Oktoberfest Dinner & Brew Cruise on MI Princess

Motor City Brew Tours is gaining quite the following in the Detroit Area. Now that they have the Detroit market locked down, they have decided to start branching out to other areas of the state. A couple weeks ago Motor City Brew Tours or Michigan Brew Tours (as they call themselves when they operate tours outside of the Greater Detroit Area) hosted a bus tour in Grand Rapids. On this tour we visited The Hideout, Perrin Brewing Co., and Rockford Brewing. Paul and I were excited about this tour because we haven't done one of Motor City's tours in a while, and we had never visited Perrin Brewing before.

This is the fourth year of the Michigan Brewers Guild Detroit Fall Beer Festival and it has been growing bigger and bigger each year. In fact, this festival has grown so much that the Brewers Guild decided to make it a two-day festival! For Paul and me, this was our second time attending this festival. I really love the fact that it is located in the heart of Detroit at the popular Eastern Market. I love the Eastern Market. We try to make it down there whenever we are in the area on a day that it is open. I am glad that the Brewers Guild decided to just extend the festival to two days rather than move it to an alternate location. I really feel that there is no better location within the Detroit City Limits to hold this wonderful festival.

Craft Beer and Rock N Roll seem to go together like peanut butter and jelly so naturally we were excited when we heard about the first annual Michigan Rock N Brew Festival. We were even more excited when we found out it was going to be held right in our home city of Lansing, Mi! The Michigan Rock N Brew Festival is a weekend long celebration of Michigan Craft Beer and live Rock N Roll.

Paul and I have been to a lot of beer dinners but we have never been to a mead dinner. When we found out Gracie's Place in Williamston, Mi was hosting a dinner featuring B. Nektar Meadery we couldn't wait to attend. I am not a huge fan of Meads so I was exctied to attend this dinner so I could try several different ones to hopefully I found one or two that I loved. Beer (and mead) dinners are a great way to find a new favorite flavor.

Recently The Shark Club in Howell, Mi invited the rock and rollers of Michigan Craft Beer to take over their taps. Dark Horse Brewing Co. out of Marshall, Mi brought out several of their beers along with 4 different versions of their flagship IPA.

Last week Paul and I attended a beer dinner featuring Mt. Pleasant Brewing Company. This dinner was put on by Country House Catering and Banquet Center located just south of I96 on Okemos Rd in Okemos, MI. This is the first beer dinner we have attended that has been put on by a catering company. We are huge fans of Mt. Pleasant Brewing so we were excited to see what Country House would do with their beers.

Last week Paul and I headed out to The Shark Club in Howell, Mi for the Witches Hat Brewing release party. This party was held to celebrate the fact that Witches Hat is starting to distribute their wonderful beer. Witches Hat opened in 2011 and have been blowing up the scene ever since.

Every year The State Room inside the Kellogg Hotel and Conference Center in East Lansing hosts a beer dinner. This year Paul and I were lucky enough to attend and represent I'm a Beer Hound at this wonderful event. I had never been to The State Room before; I always thought of it as a place that was just for special occasions. You all know the type of place I'm talking about. The kind of place you only go for wedding anniversaries or a expensive Valentines Day dinners. Don't get me wrong, this is a beautiful restaurant and it is certainly the type of place you can take someone special for an amazing meal but it is also the kind of place you can go and have a reasonable dinner out with friends. The State Room has recently been renovated and has a wonderful, classy and trendy atmosphere. There are a few different dining areas to accommodate the type of atmosphere you are going for. There is a romantic, dimly lit area, an area with lots of windows, and a fantastic bar area if you are out with friends for a nice bite to eat and a couple drinks.

Once a month, The Shark Club in Howell, MI hosts a style night featuring Rex Halfpenny. For those of you who have no clue what a style night is, let me explain. A style night is a night where a certain style of beer such as an IPA or Stout is featured. On this night, Bock beers were being featured. During Style Night at The Shark Club, you pay for a ticket which includes 6 samples of beer that are served as Rex shares his wealth of knowledge about the history of the particular style of beer being served.

The Shark Club in Howell, Mi knows how to celebrate a holiday. Instead of doing your typical, Mexican themed celebration for the Cinco de Mayo holiday, the Shark Club decided to celebrate with a Short’s Brewing Company tap takeover. Short’s really knows how to pull out all the stops for their tap takeovers, and with 30 beers on tap we felt like kids in a candy store.