Area is brewing with bevy of beer tastes

Northern Living

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Beer taps are visible at the bar at 7 Monks Taproom in downtown Traverse City. Record-Eagle/Keith King
A Cheboygan Lighthouse Amber beer from the Cheboygan Brewing Company is poured at the taproom. Record-Eagle/Keith King
Dave Runyan, right, sips his beer and Gary Streitwieser, both of Bellaire, looks over a menu at 7 Monks Taproom in downtown Traverse City. Record-Eagle/Keith King

January 29, 2012

By MARTA HEPLER DRAHOS mdrahos@record-eagle.com The Record Eagle Sun Jan 29, 2012, 07:14 AM EST

TRAVERSE CITY — Chad Brown chatted with the stranger while nursing a porter at Brew's stainless steel bar.

Clad in a sweater vest, slacks and a button-down shirt, the Traverse City businessman couldn't have been more different than his bar-stool neighbor, a throwback to the 1960s.

Which is precisely why he's drawn to places that cater to craft beer lovers, Brown said.

"They're good places to hang out and have a great conversation, even with people you don't know," said Brown, who was killing time between appointments. "And it's not only with people who you have shared interests with based on what they look like. That's the cool thing about Traverse City. You go to a bar downstate, it's almost rude to talk to the person next to you. Here they're warmer, more laid-back."

Since they began springing up in the region like morels in May, craft breweries have gained a loyal, even fervent, following. Whether for the urban-chic ambience or for the chance to sample craft brews from around northern Michigan, the Great Lakes or abroad, many say they wouldn't drink anywhere else.

Rachel Grendel turned 21 about the same time as Short's Brewing Co. got off the ground in Bellaire in 2004.

"I used to go to Short's about once a month," said Grendel, who has frequented craft breweries everywhere from Michigan and Colorado to Vermont and Rhode Island. "Then I went east for a while, and when I moved back, I was really excited to see Right Brain (Brewery) here. Going there, I noticed everybody was there hanging out."

Now a bartender-barista at Brew, Grendel said the atmosphere is at least as important as the beer.

"It feels sort of cool," she said. "Everybody's laid-back and easygoing, there's lots of good conversation.

"And a lot of people talk about beers. There's definitely a following for different kinds of beers. People like to try new flavors, new styles. Look at Short's: They try all sorts of crazy things, like Strawberry Shortcake," Grendel said.

Brown said he prefers beer to wine and appreciates the brewing culture's changing landscape.

"It used to be you got Stroh's and Budweiser, and you'd drink them everywhere. Now in one square mile, you can taste hundreds of beers from all around the world," he said.

The Grand Traverse Resort & Spa is jumping on the craft brew bandwagon by offering new packages featuring craft brewery tours or the Traverse City Winter Microbrew and Music Festival, scheduled for Feb. 11.

"For a few years we've felt there was a growing interest in beers that had a variety of flavors, different styles of beers. So it was just a natural fit," said resort public relations manager J. Mike DeAgostino, of the tours that take in Mackinaw and North Peak Brewing Co. and Right Brain Brewery. "We offer winery tours, so why not beer tours?

"When you go somewhere for a week or even a weekend, it's the experience you're there for. You're not there to sleep in a hotel bed," DeAgostino said.

Jane Sage finds craft breweries a more pleasant alternative to old-fashioned bars and has a membership at Right Brain.

"One of the reasons I went there is it was a neighborhood place, sort of a 'Cheers' kind of place I, as a woman, would feel fine by myself in having a beer," said Sage, a human services manager. "I like the local atmosphere. When I go to these places I see people I know."

She and fellow Rotarians Laura Jolly and Nancy Warren were trying out 7 Monks Taproom after work on a recent weekday. The Traverse City friends shared a meat and cheese board, and sipped local draft mead from one of 46 taps.

"The goal is getting together," said Warren. "The side benefit is to go somewhere cool with a great atmosphere and good food and drink. You look at the wall with all these beers with hilarious names, then you look at the board and see they were made with (local) asparagus or raspberries, and that makes it even better."

"It's part of that trying, experimenting and supporting local people," Sage said.

Nearby, Yana Dee sampled a citrus ale from Grand Haven while her mother, Viki Weglarz, drank Bell's Two-Hearted Ale from Kalamazoo.

"This is the first time she's been out of my house," said Dee, of her mother, who was visiting from Calumet in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. "I appreciate craft beers, but we usually have them at home."

Dee, a seamstress from Traverse City, said she made a wedding dress for a Short's employee and was paid in — what else? — beer.

"That was a great trade," she said.

Because Traverse City is unique in its population, from students and retirees to "aggressive young professionals and affluent people who don't really have to work," the area is ripe for craft breweries, Brown believes.

"Traverse City is more diverse than bigger cities downstate in terms of what people enjoy, what they do and what they spend their time on," he said. "There's a lot of room for a lot of different things."