While in Michigan, I was looking for another brewery in this area and I could not find it. So my sister, brother-in-law and myself wanted to check out a brewpub. I suggested Corner Brewery. I had a few of Arbor Brewery brews in the pasted when I came back to Michigan from Chicago. I was looking forward to try a few more of their beers. I was not expecting all the beer on the menu but I am not going to complain.
Here is a little history of the brewery from their website (www.arborbrewing.com):
The ABC story began with a home brewing passion that grew into Ann Arbor’s first brewpub. In 1995 we purchased the building at 114 Washington, spent the spring rebuilding the space, and opened our doors in July. Over 15 years later, we now encompass three spaces: the original pub, the game room, and a tap-room available for private rental.
We believe in serving quality meals that are natural, delicious, and memorable. We strive to do this in an environmentally responsible way through sustainable, locally sourced ingredients. We provide vegetarian and vegan options—but we understand the appeal of a big meaty burger! That’s why our menu features a variety of offerings that you can feel great about feeding your family.
We subscribe to the idea that a for-profit company has obligations not only to its investors, but also to its staff and community. We give back by donating to local non-profits, shopping locally, applying sustainable business practices, and serving on local civic and non-profit boards.
Here is a little history of their other brewpub called Corner Brewery (www.arborbrewing.com):
When we opened Corner Brewery in 2006 we intended it to be the bottling and distribution hub of our operation, but our community’s appetite for a local hang out was undeniable. We expanded our kitchen to offer pub favorites like pizzas, sandwiches, soups, and salads.
Just north of historic Depot Town in Ypsilanti, Corner features a spacious lounge, outdoor beer garden, and covered patio. All this space lends itself to hosting wonderful community events like the indoor farmer’s market, The Shadow Art Fair, DiYpsi, and fundraisers for charities like Ozone House, Veterans for Peace, and Greyhound Rescue.
Looking ahead, we plan to increase our brewing capacity and quadruple bottling speed with our 2011 expansion. We’ve also partnered with students from the University of Michigan on the Green Brewery Project, which focuses on increasing our energy efficiency and reducing our carbon footprint—all while we continue to brew more great beer.
They brew several different beer styles and you will see after you read this post. I will break it down as you will see when you read in a little while. They also have a brewery in India that brews some of the same beers. They are also adding new brews to fit that area of India. I will rank their beers at the end of this blog on the way I liked them. Let us get into the beer but it was hard to see in this brewpub. If I get the color wrong on the beer, this is why.
Brasserie Blonde
This beer is their Belgian Blonde Ale. It has a clear yellow color without a head on it. This Belgian Blonde Ale does not really have a smell to the beer. The taste has a little sweet to slightly piney to the beer. The aftertaste is dry but most Blondes do not have explainable aftertaste. In most cases, I say they do not have an aftertaste. This beer does have aftertaste but I had a hard time figuring it out. It is a pretty drinkable beer.
Phat Abbot
This beer is their Belgian Abby Dubbel. It has a clear brown color with semi on head on the beer. The smell of this Belgian Abby has a sweet malty to it. I like to refer it to as that Belgian Smell. The taste of the beer is about the same as the smell. It is sweet to malty taste with a weird sour aftertaste, which I do like it. This beer is not really drinkable.
Tallywacker
Tallywacker is their Scottish Ale. It has a golden color with constant bubbles to the head. There is really no smell from this beer. It is sweet carbonation malty taste with the same the aftertaste. This beer is fitting in the classic Scottish Ale. It is pretty drinkable beer.
Ypsi Gypsi Pale Ale
This beer is their Pale Ale. This Pale Ale has a clear yellow color without a head on it. It has a nice citrus smell to it. The taste is bitter earthly to some citrus to it with a dry aftertaste. It is a West Coast Pale Ale style like Sierra Nevanda Pale Ale. It is pretty drinkable beer.
Hoptoberfest
This beer is their Oktoberfest. It has a copper color with a constant head on the beer. There is really no smell on the beer. It has a sweet malty hoppy taste with a malty aftertaste. This is a pretty drinkable beer for the type of beer style.
Red Snapper
Red Snapper is named after the fish that travels through Michigan to reproduced and it is their roasted red ale. The beer has a amber to red in color without a head on it. There is a sweet to malty smell to the beer. The taste is just like the traditional red ale with the sweet malty dry taste to the beer. It has a bad dry aftertaste to the beer, which most people love this aftertaste. There is nothing wrong with it.
Green Giant
Green Giant is their Organic Imperial Pilsner. It has a clear yellow color with a semi head on the beer. Most pilsners do not have a smell to it and this Imperial Pilsner is no different. It has a sweet, which comes from the pilsner malts that use in this beer, to hoppy with a dry crisp finish. This is a extremely drinkable beer.
Hop Town
Hop Town is their American Brown Ale. This beer has a dark brown color without a head. It has a sweet malty roasted smell to the beer. This Brown Ale has sweet malty to slightly citrus taste with a dry sweet aftertaste to it. This American Brown Ale is kind of a drinkable.
Sacred Cow IPA
This Sacred Cow IPA is their flagship beer. It has a clear copper color without a head on the beer. This India Pale Ale has a slight piney smell to the beer. The beer has a piney and pineapple taste with a bitter aftertaste but it is very nice. This beer does not disappoint and I have had this beer in the pasted. It is extremely drinkable.
Buzzsaw American IPA
Buzzsaw is their American India Pale Ale. It has a clear yellow color without a head on the beer. The beer has a earthly to piney smell to it. The taste is earthy taste with a dry aftertaste to it. It is very drinkable beer for the beer style.
Here is their website and twitter addresses:
Website: www.arborbrewing.com
Twitter: @arborbrew and @cornerbrew
In closing, all of these beers are pretty good. Some of these beers are not my type of beer and that does not take anything away from the brews. They brew several different beers which you can see from above. The list order of the beers is the way they gave it to me and how I sampled it.
Here is in this order the beers I loved to I did not like:
1. Sacred Cow IPA
2. Buzzsaw American IPA
3. Green Giant
4. Hoptoberfest
5. Phat Abbot
6. Ypsi Gypsi Pale Ale
7. Tallywacker
8. Red Snapper
9. Hop Town
10. Brasserie Blonde
I do not think you are surprise to see their India Pale Ales at the top of the list. I really enjoyed them. One was more of a English style, which was Sacred Cow, and the other was American style, which is the Buzzsaw. They both have a really nice malty backbone to the beers. Since I am having a huge love for pilsners of late, Green Giant is their Imperial Pilsner. It is very drinkable and full of flavor. I will be bring beer back from Michigan when I am in town again. This is a great brewery and I wished they were in Chicago. I recommend you to go and hunt their beers down. Go get some! Drink it! Enjoy it! Metal it! \m/
Cheers!
Bill DJ Weiser
Email: djweiser13@comcast.net
Twitter: @djweiser
DJ Weiser 