Dreams coming true!

Well at least a taste of my dream coming true. Went out to get some drinks in Cordova last night and ended up at a bar, the Reluctant Fisherman that hasn't quite reopened and is still doing some remodeling. After talking to the bar manager Adam for awhile we got to talking about beers, one of my favorite topics, and we discussed MY opinions on what he should fill in taps with! It was awesome, I got to look through the distributor catalogs and imagine the variety that would appease a wide group ranging from tourists to fisherman, skiers to locals. I can't wait to open my own bar!!!

Hopworks Urban Brewery

2944 Southeast Powell Boulevard

Portland, OR 97202
(503) 232-4677
http://www.hopworksbeer.com/

I was glad to have Hopworks as my last brewery visit before heading up to Alaska; these guys don't disappoint. Their regular beers are always tasty but it's the seasonal beers that truly impress me. This visit I had the Secession Black IPA and damn! that is good. (Plus the shirts dedicated to this beer are very awesome.) Black IPA seems to be a new trend with Oregon brewers and I have to say I am enjoying it. Here's another blogger's opinion of this trend: http://beervana.blogspot.com/2009/01/on-black-ipas.html. The other beer I had was also very very good, it was the seasonal RED but I can't remember the name and can't find the name of the seasonals anywhere on the website.
I visited the brewery with Jonah, my finance and Tommy, the man who will marry us. Actually it was here that decision was made. I am grateful to both of them - with their help I have visited all the Southeast Portland breweries! This picture is actually from California but I didn't take any photos while at HUB so this is all you get.

Now for the breakdown:
Year-round beers include
HUB Lager
Hopworks IPA
Velvet ESB
Crosstown Pale AleDeluxe Organic Ale
Survival Stout

They have a full dining area with delicious food.

Hours include:
Sunday - Thursday 11:00 am - 11:00 pm
Friday - Saturday 11:00 am - 12:00 am

Black Lotus Brewing Co.

1 East 14 Mile Road
Clawson, MI 48017
(248) 577-1878
http://blacklotusbrewery.com/

I love how much my family loves beer! What I love even more is that they like me enough to try to squeeze in as many breweries on my short trip. Black Lotus Brewing Company was the finale of my Michigan brewery tour and an excellent last impression.
I wanted to put stats on their beers but forgot to steal a menu and their website is getting revamped. Instead go check it out for yourself and make sure to bring your aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandma!

Kid Rock's American Badass Beer

American BadAss Beer

brewed by Michigan Brewing Co.
1093 Highview Drive
Webberville, MI 48892
(517) 521-3600

Sports and beer have always gone hand-in-hand, but watching the Detroit Red Wings while drinking Kid Rock's lager is a match made in heaven. It is the premier beer from the musician's new company, American BadAss Beer Company and it's pretty damn good. It is light enough to be a good game beer with more flavor than you'll get from any of the macrobrews. Bob Ritchie you've done well.
Here's some pics from the game...

Kuhnhenn Brewing Co.

5919 Chicago Rd.
Warren, MI 48092
(586) 979-8361
http://www.kbrewery.com/

First impression: well impressed impression, daily beer list is always a good sign. Second, they have a tremendous about of beer, not all are on tap but you will be in for variety if you make this pub your hangout. And to round out the trifecta... you can brew your own beer here!
This brewery started as a hardware store run out of business by Lowe's but you can't see that know. It's a beautiful place with a steel horse-shoe bar and they have the beers to compliment.
My favorite is a contest between to very different beers. DRIPA is a double rice IPA, but don't shy away because of the rice thing this beer tastes like biting into a big dense hope flower and racks up a 10.5% alcohol stat. It's competitor for my taste buds is the Imperial Creme Brulee Java Stout. It's think and aromatic, you have to love a beer you can smell before it hits your lips. Keir liked the Classic American, and it lives up to it's name - a good ole fashioned session beer. It's hard sometimes to visit all these breweries, taste all the beers, try to stay sober enough to pass judgment. Ok, I know you don't feel sorry for me but a beer that's light and crisp sometimes just hits the spot.
For the rest of them the list of beers is too extensive to list here but you can find it here:
www.kbrewery.com/beer/beer.html.

Mon. - Thurs. 11am - Midnight
Friday - Saturday 11am - 2am
Sunday - Call for hours

They release new beers on Thursday - go check it out!

Legit

I got my first negative comment! Starting to feel legit!

Dragonmead Microbrewery

14600 E. 11 Mile Rd

Warren, MI 48089

586-776-9428

Ugh, sooo disappointed: 25 minutes sitting there waiting to get helped then 5 tasters of boring beer. Take it I did only try 12.5% of the beers (5 out of 40, now you don't have to pull out the calculator), but those 5 did not leave me wanting more. I really wanted to like this brewery, I like that they had different styles categorized: Russian Ale, American, Scottish Ales, Barley Wine, Belgian Ales, Czech Lager (the only decent one I tasted), English Ales, German Ales, German Lagers, Polish Porter, then there's Mead and Wine. Hopefully with all those choices most can find something they like.

Somthing nice to say... the tap handles are cool and the sampler tray is hardy giving you 6oz of 5 beers.