BY SHERI McWHIRTER
smcwhirter@record-eagle.com
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TRAVERSE CITY — Carrie Leggett stood in the sunshine and sipped from her friend Katy Core’s beer cup, then raised an eyebrow, nodded and handed the cup back over.
That’s when Core took another sip and decided it was worth the drink ticket. Leggett and Core, both of Traverse City, attended the second annual Traverse City Microbrew and Music Festival on Saturday at The Village at Grand Traverse Commons.
“It’s delicious,” Core said about her Cinnamon Girl Cider from Left Foot Charley in Traverse City. “I could easily drink a gallon of it. It tastes just like apple pie.”
Meanwhile, Leggett sipped her own cup of S’Mores Stout from Short’s Brewing Company in Bellaire.
“It’s good with a lot of chocolate taste. It’s not disappointing at all,” she said.
The friends were among the early arrivals at the festival on Saturday, when as many as 5,000 people were expected before the event wrapped at 10 p.m.
Jason Stephens, of Bellaire, stood under a tree to tilt back a glass of Maudite, a Belgian strong dark ale from Unibroue in Quebec. It was his first taste of that brewer’s offerings.
“Very refreshing on a hot summer day,” Stephens said. “It’s a cheap opportunity to taste a beer that I’d pay a lot for otherwise.”
Nearby, Geoff Zmyslowski, of Grand Rapids, tasted the Hawk Owl Amber ale from Right Brain Brewery in Traverse City. He said it was worth the drive north.
“It’s really good. It’s got a nice bit of sweetness balanced with the taste of aging it in a whiskey barrel,” he said.
Brewer Deano Hartmann, from Right Brain, said he expected to run out of beer before the night concluded, despite bringing six half-barrels.
Laura Bell, co-owner of Bell’s Brewery in Kalamazoo, best-known for its Oberon Ale, said the second microbrew festival in Traverse City seemed like a perfect fit for her company. It’s a prime opportunity to highlight Michigan’s craft beers, she said.
“It’s one of the state’s fastest growing industries, it seems like,” Bell said.
Event promoter Sam Porter said he hopes to continue hosting the event annually at the Commons.
“It’s so beautiful and the historic arboretum here is like no other in the state,” Porter said. “I love arts and music festivals and beer is another good ingredient to a good time. Plus, craft beer is so important in this region.”
Porter said his next big event is a winter beer festival in February planned for the Grand Traverse Resort & Spa in Acme.
