OT: Four (MAKE THAT FIVE) new microbreweries set to open in Ann Arbor area by Summer's end

Submitted by evenyoubrutus on

If you like craft beer AND variety, then you will have a busy summer if you live in the Ann Arbor area.  Here is each one:

Salt Springs Brewery is opening in a former church building in Saline

http://www.heritage.com/articles/2015/05/16/saline_reporter/news/doc555…

Pointless Brewery & Theater After the wife gets a devastating lung cancer diagnosis, an Ann Arbor couple is opening a brewery/theater (cool idea. Sorry: Freep link)

http://www.freep.com/story/life/family/2015/05/25/brewery-theatre-comin…

Glasshouse Brewery will be opening on the west side of Ann Arbor off Liberty near Wagner road

http://www.concentratemedia.com/devnews/glasshousebrewingannarbor0327.a…

Ypsi Ale House is set to open in downtown Ypsilanti sometime this summer

http://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/index.ssf/2015/05/downtown_ypsilant…

Craft beer enthusiasts, we have our work cut out for us.

EDIT: Thanks to BJNavarre for pointing out that there is (at least) a 5th one opening, also in Saline: Stony Lake Brewing

http://www.stonylakebrewing.com/

 

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Bando Calrissian

May 29th, 2015 at 8:46 PM ^

I'm going to be honest, I really wish one-off restaurants didn't think they needed to make their own beer. I'll take a good restaurant with a great rotating tap list over a good restaurant trying to reinvent the wheel with small-batch beers that usually aren't very good.

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HarbaughorBust

May 30th, 2015 at 9:30 AM ^

I'll never understand a person who sinks a ton of money into their restuarant's appearance then tries to save 10 cents when purchasing their food.   You cannot save your way into prosperity in this business.  You must make profit and the only way to do that is to put a good product on the table and charge.

How many people past the age 28 pick a restaurant to go to because "It's cheap".   You don't.  You pick a restauarnt to go to because it's good.

End of rant.

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coldnjl

May 29th, 2015 at 10:29 PM ^

He didn't say that you couldn't cash in on Craft beers. He is saying why brew something novel when several restaurants/bars (Ashleys, Hopcat, etc.) have shown just providing a quality selection of name brand beers is sufficient for success. Microbrew beers can run the gammit from ugh to good...just serve all good with an extensive selection.

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Von Burgenstein

May 30th, 2015 at 10:34 PM ^

That's actually, generally, not true.  With the exception of the breweries that become the big boys (Bell's, Stone, Founders, etc.), the small time breweries (and owners) don't take home a lot of money.  They stay in the business because they love what they do and have a passion for it.

I know this for fact because I represent several breweries down in NC and have spoken with many others.

Foothills Brewing (local to W-S, NC, but a fantastic regional brewery that's fairly large for a microbrewery)'s main owner still has a day job, I believe, outside of the brewery.

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Bando Calrissian

May 30th, 2015 at 10:44 AM ^

You do understand that Jolly Pumpkin makes North Peak's beers, right? They're all part of the same company, alongside Grizzly Peak. And as far as restaurants, all they have is their brew pub up in Traverse City, alongside the taproom the breweries share at their facility downstate. Grizzly Peak's beers, however, are pretty shitty.

For my money, North Peak is one of my favorite Michigan breweries. Always pick up a sixer when I'm back in the area.

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GoBLUinTX

May 30th, 2015 at 11:41 AM ^

I reminice about my decade living in Bamberg, Germany.  A university town about the size of Ann Arbor with eight breweries; gasthauses, restaurants, and biergartens generally carried the beers from just one brewerie.  Ask for a beer and you are asked what style, not, what brand. No rotating taps, very good beer nevertheless.  

Maybe because there is so much bad beer in the US people become snobby about the relatively few good beers that there are.

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BJNavarre

May 29th, 2015 at 9:02 PM ^

You missed one. Stony Lake Brewing should open in Saline this summer:

http://www.stonylakebrewing.com/

I know the owner of Stony Lake and one of the owners of Salt Springs. Good folks, and I suspect they'll both do quite well. Despite both being breweries, their businesses are going to be quite different, so they both should be able to survive in Saline.

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LSAClassOf2000

May 29th, 2015 at 9:28 PM ^

I wish more of this would happen downriver where I am, but as someone who grew up in the maze of subdivisions that snake between Saline and Ann Arbor, I shall be increasing my number of visits to the old stomping grounds now. Always up for the opportunity to sample beer.

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coldnjl

May 29th, 2015 at 9:39 PM ^

Love me some beer, but I don't want more microbreweries. I want more breweries. Kuhnhenn, Griffen Claw, and Bell's offer this area an extensive beer choice. Importantly, there are quality varieties that microbrews generally can't duplicate. 

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BlueMan80

May 29th, 2015 at 10:05 PM ^

Some MGoMicrobrew reviews from those of you that live in the area that visit these fine, new establishments. Would be nice to know what I should check out this fall after the games. I will go eat and drink with an enthusiasm unknown to brew-kind.

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slaunius

May 29th, 2015 at 10:49 PM ^

Hopefully at least 1 of them turns out to be great. Ann Arbor is still lacking a great microbrewery other than JP and they're a little niche, and even then I wouldn't put any of their beers in the Top ~3 I've had even in the styles they specialize in.

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Lou MacAdoo

May 29th, 2015 at 11:26 PM ^

I'm a fan of Grizzley Peak. We like to go there before shows at The Ark. Good food and I will drink their beer with enjoyment. But to be honest I'll eat and drink most anything with enjoyment. The fish n chips are my shit.



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Don

May 30th, 2015 at 8:44 AM ^

was the first microbrewery in town, and its original owner (who sold out to the current owners before it really got off the ground) was instrumental in persuading the Michigan legislature to change the laws that had formerly made brewing on-site in a restaurant illegal.

This original owner was from the Bay area in CA, and he chose the name Grizzly Peak because a mountain (I'd call it a hill myself) by the same name is just north of Berkeley.

I think GP's own beers are fairly pedestrian, but they carry some really interesting stuff from other places on their rotating taps. I have regular summer business meetings with a colleague at their outdoor tables.

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Lou MacAdoo

May 29th, 2015 at 11:56 PM ^

Ok. I'm an out of towner so I'm out of the loop. I tried JP after a buddy praised them but the food I ordered was mediocre and I couldn't get into the sour beer. What's a great beer of theirs to try?



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SAM love SWORD

May 30th, 2015 at 1:30 AM ^

I don't normally bite on inspirational, sentimental stuff but that article on Pointless Brewery and Theatre really stuck to me. Great story and I'm hoping for some great beer.

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