“Drink Michigan Beer!” they said, so Michigan Craft Beer Enthusiasts, did exactly that during the Summer Beer Festival in Ypsilanti’s Riverside Park.
Peace, Love and Michigan Craft Beer!
The Michigan Brewers Guild’s 2015 Summer Beer Festival boasted, “nearly 1000 different beers from more than 100 of the best Michigan craft breweries.” Prior to our arrival, Chuck carefully selected 79 of the nearly 1,000 different beers listed in the guide. Yes, you read that correctly, he hoped to sample 79, but with only 15 tokens, I wasn’t sure how he planned to execute that plan. He gave it a good try and still managed to take hundreds of GREAT pictures all of which are in the gallery.
Summer Beer Festival
The Brewers Guild provided a magical atmosphere for Michigan craft beer enthusiasts to drink, frolic and experiment. Strolling performers captivated audiences, an exclusive play was performed by Scotty Karate, while the beer flowed and Dark Horse T-Shirts arched across the blue sky.
Experimentation
Short’s captured “The Power of Love.” Rupert’s provided the “LSD – Lime Summer Dream Cream Ale.” Eternity Brewing saved us with “For 5 Years I was Stranded on an Island with only one Goal Survive – Imperial IPA with Tropical Fruit. Greenbush had every flavor of ice cream including my favorite, “Superman.” Batch showed up with the “Handsome Stranger — Hibiscus Saison.” (And believe me, you’ll want to take the Handsome Stranger home!) Kuhnhenn Brewing stunned us with “Summer Wonder – Imperial Helles Bock with peaches.” One Well kept us going with “Zeus’ Sexual Appetite – Session IPA brewed with Zeus hops.” Ok, I’ll stop, but you get the idea, the brewers are not only talented but have a sense of humor and tendency to “experiment.”
Beer Enthusiasts
It was a sold-out two day event with 13,000 tickets purchased. I felt like this guy looked when I tried to select just a few photos of the festival goers to highlight in this blog post. Be sure to check out the gallery, as there are over 275 pictures.
The Music ROCKED
Stone Clover took the stage early and got the party started. They rocked out an awesome blend of Celtic music including a fantastic rendition of “Foggy Dew”. If you love Celtic music with an edge, be sure to check these guys out and support their music.
Light Out for the Territory took the take stage closed down the festival. These guys brought mighty grooves with a festive punch. Chuck loved the guitar player just wailing away as the band soared around him. This was super fun music which was perfect for peace, love, and great Michigan beer enjoyed in the summer sun.
Mascots
It wouldn’t be the same without the dancing beer bottles and the dynamic duo of Hopman and Beer Bouy.
Good Times!
Big shout out to the guild, the brewers and the all the volunteers who make the magic happen. Thanks!
