Oktoberfest Dinner & Brew Cruise on MI Princess

Sleepwalker Spirits and Ale is the brain child of Matt Jason and Jeremy Sprague, local Lansing residents who saw the need for a local brewery and spirits distillery. Sleepwalker derives its name from the Japanese term for sleepwalker, muyubyo-sha, where you are invited to turn off the busy part of your day and enjoy a space to “dream.play.” This is exactly what Sleepwalker embodies.

Cedar Springs Brewing company will be open early next year in Cedar Springs, Mi with a very German influenced menu and brew style. “We’ll be relatively German-centric, that’s my background and passion, and it’s something not many of the craft brewers are really focusing on. A lot of places dabble with the German stuff, but I definitely have some ideas I want to do that nobody is really doing.” said, Ringler, a German trained brewer and investment adviser with degrees in history and brewing science. He worked briefly for Atwater Brewing and the now closed Grand Rapids Brewing Co. and wants to get back into brewing.

Peace on Earth and good beer for all. That’s the holiday motto of the brew team at Frankenmuth Brewery who’ve at least delivered on the “good beer” side over the years. With Christmas cheer centered right in Frankenmuth every holiday season, you could have bet that their anticipated limited seasonal, Christmas Town Ale, would be back again this year.

Hops at 84 East is located at 84 East 8th Street in downtown Holland. The former 84 East and Froggy’s restaurants have been combined and renovated with a new bar featuring 70 taps of craft beer, cider, and wine and the kitchen enhanced to include old menu favorites as well as new 600 degree brick pizza ovens. Rotating taps for the grand opening weekend included KBS, Devil Dancer, and Backwoods Bastard from Founders, and Q Falls, Oracle, and Wedding Ale from Bell’s. A special “hop-rocket” wet hopped craft beer was also tapped each day for the celebration. Live music was featured all weekend long with Further Closer on Friday, De Hurricane Reggae Band on Saturday, and Matt Plessner on Sunday.

For many years, through all the rapid growth of microbreweries in Michigan, the far northwestern suburbs of Detroit had long been an area in need of a microbrewery. They finally have one, and it is located in one of the area’s best loved communities, Milford. River’s Edge Brewery opened on June 22nd to big crowds and rave reviews.

It was a long time coming, but Frankenmuth Brewery finally brought a cherished classic from its historical line of beers back to bars and store shelves this past spring when it revived Old Detroit Amber Ale. “You can only answer so many inquiries with ‘Soon. Very soon’ before you decide the time is more than right,” said Maher Sarafa, Brand Marketing Director of Frankenmuth Brewery.

Fetch Brewing Company is now open in downtown Whitehall being the third brewery to open in Muskegon County in less than a year’s time. Fetch was preceded by Unruly and Pigeon Hill Brewing Companies both located in downtown Muskegon whereas Fetch is the first brewery to open in the White Lake area. Fetch is located in the former State Bank Building on Colby St. and has been renovated to incorporate elements of the historic location such as the bank vault and elevator shaft into the design of the brewery.

Rupert’s Brew House was the first to open of the current wave of nanobreweries sweeping Kalamazoo which also includes Tibb’s, Boatyard Brewing Company, and Gonzo’s Biggdogg. Rupert’s is also currently the smallest brewery in operation of the bunch, still brewing off the 1.5 barrel system they opened with last October. The brewery is located in the historic Oakland pharmacy building at 773 W. Michigan Ave and while Michigan already features dog-themed beers, breweries, and even beer blogs, Rupert’s Brew House is the only brewery I’ve visited that features it’s own resident dog, Captain Stooby, a Great Dane approaching 200 pounds that happened to tolerate my visit while taking his afternoon nap.

The City of Rockford kicked off the 2014 fall season with an all weekend-long downtown Harvest Fest celebration and Rockford Brewing Company was on hand with live music, food, and 20 different beers flowing between the pub and outdoor beer tent. Each day featured exclusive tappings with Saturday’s activities including a chili cook-off and the Coq2Fly 14.7 mile group bike ride from Brewery Vivant which included the tapping of a new collaboration brew.

Osgood Brewing in Grandville recently celebrated their 1-year anniversary with a party featuring an evening of live music, exclusive beer tappings, and firkins. 16 different beers were on taps for the celebration with the centerpiece being the 1st Anniversary Ale, an Imperial take on the popular Oakestown American Amber Ale. A commemorative growler and special merchandise were also available at the anniversary party.