I had the great fortune of brewing a beer with my old friends and colleagues, Brett VanderKamp and Steve Berthel, “Bert”, the other day.  Last year, while hanging out at our “Beermuda Triangle,” the night before Michigan Brewers Guild’s Winter Beer Festival, we had the idea that we should celebrate our birthdays together.  Bert, the owner-brewer of The Livery is an Aquarius, with his birthday on February 10th or 11th, Brett, New Holland founder, is a Pisces like me, and celebrates his on the 20th, while mine is the 22nd of February.  As luck would have it, we’ve actually managed to keep the idea alive and not only get a party planned, but we even brewed a beer for it!

During the MBG WInter Conference, we stole a few moments away from the camaraderie and learning to hash out a plan.  The three of us are all excited about the advent of new opportunities with Michigan ingredients.  In the last three-four years, we’ve seen hops get planted, grown and now even pelletized for the commercial breweries.  Total volume is still low comparatively, but it’s an emerging crop that we’re thrilled to have access to.  Even better, the farmers and Michigan Hop Alliance, especially you, Brian Tennis, are keeping in touch with the breweries and growing with us collaboratively.

The grain side of things is a bit trickier, as growing brewery-grade barley isn’t always available in our climate.  Wheat, however is a different story, and Wendell from Michigan Malting is working hard to make Michigan wheat available for breweries.

So, once the idea was hatched, the recipe construction was uncomplicated.  100% Michigan-grown wheat, with 100 % Michigan hops; nugget and brewers gold.  We talked about keeping it a fairly simple showcase, letting the ingredients shine and brewing a sessionable beer that we’d like to drink all evening.  That led us to using a yeast from both breweries – a Belgian tripel yeast from The Livery’s tanks and New Holland’s  house ale yeast.

It was a great day, brewing with old friends.  I started my beer career in Chicago, but my first craft-brewery job was taking on the role as the first sales manager at Bell’s in Kalamazoo in 1995.  Bert was a pub-regular in those days, even prior to joining the crew at Kraftbrau across the street.  My band, Uncle Heavy, played there regularly and Bert and I bonded over music and beer, back when it seemed we were on the wild frontier.

As we sat down for lunch during the brew-day, I learned that Bert was at the bar in Kalamazoo

the day Brett and Jason brought some of the earliest bottles of New Holland to Bell’s to show off their wares, most likely in fall of 1997.

It slowly dawned on me that this collaboration was a little bit more than we were chalking it up to be.  It started as a fun thing to add to the party, and a refreshing change of schedule; and the more it sits with me, I realize it’s a remarkable celebration of Michigan.  When the three of us started in this industry, there was no Michigan grain to brew with, no hops grown in the state commercially, and not even a Michigan Brewers Guild.  Go back a few years earlier and you’ll see the low-water mark for breweries in the state was 3, count ‘em,  three in 1991 – compared to over 100 today.

I’m not going to turn this particular post into a Michigan pep-rally, or run down the many virtues of the Michigan Brewers Guild & greater brewing community, but suffice it to say there are some days that the mash smells that much sweeter.

The day passed easily and comfortably and the mash did smell sweet.   The brew proceeded amazingly smoothly, hitting its marks on time and in-spec.  We shared a few stories, and brewed our all-Michigan birthday beer, while sipping on Hopivore, a Michigan wet-hopped harvest ale, which punctuated the moment elegantly.  It’s hard for any of us to get away from our daily grind, and get a brew like this on the schedule.  In a funny way, while the the playful context shift we set out for was enjoyable, I feel we gained a fair amount more.

At our party at Billy’s in GR on February 24th, another Michigan favorite will be joining us, Laith Al-Saadi.  I first heard Laith at Good Night Gracies, sometime in the late nineties with several of my beer industry cronies; grabbing a post-tradeshow beer.   I won’t forget the moment, as we weren’t there for the band, and were well occupied in conversation off to the side.  Let’s just say that Laith’s playing has a unique ability to get your attention.  I remember stopping mid-sentence, and remarking something like, “Holy shit, this guy’s killin it.”

On his next break, I chatted with Laith and we immediately bonded over a mutual influence, Robben Ford (& Roscoe Beck).  We’ve kept in touch since, and his band has always killed it.  I’ve wanted to see them at Billy’s forever, and I believe this is their first appearance there.

In short, get your ass to Billy’s where three guys are a year older, telling stories about the olden days (again), while sharing an exclusive small-batch, Michigan showcase beer and listening to some rip-your-head-off blues.  Of course, we’ll have a few other beers and some Hopquila on hand for the adventurous.

Whatever I missed can be found on our website or Facebook event.

Cheers!

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