Michigan Travel and Beer Update

White Flame Brewing, Hudsonville

This post is another update to my series of entries about Michigan beer. Basically, I'm listing places we visited on vacation this July and August (2025) along with prior visits to Michigan brewpubs. This is one instance where Google Timeline information is helpful. 

The vacation was fun, though imperfect. It was really hot in the south in late July -- we went to a movie in a shopping mall on a Sunday afternoon to beat the heat. We saw Eddington, which I will mention in my December movie entry -- but you can read about it now on my letterboxd page. Later during the trip, once we went upstate to Traverse City, the entire area got hit by wildfire smoke from Canada. It was disappointing and limited our outdoor activites somewhat.  

In any case, regarding the brewery listings, I'm not including stops where I didn't have at least one drink -- sometimes we decide a place is not for us, or I merely shop for beer. On the way home this summer I  bought some beer at Brewery Vivant in Grand Rapids. 

Given that Michigan has over 400 breweries, my personal list includes only about 6% of the total! I could move to Michigan and have a difficult time sampling all of them. 

2025 (1 new; 25 total) (new ones in bold)

Big Lake Brewing, Holland

White Flame Brewing, Hudsonville

Loco Boys Brewing, Traverse City

Jolly Pumpkin Brewing, Traverse City

Rare Bird Brewpub, Traverse City

Founders Brewing, Grand Rapids

We dined at all these spots and had the best meals in Traverse City establishments and at Founders. I doubt we would return to White Flame. 

Most of the other dining spots we hit were also beer friendly: Hops at 84 East in Holland, Hopcat Holland, 7 Monks TC, etc. 

2024 (5 new; 24 total) 

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. 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 (closed/moved to Indiana)

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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MIchigan Travel (and Beer) update

Note: This is an update/revision of an older post.

October 4, 2024, 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.]

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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Michigan Beer 2023 update

I'm going to use this post to summarize my recent and prior visits to Michigan brewpubs. This is one instance when Google Timeline data is actually helpful, though this information only goes back to mid-year 2013 when I must have authorized the tracking software. I'm not listing breweries where I didn't drink. We went into Ludington's Jamesport once, but could not get a table for dinner in a timely fashion, and we quickly left Grand Armory in Grand Haven on the 2022 trip because it didn't offer outdoor seating. 

Given that Michigan has nearly 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 (1 new; 20 total)

Latitude 42°, Kalamazoo

We dined at Latitude 42° in April during a quick weekend trip north and quite enjoyed the food. I really liked an IPA on tap (Endless Summer), but it was not available in cans to take home. Another night we visited the Kalamazoo HopCat, which is not a brewery but is certainly beer-friendly. We've now visited HopCat locations in Grand Rapids, Ann Arbor, Holland, Kalamazoo, and Louisville (closed permanently). 

2023 (1 new; 19 total)

Griffin Claw, Rochester Hills near Detroit

Brewery Vivant, Grand Rapids

Founders, Grand Rapids

We dined at Griffin Claw and Brewery Vivant and the food was pretty good at both. We stopped at Founders to buy a crowler of one of my favorite beers generally unavailable in Kentucky (Red's Rye IPA) and I had a taster of Nitro Rubaeus. We had hoped to have a dessert, but they didn't offer it that night and so the smooth raspberry ale had to suffice. 

Incidentally, while we were in Ontario we visited Heritage Hops brewery in Stratford for a slice of chocolate cake (I paired it with a dark lager) before attending the play "Casey and Diana," and dined at Toboggan brewing in London on Father's Day. 

2022 (4 new; 18 total)

Odd Side Ales, Grand Haven

Unruly Brewing, Muskegon

Rare Bird Brewing, Traverse City

Cherry Republic Brewing Company and 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. It was kind of sad. 

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)

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.

* It is possible my memory has failed me in recalling other brewpubs visited before 2015 as we have been going to Michigan as a family since the 1990s when my children were quite young. Then again, we didn't really take the kids to brewpubs when they were young -- maybe restaurants that happened to brew some of their own beer. 

I've also tried a good deal of Michigan beer in restaurants and taprooms, but I'm not going to list all of those here. I would put in a good word for the 7 Monks in Traverse. 

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Detroit

Earlier this month, my spouse and I drove north through Detroit, entered Ontario at Port Huron / Sarnia for a long weekend in Canada, and then returned to Detroit to visit the Detroit Institute of Arts museum and to attend a Tiger game. It was my first visit to DIA and to Comerica Park. It was also our first return trip to Canada since the fall 2018 sabbatical. 

After leaving Detroit we spent several days in our usual western Michigan destinations, Grand Rapids, Holland, and Saugatuck. We managed to visit a couple of additional brewpubs, as per usual.

The DIA features some interesting contemporary work, some pieces by enduring masters, and a terrific room filled with murals/frescos by Diego Rivera. You probably recognize the artist responsible for this self portrait:

Van Gogh

"Welfare Queen" by Amy Sherald comes with an interesting backstory:

It is nearly impossible to do justice to the murals with photos.

As for the Tiger game, Detroit beat the KC Royals 9-4. KC infielders made a couple of key misplays that directly or indirectly led to a handful of runs. I liked Comerica Park, but perhaps not as much as PNC, which seems to have the advantage of being on the river with its statues of former stars outside the park and accessible to the general public. 



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Baseball Summer

My spouse and I managed to visit 4 ballparks this summer, taking in 2 minor league games and a Cincinnati Reds game, plus we visited a ballpark used by the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League decades ago. 

These are ordered in reverse chronological order. The first 2 photos are from an August 20 game in Louisville between the Bats and the visiting Omaha Storm Chasers. Omaha is a KC Royals affiliate and a friend had nabbed some free tickets (they were excellent!)

As shown on the big screen, outfielder Drew Waters played in his last minor league game prior to his August 22 promotion to KC -- and it was Captain Marvel night at the ballpark. Omaha won 10-6, Waters was on base 4 times with 2 singles and 2 walks. 

Side note: I'm working with a graduate student writing about Captain America's films. 

I've been to Slugger Field many times. In fact, I went to 4 games in 2021, so this season has not been as active a year locally. As I went to 3 last September, I still have some time. 

                

These next 2 photos were taken Sunday June 26 at Four Winds Field in South Bend, IN. We took in the South Bend Cubs game versus the Peoria Chiefs, which the Cubs won 10-7. Pictured at right is leadoff hitter centerfielder Pete Crow Armstrong, one of the Cubs top prospects. He was actually the NY Mets top draft pick in 2020 and came over in the Javy Baez trade in July 2021. 

Earlier that week, on Monday June 20, we had a picnic lunch at Marsh Field in Muskegon, MI. As noted above, this was an original park for the professional women's team that played there after World War II. Earlier this summer I read Lois Browne's book Girls of Summer about the league and of course "A League of Their Own" is a fine baseball film. 

Finally, back on June 9, we went up to Cincy for an early Reds day game against the Diamondbacks. Thanks are due to my daughter Cate as she had given me a gift certificate voucher as a gift.

The Reds lost 5-4, wasting a fine pitching performance from Tyler Mahle (10 strikeouts in 6 IP with only 1 ER allowed) and an early 3-0 lead. Typically for this year's Reds unit, the bullpen gave up 4 runs in the 9th inning. Josh Rojas (pictured on the screen) hit the go-ahead 2 run single in the 9th and scored the decisive 5th run (rendering the Mark Reynolds HR in the bottom of the 9th moot).

It was fun being back at a major league ballpark and our seats were fantastic. 

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Michigan Beer

My wife and I enjoyed our regular "annual" summer Michigan trip June 18 to 26th. Annual is in quote marks in that first sentence because we didn't go in 2020 for obvious reasons. Last year, we got a good rate on a week-long Holland hotel rental and thus limited our range to nearby activities. Partly we did that because the Traverse City Film Festival was canceled last year as it was in 2020. The timing of the 2022 festival does not work for us, so we will not be attending again this summer. 

This year during the vacation, we dined with old KU friends in Grand Rapids on the first day, spent a couple of days checking out Grand Haven and Muskegon (their beaches and brew pubs), went up to Traverse City for two days (where we celebrated 31 years of marriage), stayed with a generous friend from Louisville in her family's recently acquired Leland cottage, drove down to Grand Rapids for my first trip to Founders Brewery (!), and then went to a high scoring minor league baseball game in South Bend on the way home that Sunday. Oh, we obviously stopped to dine at Shapiro's in Indianapolis, as we typically do. And bought some bagels and rye bread for home. 

We have a lot of Michigan traditions and I'm not going to use this post to mention them all. Some we could not do because of timing. For instance, the Filling Station brewpub and pizza place was closed on Tuesday-Wednesday, the days we were in Traverse City. 

Beyond the vacation update, this post is about Michigan beer. I drink Michigan beer exclusively when I'm there and I typically buy several multipacks of fresh canned beer to bring home to enjoy in the ensuing weeks. Sometimes I buy single cans or bottles, but those are harder to find these days. 

For the second year in a row, I picked up a copy of the Michigan Brewery Guide (see above) in a southwest brew pub -- and this year I got a second copy for my neighbor who also enjoys a good craft beer. 

Looking through the magazine this weekend got me thinking about my history of trips to Michigan breweries -- both this year and in the recent past. 

Thus, I'm going to use this post to summarize my recent and prior visits to Michigan brewpubs. This is one instance where Google Timeline information is actually helpful, though this information only goes back to mid-year 2013 when I must have authorized the tracking software. I'm not listing breweries where I didn't drink. We went into Ludington's Jamesport once, but could not get a table for dinner in a timely fashion, and we quickly left Grand Armory in Grand Haven on this trip because it didn't offer outdoor seating. 

Given that Michigan has nearly 400 breweries as of 2022, my personal list includes less than 5% of the total! I could move to Michigan and have a difficult time sampling all of them. 

2022 (4 new; 18 total)

Odd Side Ales, Grand Haven

Unruly Brewing, Muskegon

Rare Bird Brewing, Traverse City

Cherry Republic Brewing Company and 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)

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.

* It is possible my memory has failed me in recalling other brewpubs visited before 2015 as we have been going to Michigan as a family since the 1990s when my children were quite young. Then again, we didn't really take the kids to brewpubs when they were young -- maybe restaurants that happened to brew some of their own beer. 

I've also tried a good deal of Michigan beer in restaurants and taprooms, but I'm not going to list all of those here. I would put in a good word for the 7 Monks in Traverse. 

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