craft beer

New Beer Blog North Center Brewing Visit

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In this special beer blog, I finally had a chance to get by one of the newer craft brewery in the State of Michigan.  I will get into the history and then the beer.  This brewery opened in April 2015 in Northville, Michigan.  This brewery founded by Kevin DeGrood and a few other individuals. Let us get into the place.

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This small and upcoming craft brewery has a nice place just off busy 8 mile.  The place is welcoming and has a nice modern look.  I love the wood work.  They took some time to think about where to put everything in this brewpub.  I love the lay out of this brewpub.  It has a better layout than Farmington Brewery and Canton Brew Works.  North Center Brewing does not service food, however, they will let you bring food in or order from the two restaurants nearby them.  There will be a Kroger opening soon across the street from them.  They have some awesome cheese and salsa, which I recommend you trying both of them.  Let us get into the beer.

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You are coming here for the beer and I will say they will not let you down.  I recommend the flight.  You will sample all of them but one.  Kevin and his crew are making some great and awesome beers.  You can see that they worked on their craft before opening up this brewery.  They know what they are doing and it is showing. I am not a wheat beer fan but they have a solid American Wheat Ale.  What I love about their Cherry Saison, the cherry is not in your face and that was by design.  They have awesome blueberry ale that is heavy on the blueberries.  This is one of the best fruit beers that I had from Michigan craft brewery.  There Imperial Stout is off the charts good.  The Triple is still making me trip on how clear it was.  There is not too many clear triples on the market.  You can correct me if I am wrong unless they are filtering it.  They are not doing that here.  Their pale ale is really good.  The IPA is good but I just wished it was more bitter and hopper.  It is nice Midwest IPA.  What I love about this brewpub and their beers, they are all different and they do not taste the same unlike some breweries.  There is several breweries where all their beers taste the same.  Most cases, it is because they are using the same yeast strain.  This brewery does not do that.  

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Here is their website and twitter addresses:

Website:  www.northcenterbrewing.com

Twitter:  @northcenterbrew

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Closing, I have been too many brewpubs and new ones too.  Craft beer machine keeps on going with new breweries opening up all the time.  There is some you can see people just jumping in to make a quick dollar.  There are several of them opening up in Michigan.  North Center Brewing is not like that.  They are here for the love of making and enjoying beer.  They fine their art and brought their A game.  The staff that they hired or brought in are super nice and willing to talk beer with you.  They will help you pick the beer to fit your taste profile.  This craft brewery is here to stay and I am looking forward to my next visit.  I will make sure I eat next time.  I had to cut it short because of that.  I highly recommend this brewery.  I cannot say it enough.  Go get some!  Drink it!  Enjoy it!  Metal it!  \m/

Cheers!

Bill DJ Weiser

Email:  djweiser16@gmail.com

Twitter: @djweiser

Instagram:  @djweiser13

New Beer Blog Schlafly APA

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In this beer blog, we are going to get into another brew from Schlafly Brewery.  It is their American Pale Ale.  If you read my earlier beer blog posts on their beers, you know the history of this Midwest craft brewery.  If you have not, please, read them to get to know this St Louis craft brewery.  Let us get into this pale ale.

It has a clear golden color with a white constant head on this dry hopped American Pale Ale. The aroma has a light citrus notes. The taste has a light citrus notes with a dry bitter aftertaste. It is pretty drinkable beer.

Here is a description from beer bottle:

Schlafly Dry Hopped APA is charged with American hops to create a bold aromatic ale.  Assertive hop flavor joins the pine/citrus aroma characteristic of American hops to balance the full body provided by North American malts.  Available year round.

Here is a description from their website (www.schlafly.com):

Dry Hopped APA

Available year round

ABV: 5.9% | IBU: 50

  • Appearance: Golden amber, slightly hazy
  • Process: Dry hopped, unfiltered
  • Hops: Cascade, Chinook (US)
  • Grains : Pale, Caramel
  • Yeast: American Ale
  • SRM: 10

Our Dry Hopped American Pale Ale (APA) is charged with American hops to create a bold, aromatic ale. Assertive hop flavor joins the pine/citrus aroma characteristic of American hops to balance the full body provided by North American malts. After fermentation, the beer circulates through a bed of Cascade and Chinook hops, boosting the distinctive hop aroma of this satisfying ale.

In the long view of the history of beer, American Pale Ale is a newcomer. Based on English Pale Ale, American brewers adapted this style into something new. Born out of the reverence English Pale Ales during the 1980’s American beer scene, APA is the bold, hoppier cousin of Pale Ale. With an emphasis on American hops, APA is gaining popularity with breweries racing to make these ales with such great hop characters.

Here is their website and twitter addresses:

Website:  www.schlafly.com

Twitter:  @schlafly

Closing, I am a pretty big fan of this craft brewery when I moved to Chicago market.  I had friends bring up beer and my sister moved to St Louis.  I had honor of checking out their brewpubs and brewery.  I had a blasted.  I still say to this day their Pumpkin Ale and Christmas Ale are one of the best beers to me in market.  There is a nice balance and a great malty backbone.  I love both the hops that they used in this brew.  It uses both Cascade and Chinook.  I love this beer and I wished they would make it to Michigan market.  I love that they are finally in the Chicago market.  I highly recommend this beer.  Go get some!!  Drink it!  Enjoy it!  Metal it!  \m/

Cheers!

Bill DJ Weiser

Email:  djweiser16@gmail.com

Twitter:  @djweiser

Instagram:  @djweiser13

New Beer Blog The Brew Kettle White Rajak India Pale Ale

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In this beer blog, we are going to get into a brew from The Brew Kettle Brewery.  This is the first time that this craft brewery is being featured on this beer blog.  The beer is White Rajak India Pale Ale.  This Ohio base craft brewery was founded in 1995 under the name of Ringneck Brewing.  They later changed their name to Brew Kettle.  They have distribution throughout Ohio and Kentucky.  Let us get into this IPA.

It has a clear golden color with a white constant head. The smell has a heavy grapefruit notes. The taste has a heavy grapefruit notes with a dry bitter aftertaste. It is pretty drinkable beer.

Here is a description from their website (www.thebrewkettle.com):

An India Pale Ale

A West Coast style IPA full of citrus-like and tropical fruit like hop flavor and aroma with an assertive yet smooth bitter finish….malt, take a back seat please

6.8% Alc/ Vol. 70 IBUs

Here is their website and twitter addresses:

Website:  www.thebrewkettle.com

Twitter:  @brewkettle

In the end, I have been looking for a great Ohio beer outside of Great Lakes Brewery from Ohio base craft brewery.  I was happy to find this great IPA from Ohio.  I also love Hoppin Frog Brewery.  I believe Brew Kettle might be my favorite Ohio Brewery.  I will need to try some of their other beers asides this IPA.  I only had this brew.  This is by far the best everyday Ohio made IPA. I love it. I am really impressed. There is a nice well-built malty backbone and they picked the right mix of hops.  This is a really good IPA and being a hophead.  I cannot wait to get more of this brew on my next trip to Ohio next month.  I will be looking for their Fall Seasonal when I am down there.  I highly recommend this beer.  Go get some!  Drink it!  Enjoy it!  Metal it!  \m/

Cheers!

Bill DJ Weiser

Email:  djweiser16@gmail.com

Twitter:  @djweiser

Instagram:  @djweiser13