Taking Flight
As my wife and I have been traveling throughout the state and camping over the past couple of summers, we have started to pick up a few habits. First off, we usually look for a used book store or two to visit when we are heading to a new area. This summer, in addition to used book stores, we have also been searching out interesting breweries to have a cold one at.
That's what led us to Austin Brothers Beer Company in Alpena, MI.
Alpena sits on the coast of Lake Huron on the North Eastern side of Michigan's lower peninsula. It's a fairly big town for the area with many of the big box stores you would expect as well as a lively and interesting downtown area. Austin Brothers sits a bit off the beaten path in an area of the town I had never visited before. We actually missed the driveway and had to turn around and come back.
It's actually smart they are located where they are though, being in a somewhat industrial area gives them a lot of space to spread out. There was plenty of parking for those late nights when they fill up, and they had a pretty impressive outdoor area where you can hang out and have a pint or two. I didn't get any great photos of the outdoor area, but you can kind of see it in the photos above to the right of the building and then beyond the trucks in the second photo.
It was a bit hot out and we weren't sure what the shade options were going to be outdoors, so we decided to sit inside.
@mrsbozz started off with their beer called "Sandies Shandy". It's a blonde ale with lemonade that clocked in around 4.4% ABV. She was trying to decide between that one and a beer called Astro Shandy. After I got the Astro Shandy in my flight, she was happy she settled on Sandies Shandy.
As you saw in the opening photo, I went ahead and got a flight of beers. I started off with the Astro Shandy and if the blue color makes you think it would be overly sweet, you are absolutely right. It was honestly more like a cider than a beer. The label it as a Blue Raspberry Lemonade Shandy and it clocks in at 4% ABV. It's not that I didn't like it, but I wouldn't be able to drink a ton of those. There was just something about it that was "weird". Maybe it was the color.
My next beer was their Mexican Lager called Cervesa De Hermanos. Which I think roughly translates to the brothers beer. It was probably one of my favorites at 4.2% ABV, but I have been really leaning into Mexican style beers lately, so that isn't much of a surprise.
My third beer was the Alpena Amber and I think this was probably my favorite of all the ones I tried. It sits at 5.5% ABV and it was just a really solid amber ale. I always forget just how much I love amber ales. It definitely reminded me of my days sipping my first Killians.
Finally, I finished off with the Brown Ale, this 5.7% ABV creamy ale had the traditional flavors you would expect from a brown ale, but there was just a little something missing for me. I can't say what it was, but I am kind of spoiled when it comes to brown ales. There is another brewery in Michigan that makes an amazing brown ale and I always hold every other brown ale to that standard.
Another thing @mrsbozz and I have been doing on these trips is sharing a couple of appetizers instead of ordering full on meals to have with our drinks. This makes sense because it usually ends up being cheaper, and we often plan a bigger meal to cook at our campsite for dinner, so we don't need a full meal at lunch.
In this case, we decided to try their fried queso cheese sticks. They were pretty amazing and a bit of a departure from the traditional mozzarella sticks that you usually find at places like this. The cheese was creamy and gooey, and paired really well with both the ranch and marinara dipping sauce.
We also got a plate of nachos to share. They came with grilled chicken and although they were also supposed to have lettuce, we opted to not get the lettuce due to some recent recalls in our area. You probably heard about it on the national news at some point. It was causing a lot of problems for a while there. The nachos had a beer cheese queso that made them stand out from your typical bar nachos.
Needless to say, we demolished both the appetizers. The food was really good, and I wouldn't hesitate to come back here and try one of their actual dishes instead of just some appetizers. If you are in the area, I highly recommend you check this place out.
Of course, since beer was involved, I will be including this as a #beersaturday post sponsored by @detlev.
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For some reason I can't make myself like the taste of beer. I guess that I will just have to stick to bourbon and sweet cocktails 😀
I used to hate it, but I don't mind it now. I would prefer bourbon, but there are some great craft breweries out there.
I am a ringer for cleaning up a plate of nachos. That is my go to at the Mexican restaurants.
Oddly enough, I don't ever get nachos at Mexican place, but take me to a bar and that is probably one of my staples. Between that, a burger, or wings.