Could micro-brew start-ups be the next big industry to come from the University of Michigan?
Excerpt:
The conversation in Arbor Brewing Company last Sunday was far from the norm. Words like “estery,” “diacetyl” and “phenolic” were tossed around with ease. Patrons traded stories describing gruesome scenes — “It looked like we had sacrificed a goat” — and violent explosions — “The best is when you have fruit in it and it blows up and hits your ceiling.”
It wasn’t a meeting of Mad Scientists Anonymous — not officially, at least. ABC’s Tap Room served as the setting for The Michigan Daily’s first home brewing competition, in which students submitted their own beer to be judged by a panel of local experts: Matt Greff, owner of ABC, Ron Jeffries, owner of Jolly Pumpkin, and Alex Petit, a member of the Ann Arbor Brewers Guild.
The contest featured 25 entries and 17 styles. To accommodate the diverse field of entries, traditional categories were consolidated into three broad groups: Light/Amber, Strong/Spiced and Dark. Judging criteria included overall quality and adherence to style as established by the Beer Judge Certification Program.
The Daily held this contest to create a forum for what seems to be a growing number of students who are taking up brewing as a hobby. Entries varied widely in style, inventiveness and quality, but all confirmed a trend of college students who are forsaking the “dirty thirty” of cheap macro-brew to try to make something worth drinking.
“I think there’s a big surge of people enjoying and appreciating craft beer, which tends to lead people to make their own,” said Engineering graduate student Ian Stines, a member of the Ann Arbor Brewers Guild whose “Obama Victory Porter” won Best of Show.
Read the rest of the story here.
Enjoy this story?
Sign up for free solutions-based reporting in your inbox each week.