2011 Michigan Brewer's Guild Festival

The annual Brewer's Guild  Beer Fest held at Riverside Park in Ypsilanti is by far of my favorites summer events in the Ann Arbor area. Sure it's usually Sold Out and crowded, and there's a good chance you'll get your shoes muddy as it often rains in late July, but there's no better way to truly get a taste of the range of beer Michigan has to offer.

So this year I took a cab over to the 14th annual festival with much anticipation. As the even usually fills to capacity, the lines can be long at certain brewer's tables. Luckily (and surprisingly), it's usually the big breweries that attract the biggest lines - Arcadia, New Holland, Short's. I can try these beers at any self-respecting Ann Arbor bar, so this year I adopted the strategy of going to whichever table had the shorter line. I must say, although it helped me try  ton of stuff I haven't before, the success rate was quite low...

This year I've tried the following:

Detroit Brewing Co - Detroit [Red] Dwarf
Dragonmead - Sin Eater Dark Belgian Strong
Great Baraboo Brewing Co - Hop Through Summer Ale
Grizzly Peak - Sheerwater English IPA
The Hideout Brewing Co - Cherry Mango Chile Pineapple Pilsner
Liberty St. Brewing Co - Emperor Norton Russian Imperial Stout
Lily's Seafood Grill & Brewery - Propeller Island Pilsner
Dark Horse - Fore Smoked Stout
Malty Dog Brewery & Supplies - Big Lake IPA
Odd Side ales - Peach Tea Blond
Big Buck Brewery & Steakhouse - Banana Bourbon
Mount Pleasant Brewing Co - Iron Horse IPA
Saugatuck Brewing Co - True Scot Ale
Schmohz Brewing Co - Bone Crusher Stout
Jolly Pumpkin - Noel Holiday Ale
Brewery Vivant - Zaison "Super" Saison

The Vivant Saison was the surprise favorite, being both extremely light and drinkable, and still possessinga bit of a bite with a peppery aftertaste:

Although I'm biased since I've tried a lot of Saugatuck beers, their Scotch Ale was up to par as well, and they are my second favorite of the new MI breweries, right after the excellent Milan, MI based Original Gravity.

Despite the low success rate I was glad I went, as this might be my last MI beer fest for a while. The fun of having so many choices to try definitely made up for all the mediocre samples I ended up with due to my shortest-line strategy.