OT - Frankenmuth Brewing Company
Just a quick note to those of you living in the S.E. Michigan area who might get to Frankenmuth on occasion (or those outside of the area if you're planning a trip to Bronner's there). The FBC has just reopened as of July 1st, over a decade after being destroyed by fire and subsequent tornado.
They only opened on July 1st, so they're kind of still getting going, but the building is fantastic. A four story, full function brewery with fantastic looking food. I didn't know it had opened, so when I stopped in, I was already full from lunch, but the food looked great.
I had their Red Ale (Red Sky in the Morning), and my wife had FBC Heffewisen, both of which were excellent. I sampled the others, and the English IPA stands out in my mind for being quite hoppy without being bitingly bitter.
The bartender provided samples all the other brews, and showed us their plans for the future, including some awesome giant take home bottles with aluminum handles that they'll distribute in as soon as they get their distribution license. Right now they can only brew and serve on site.
Just thought you guys might enjoy that.
I was very disappointed when they had to close. Every time I go to Frankenmuth I end up going to Blackforest. Now I'm going to have to make a special trip just for the FBC.
Yeah I've been meaning to get in there and check the place out. I live up near Saginaw and travel down to metro Detroit pretty often, so the next chance I get to stop in Frankenmuth, I'll definitely have to give it a shot.
I'm really glad the place is open again -- every time I've been to Frankenmuth the past few years I've driven past it and thought about what a shame it was that such a nice building wasn't being used for anything. I'm sure Black Forest isn't too happy about having the extra competition now.
I've haven't been there since I was a little kid, but my impression of Frankenmuth is as a tacky souvenir shop with a decent chicken place jammed with families and retired people. Am I wrong? If I went to FBC (which sounds great, thanks to the OP for the thread) is there anything else to do?
try going while they have a festival or something going on. Oktoberfest and the World Expo of Beer are both fabulous events. It's also a fun town to go to around Christmas time. But it depends on what you're looking for.
Well there aren't a whole lot of bars or anything like that -- it's definitely a family-oriented place what with the waterpark hotels and stuff. But there are some cool stores and bakeries (e.g. Zehnder's, Willy's) that have obscure and locally-produced stuff that you don't find in other places. You can spend a lot of time just window-shopping down Main St and checking out all the different stores.
They also have Oktoberfest every September and the World Expo of Beer every May, which are both a lot of fun.
The biggest draw there is of course Bronner's, which is the World's Biggest Christmas Store. Is it way overdone? Yes. But it's also pretty cool and they DO have all kinds of crazy Christmas stuff. Anything and everything (and I do mean EVERYTHING) you see there is available to buy, and they've got stuff from all over the world. It's nice because it's a CHRISTmas Christmas store. Not an X-Mas Christmas store. They have a full size replica of a famous temple there, and the works. I try to get there once a year for new Christmas decorations and what not, and then we walk downtown, see the sights, eat at Zhender's, etc.
But would it go well with an authentic Calumet pasty?
Oh, now you've struck a nerve! +1
I should think their pale should be a good choice.
When I was up there over Christmas break it seemed like the town was being hit hard by the economy. There were very few people (especially for the Christmas time with Bronners and all) and a few of the stores were closed. FBC looked like an interesting place and I was disappointed to see it was closed. If only FBC combined forces with Zehnders...chicken dinner and great beer.