Oktoberfest Dinner & Brew Cruise on MI Princess

Odd Side Ales has had little time to celebrate since it’s inception in 2010 as a small lakeshore nanobrewery in Grand Haven. Six years of continual expansion has included upgrading from one production facility to another and has brought the brewery to their current status as a significant regional brewery with Chicago distribution achieved earlier this year. Also new for this year is Funk Fest, a brand new outdoor celebration to be held on the Grand River in downtown Grand Haven on Saturday, June 11th from 3 p.m. to 11 p.m.

Just in the last few years, fans of craft beer could find solace and escape from the madness of Black Friday shopping with a stop at their local brewery such as Odd Side Ales in Grand Haven which has opened early and welcomed people to stop by for breakfast, pajamas welcome. The now legendary Morningwood coffee stout became a staple at these morning gatherings and one of the first ever Odd Side Ales beers to feature a bottle release in limited edition bomber bottles. This beer has continued in it’s popularity and has shown up at the pub on draft as well as a limited bottle releases including Halloween and this year’s Black Friday.

2015 is shaping up to be another great year for Odd Side Ales brewery located in the Story & Clark Piano Factory in downtown Grand Haven. Not only has the brewery been celebrating it’s 5th-year anniversary this year, but also has recently relocated the production facility, doubling the size, and expanded and remodeled the pub location as well. When the pub first opened in March of 2010, all of the production was done on-site. Increased demand first lead to off-site production in 2012 which included their own bottling line. This represents the 3rd location for production in Odd Side Ales’ 5+ years with the original pub brewery still in use for brewing small batch releases.

Handsome Henry’s in Muskegon recently hosted their first “Chef’s Table Beer and Wine Dinner Series” featuring a four-course meal paired with choice of beer selections from Spring Lake’s Odd Side Ales or wine from Chateau Grand Traverse Winery in Traverse City. I stopped by with a group of friends to check out the dinner which began with a sample appetizer of Teriyaki Wings. I chose the beer pairings and the first beer up was the Hop Gobbler Extra Pale which paired amazing with a Thai Noodle Soup that had a surprising ginger kick.

Opening their doors at 9 AM, Odd Side Ales has been encouraging patrons to wear the PJs and bring their breakfast on Black Friday, treating them to bottle and draft release of their popular coffee-infused Morningwood Stout for the last several years. For 2014, not only has Odd Side Ales introduced another new bottle/draft release, the Hipster Brunch coffee maple bacon stout, but in addition the emerging lakeshore brewery scene has some new players. Muskegon’s Unruly and Pigeon Hill Brewing Co.’s each introduced their own barrel-aged bottle releases and offered up their own Black Friday themed breakfast and beer celebrations, the occasion representing the first bottled beer brewed in Muskegon since 1957.

Brew House is located at 255 Seminole Dr. in the City of Norton Shores in Muskegon County conveniently right off the Seaway Drive / Business 31 on the way into town. The business was previously a coffee house but has been relaunched under new ownership and has recently expanded beyond traditional coffee drinks with the addition of a full bar with an emphasis on Michigan craft beer, wine, and spirits.

The 4th anniversary of Odd Side Ales may have come and went quietly this year, but only because of so much going on behind the scenes. With the production facility in overdrive for 2014, the small pub brewery has shown some signs of the neglect. This has been remedied recently with OSA opening the doors to some local brewers for some experimental small batch beers. Following my “behind the scenes” coverage of the 2013 Morningwood Stout, I was fortunate to get an invite earlier this year to sit in on the brew session for a brand new small batch beer exclusive and was happy to oblige!

The release of Morningwood Stout has become quite a tradition at Grand Haven’s Odd Side Ales. Every Black Friday, the brewery has opened the doors early, encouraging patrons attend in their PJs to celebrate a morning of breakfast and beer. This year’s release party was no exception albeit some exciting changes have been occurring behind the scenes in regards to the 2013 release.

Vander Mill has stepped it up once more for this year’s annual Fall celebration Vander Fest. Warm weather cooperated with a great lineup including some of Lakeshore’s best breweries, a dozen cideries, great food options, and amazing live music complete with laser show consistent with the best of previous year’s celebrations but also offering plenty new.

October is here, and the beer community is gearing up for the Michigan Brewer's Guild's fourth and final festival of the year at Eastern Market in Detroit. The Guild is welcoming 60 breweries to the grounds this year, representing over 400 Michigan Brews.