Michigan Brewers Guild Summer Festival Tap List Preview Part 2

Only a couple earth rotations until the first day of the MBG Summer Festival is upon us. As of this entry, there are still a precious few tickets still available at select locations around Michigan. It reminds me a lot of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, but with Gene Wilder's Wonka and a river of Sanders Chocolate Stout. Also I've got my golden tickets already.

In my last entry, I gave a completely subjective A-F list of taps I find interesting at the festival. We'll continue where I left off:

Eaglebear Most Patriotic Beer Ever (Greenbush Brewing) - Such a bold statement, considering Sam Adams Boston Lager features a brewer AND patriot. This beer better be served by Rosie The Riveter. Also, the ingredient list better be Made in the USA as well. One whiff of Canadian Barley and they're going to have problems, Toby Keith style (which is to say I'd write a stupid song about it and then turn it into a terrible, terrible movie).

Strang Wullie Wee Heavy (Grizzly Peak) - Located a few miles from me, Grizzly Peak is an upscale bar with pretty decent brews. If I tried this and Dragonmead's Under the Kilt back to back, I'm interested to taste the comparison. Still not 60 shillings around though. Also, bonus points for perpetuating Scottish stereotypes. You can almost hear Willie the Groundskeeper saying this.

Smuggler's Hazelnut Stout (The Hideout) - Big fan of Hazelnut. Nutella is awesome, as is the smell of fresh ground hazelnut coffee. The bouquet alone should draw me to this beer.

Kiwi's Playhouse BerlinerWiesse (Hopcat) - The sharply sour Berliner qualities are something I have only tried once in my life. It wasn't the best of experiences, but if this is actually cut with a little Kiwi, I might consider grabbing a sample of this brew.

Shao Lin Strawberry Lychee Pyment (Kuhnhenn)- I have been wondering if the licensing of the festival prevents brewers from bringing meads and wines. I guess not, since Kuhnhenn has not only this Pyment (grape mead) but also a ginger citrus mead listed as their taps. I tend to throw up when I ingest too much ginger, so this pyment is probably the one I'll try.

Barrel Aged insert beer title here (The Livery) - Every single beer on their list is barrel aged. I'm not even going to pick just one. I imagine The Livery as a huge facility with barrels stacked so high you can dive into them Scrooge McDuck style. I'm sure you're thinking right now, "You'd be dad from the splinters going through your kidneys," and you'd be completely missing the fact that Scrooge was diving into SOLID GOLD COIN! He's lucky to have bones. Barrels don't seem so foolish now, do they?

Pine River "Smoked" Porter (Midland) Smoked stouts and porters had their run a couple years back, with varying success. It seems most have gotten off the band wagon, but kudos to Midland for keeping the style alive (or just being behind the times). Why is "smoked" in parenthesis?

Mystery Brew #1 and #2 (Mt Pleasant) - Are these actually mystery brews, or did you guys just not know what the hell you were putting on your last two taps? The only way this will be fun is if you get to guess the style.

Simcoe Sensation IPA (Odd Side) - I appreciate single hop IPAs. That being said, I feel like Simcoe is the hop that was just partolling the streets when local thugs shot him up. Saved from the brink of death, they re-assembled him(her?) into a half hop/half machine RoboHop. It just feels manufactured. 

Firkin Old Ale (Rochester Mills Beer) - I listed this one because it is a VIP only tap. Suck it, normies!

Mistress Jades Hemp Ale (Sherwood) - Okay, my curiosity is peaked; even more so than with the Disco Lemonade Strawberry Cream (WTF could that possibly be besides a clusterfuck of flavors?).

Dragon Slayer Barrel Aged Imperial Stout (Tri City) - Imperial stouts at festivals always leave me with a sickly sweet linger as I reach for the nearest way to rinse my palette. I can only imagine what the barrel aging will do with that. Sounds like fun.

Glutenless Maximus Gluten-Free IPA (The WAB) - No gluten means this is probably sorghum or something. Interesting profile with the hops. 

In addition to the normal taps, MBG has suggested a special recipe called 15th Anniversary Ale to all the brewers. Most have taken a shot at it and it will be interesting to compare the results. 

That's the quick-hit list. By no means is it definitive, even for me. As always, let me know what you plan on drinking in the comments below.