October 4 update: we returned to Michigan for fall break, so I'm editing this post from August.
Thus summer, my wife and I enjoyed our "annual" vacation Michigan trip July 10th to 22nd. We had a brief visit to Kalamazoo in April so that info is also listed below. And we were in the Detroit area one night in late May before entering Canada. [Plus fall break September 27-October 1.]
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This year during the vacation, we dined with old KU friends in Mt. Pleasant on the first day, spent a couple of days in the Grand Rapids, Holland, and South Haven area (visiting Meijer Gardens and various restaurants and brewpubs), went up to Traverse City for six nights, and then returned to stay in Holland for a couple more days. Also, we again stopped on the way home at Shapiro's in Indianapolis and bought some bagels for home.
We have a lot of Michigan traditions and I'm not going to use this post to mention them all. And we certainly enjoyed some new experiences as well, such as visiting Sleeping Bear Dunes. We attended a movie at the "new" Traverse City Film Festival, which occurs now on Tuesdays. Michael Moore and the director zoomed in for an hour or so after the film.
Beyond the vacation details, this post is mostly about Michigan beer. Basically, I'm using this post to summarize my recent and prior visits to Michigan brewpubs. This is one instance where Google Timeline information is helpful. I'm not listing breweries where I didn't have at least one drink. We entered a couple this year to look into buying singles -- or in one case decided not to stay for dinner since they were having a loud celebratory event.
Given that Michigan has over 400 breweries, my personal list includes less than 5% of the total! I could move to Michigan and have a difficult time sampling all of them.
2024 (5 new; 24 total) (new ones in bold)
Latitude 42°, Kalamazoo (April trip)
Big Lake Brewing, Holland
Brass Ring Brewing, Grand Rapids
Two Guys Brewing, Grand Rapids
Short's Brewing, Elk Rapids location
Filling Station Brewing, Traverse City
Workshop Brewing, Traverse City
Infinity Brewing, Traverse City (September)
Jolly Pumpkin Brewing, Traverse City (September)
Loco Boys Brewing, Traverse City (September)
We dined at all of these except Short's, where I mainly wanted to try the new Payne Pils (pictured above). Latitude 42 and Brass Ring had the best food though we liked our meals at Big Lake and Workshop. The wait and service at Filling Station had us questioning our choice. Incidentally, we've now also visited beer friendly HopCat locations in Grand Rapids (2 different locations), Ann Arbor, Detroit, Holland, Kalamazoo, and Louisville (sadly now closed permanently).
October Update: The food was OK to good at both Infinity and Jolly Pumpkin, but Loco Boys was closer to very good/exceptional. They serve Mexican food!
2023 (1 new; 19 total)
Griffin Claw, Rochester Hills near Detroit
Brewery Vivant, Grand Rapids
Founders, Grand Rapids
Brewery Vivant may have the best brewpub food we've found in Michigan.
2022 (4 new; 18 total)
Odd Side Ales, Grand Haven
Unruly Brewing, Muskegon
Rare Bird Brewing, Traverse City
Cherry Republic Brewing Company & Public House, Glen Arbor
Founders, Grand Rapids
We dined at all of those places, though at Odd Side we had to order takeout from a nearby restaurant. They don't have food.
2021 (2 new; 14 total)
Big Lake Brewing, Holland
Guardian Brewing, Saugatuck
Brewery Vivant, Grand Rapids
We also dined at all of these.
2019 (2 new; 12 total)
New Holland Brewing, Holland
Big Lake Brewing, Holland
Clam Lake Beer Company, Cadillac (2)
Filling Station, Traverse City
Workshop Brewing, Traverse City
MiddleCoast Brewing, Traverse City (was called Monkey Fist at the time)
We did not dine at Big Lake or MiddleCoast, but both have food (I think).
2018 (2 new; 10 total)
Workshop Brewing, Traverse City
Clam Lake Beer Company, Cadillac
Filling Station, Traverse City
We dined at these.
2017
I was on antibiotics that trip and did not visit any brewpubs and avoided alcohol.
2016 (2 new; 8 total)
Saugatuck Brewing, Saugatuck
Filling Station, Traverse City
2015 (2 new ones, 6 total)
Short's Brewing, Bellaire
Rare Bird, Traverse City
We dined at these.
Older trips: (at least 4 visited, from memory)
New Holland Brewing, Holland
Mackinaw Brewing, Traverse City
North Peak, Traverse City
Jolly Pumpkin, Traverse City
We did not dine at Jolly Pumpkin, but they have food -- and various other locations across the state.
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