinners sporadically.

Some of the upcoming Crane Alley dinners sound spectacular. I have no idea what the food is going to be, but the breweries make it worth the while. An upcoming one will be with Brewdog, rumor is James Watt will be at the dinner. Another one that is about a year away is a Mikkeller dinner; where Mikkel himself is supposed to attend. If you are into beer, and want to eat great food, come to those, you will probably not get the opportunity to get that close to some of the best brewers in the world, without abducting them.

Now, to see if I can get them to come over and brew a batch on my stove.