Here we are again, another Winter Beerfest beckoning to us from the (not so) icy tundra of 5/3 Ballpark! Hopefully we're looking at a beerfest not quite as bone-chilling as last year, and the breweries have brought us an expansive and intense list of beers to try this year!

It’s time for the grand conclusion of the 2015 Michigan Brewer’s Guild festival schedule, culminating at Eastern Market in Detroit, Michigan this Friday and Saturday. As of today, Thursday the 22nd, there are still FRIDAY tickets available for purchase. Head over to http://www.mibeer.com to snag your tickets as soon as you can!

Summer Beerfest is upon is!

Hello friends, it’s my great pleasure to be back for another top 20 list – this time for the 2015 BEERFEST AT THE BALLPARK!

The now regionally famous Michigan Brewer’s Guild Winter Beer Festival is upon us yet again, welcoming thousands of people to 5/3 Ballpark in Grand Rapids for the tenth year of the festival. People come from all over the nation to join thousands of ever-enthusiastic Michiganders in the cold tundra to explore the very best of what Michigan beer has to offer.

PORTER

Fall is the perfect time for pumpkin and harvest (fresh hopped) ales, and there are many different kinds for you to explore this weekend. Harvest ales are some of my very favorites, and many of them feature local Michigan Hops – for those of you interested in more exploration of Michigan Hops, I highly encourage you to pop over to the Michigan Hop Alliance tent, which is full of information and will be pouring multiple Michigan-hopped harvest ales for your enjoyment.

When I started Experience Beer, there were many crazy ideas jostling around in my brain, the first and primary goal was to put on the Grand Rapids Beer Tasting Class, Michigan's first extensive 9-week Beer Tasting Class, which is currently in it's fourth year. Over the couple years, another idea had come alongside, and that was the idea of a Brewer's Round Table. What if you got all of the city's brewers on stage for one awesome night of Q+A?

The time has come for Fall Beerfest at the Ballpark! This festival is held at the Cooley Law Stadium and features over 250+ beers, live music and food for your enjoyment!

 

Contrary to popular belief, Pumpkin Beers have been around the United States for a long time. The inclusion of Pumpkin in beer actually began as a matter of necessity, seeing as quality malt wasn't readily available in the 18th century. Brewers had to find a way to cheaply introduce fermentable sugars to their ales, and turned to two ingredients: pumpkin and brown sugar. Early versions of pumpkin beer are said to be made of 100% pumpkin meat, creating a hazy brown brew that would have been bittered in the style of Gruit.