In celebration of National Beer Day on April 7, Epicenter Mt. Pleasant checks in with local brewery
Mountain Town Brewing Company to learn more about their “shift” within Shifties Taproom at
Summit Smokehouse.
While he’s recently taken the title of general manager of Summit Smokehouse around a month ago, Erich Focht has been part of the Mountain Town Brewing Co. family for years—starting in 2018 when the Tap Room on Pickard Street was open. He was part of the team that moved over to Summit Smokehouse’s current location at the corner of S. Lincoln Rd. and M-20 in 2019, too. While he departed for about a year-and-a-half to work at Four Leaf Brewing in Clare, Focht returned to be the bar manager at Summit before transitioning to his new role.
His responsibilities are not the only transition that’s happened at Summit. Once known for being an exclusive back-room bar for Mug Club members, Shifties Taproom is now open for all beer lovers to enjoy.
Filled with couches, bar stools, billiards, darts, monthly karaoke, and big-screen TVs to view sporting events, the space is meant to be a “melting pot,” shares Focht, to embrace human connection and community.
Learn more about Shifties Taproom in this Q&A with Focht.
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Courtney Jerome / Epicenter Mt. PleasantA pool table, dart board, and free popcorn are available at Shifties Taproom inside Summit Smokehouse.
Epicenter Mt. Pleasant: Since the
last time we’ve done a story at Summit Smokehouse, there’s been some changes! Can you share with us more about your shift away from your Shifties Taproom being exclusively for Mug Club members to being open for all?
Erich Focht: If you've ever been in the old [Mountain Town] Tap Room, we're trying to recreate the essence of the old Tap Room at Shifties.
When we first opened the space back here, we could really only fit a few more people. And also, we tried to bump up the exclusivity of it, like you're the Mug Club—this is for you; there's only beers back here for you. That worked out really well for the first, like three weeks, and then it turned out to be the same couple handful of people—which wasn't a big deal, but we wanted to grow. And that was something that we also said: The old Tap Room, anyone could come to.
We're trying to emulate a sliver of that—anyone can come in and feel welcome.
By day, this is our brewery; the guys are working and brewing. At 4 p.m., we turn the lights down. We have music that we play back here. We have four massive TVs, so we also try to bring an environment where if you want to watch a game, you can have a TV to yourself—because they're all independent.
We've got the couches here if you want to really relax and lounge and just hang out. We have the pool table and dartboard if you want to just come back here for a couple beers. We do sell pitchers as well. So, if you want to come with a group of people and just come back here and drink, that's perfect.
Also, we have a little snack menu. Food comes out quick and easy—it kind of goes hand-in-hand with all the beers that we have on tap.
We're trying to just recreate a sliver of the community that we had back at the Tap Room. That's the biggest thing that we wanted to do, aside from having an upgraded rental area.
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Courtesy Summit Smokehouse at Mountain Town Brewing Co.During the Lions football playoffs, the Shifties Taproom hosted a watch party.
Epicenter: What’s something that you feel really passionate about that Shifties is able to provide?
Focht: Aside from being a place that has above-average beer, and a little bit different food fare as well, it's a place that you can come and feel however you want.
There's a sign that I see a lot that says, “You guys are all welcome to set the act right.” And I feel like that fits here, too, because, there's so many people that walk so many different paths of life that come in and share beers with each other, say, “Have a good day,” and then go home and live their life.
I think that's a really cool thing about breweries and restaurants or bars in general—it truly is like a melting pot. It's the service and community aspect that keeps me going. People come here because they feel welcome, and we're the harbors of them feeling welcome.
Epicenter: Can you give us a glimpse of what’s to come for you guys in the near future?
Focht: With summer coming up, we have a lot of really fun beer ideas coming out. One that I'm pretty excited about is—the working title is “Fun Wheat Beer”—most of the creativity went into the beer instead of the name! It's a wheat ale that we brewed with a little bit more citrus-forward hops, but then also sweet orange peel. We're going to also be dosing the batch after it's done fermenting with tangerine juice and lactose. Lactose is unfermentable milk sugar, so it softens the beer, it sweetens the beer, but it doesn't add any more fermentable sugar to the beer to start eating again.
We're workshopping a summer mix, four-pack of cans. It would be four individual beers. The “Fun Wheat” being one of them … We're trying to get this going as quickly as possible, so that it's at least available by the start of real summer.
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Courtney Jerome / Epicenter Mt. PleasantMountain Town Brewing is beginning to get into the distilling side of beverages. “We’re getting our feet near the pool, but they’re not wet yet,” shares Erick Focht.
Epicenter: And do we see some distilling equipment off the side of Shifites? Can you tell us more about what’s going on there?
Focht: One thing that we still get all the time is, “Can I get a Jack and Coke?” Or, “Can I get a rum and Coke?” And we have to say we’re really sorry, but we can only sell things that we make here. So, that’s been something that we've been trying to get for a while—but it's not an easy process to obtain. There's still just a few things that we still have to do before we can actually get going. We've attained our license, we just haven't started yet.
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Courtesy Summit Smokehouse at Mountain Town Brewing Co.For a rental fee, Shifties Taproom is available for private parties, including graduation and bridal events. Epicenter: Recognizing you don’t have a definite timeline yet, what do you anticipate the rollout would look like?
Focht: Whiskey and bourbon obviously take a little bit because of the aging process, but most of the other spirits, the clear neutral grain spirits, that will be what we will be focusing on when we start. Vodka, gin, a spiced and clear rum, and an agave spirit—whether it's the gold or clear, that's still up in the air. We're still getting our feet close to the pool. They're not wet yet.
Epicenter: Understandable! Do you have a takeaway sentiment that you want our readers to know about?
Focht: I want to plug really supporting local right now. I truly owe my love of craft beer to Mountain Town Brewing Company. I’m 33 and have been drinking here since I was 21—even at the old Tap Room and at the Station. Almost every style I've tried, if it wasn't here first, it was one of the first few times. Some of my favorite beers—ever—are from us, and that's just not me patting my back or anything. Some of my closest friends, not only have I met them drinking here, but also working here, and serving here.
Local places like this are more than just someone's business. It's a place of togetherness. A place of gathering. Right now, I feel like people need that a little bit more than what's going on—and good beer usually helps.