The U.P. Beer Festival drew brewers from across Michigan, including both new and old breweries from the Upper Peninsula, this weekend.
Several Upper Peninsula brewers spent the gorgeous late-summer weekend at Marquette's Lower Harbor, showcasing both tried-and-true and wildly experimental new brews.
The occasion was the sixth U.P. Beer Fest, held in Marquette, which drew more than 50 breweries from all over Michigan and was hosted by the
Michigan Brewers Guild.
Nine of those came from the Upper Peninsula, some bringing compact four-tap samplings, and others bringing a wide array of ten or twelve to tempt the palates of the more than 4,000 craft beer fans who attended the day-long festival.
The turnout at the festival has grown over its six years, says Michigan Brewers Guild executive director Scott Graham.
"We sold about 25 percent more tickets this year, and sold out of them sooner," he says.
That can be attributed to an increased interest in both craft brews and local products, which are helping along a boom in Michigan brewing in recent years.
"People like local, and local beer is probably more fun to travel for," says Graham of the festival's success.
Creativity in brewing was on full display, with some brewers focusing on local ingredients, and others paying tribute to the locale, such as the brewers at B. Nektar from Ferndale, who served ketchup-lined draws of their "Troll's Offering," a pasty-inspired beer with flavors of potato, onion, and rutabaga.
Blackrocks Brewery was out in force, with twelve taps ranging from their North Third Stout to a blackberry saison. The Marquette-based brewery even held two special tappings of bourbon barrel-aged kegs midway through the day.
The
Soo Brewing Co. offered up a Grand Cru style Belgian witbier along with more traditional fare like an Irish red ale and an IPA. Brewery manager Jason Markstrom says the festival gives them a chance to reach more potential customers in the U.P.
That was certainly the case for a first-timer at the festival, Amy Carlson, of Negaunee.
"I'm very impressed with the variety of beer," she says. She was there with friend Kristin Ivey of Marquette, who was at U.P. Beer Fest for the third year in a row.
"My favorite kind of beer is craft beer, and there's such a wide variety," says Ivey. "It's exciting to see all the new things, stuff we've never heard of or seen before."
There were definitely beers in that category at the festival--everything from kombucha tea beer to maple sap beer to a wasabi apple ale.
"And next year, we'll know to bring the pretzel necklaces," laughs Carlson, pointing out a passerby with that iconic beer festival accessory.
The other Upper Peninsula breweries rounding out the contingent were Brickside Brewery in Copper Harbor, Ore Dock Brewing Co. in Marquette, Red Jacket Brewing Co. in Calumet, the new-on-the-scene Chocolay River Brewery in Harvey, the Vierling's Marquette Harbor Brewery in Marquette, the Keweenaw Brewing Co. in Houghton, and Jasper Ridge Brewery in Ishpeming.
And with 30 new breweries in the planning stages across Michigan, according to Graham, there might be even more joining the fun next year.
"It really has gotten to be that we see lots more of breweries opening up," says Graham."It's just growth, growth, growth."
He says the outlook for craft brew in Michigan is nothing but positive.
"Only 5 percent of the beer sold in Michigan is craft beer," says Graham. "A lot of people still don't know about craft beer."
That means there's nowhere to go but up.
Kim Eggleston is a freelance writer and editor in Marquette, Michigan. You can find her on Twitter @magdalen13.
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