What a Gem!

Photo courtesy of me.

Don’t, don’t, don’t pass up Sherwood Brewery thinking it’s just another strip mall restaurant!  Sherwood Brewery is a hidden gem! 

If watching sports is your thing Sherwood Brewery is your place!  There are TV’s everywhere.  TV’s in every booth, TV’s on the wall and a big screen TV as you walk in the front door.

The atmosphere is super laid back.  A substantial amount of seating for the size of building, booths, high top tables and regular tables.  There’s even a wall you can draw on.  How fun is that?

Cheesy breadsticks.  Photo courtesy of me.

The food is EXCELLENT!  The menu is loaded with burgers, sandwiches, fish and chips, pizza and of course beer cheese soup.  While I was dining at Sherwood Brewery I had the margarita pizza and cheesy breadsticks.  Yum, Yum and Yum!  With both the pizza and breadsticks you have your option of pizza sauces:  spicy beer sauce, garlic and wine and tomato basil sauce.  The spicy beer sauce and the garlic and wine sauces were delicious.

Beer on tap.  Photo courtesy of me.

And of course the beer is great!  It was super difficult to decide which beers to try so we had a sampler that included all 6 of their beers.  There were two extremely unique beers you won’t find at just any brewery.  The first beer was the Strawberry Wit which is a Belgian style white ale brewed with strawberries.  The Strawberry Wit was very tasty with just enough fruit flavor.  The other beer was Hemp Ale, although not my favorite of the sampler, it was a type a beer I have never tasted.  The Hemp Ale is brewed with pale and toasted malts to accentuate the toasted hemp seeds.  If beer is not your choice of drink Sherwood Brewery also makes their own wine and root beer.

Sampler.  Photo courtesy of me.

 Sherwood Brewery is a must try!

Come Fly with Me!

My most recent excursion to a microbrewery was nestled in the northern part of Macomb County amongst farms.  Just a short drive north out of Metro-Detroit, a little east of Romeo Plank Road on Armada Center Road you will come across Blake’s Ciderhouse & Winery in Armada, MI. 

 

I am going to put this out there before anyone can say anything…hard cider is not beer why are you writing about hard cider on a microbrewery blog?  Hard Cider popped up overnight on beer shelves everywhere.  The similarities between hard cider and beer are:  they are bottled in the same manner, both have a fermentation process, both are bubbly and processed in small batches.  Here is how hard cider was explained to me by the experts at Blake’s “Hard cider has a higher alcohol content than beer but easier to swallow than wine”.

 

Indoor Fireplace at Blake's Ciderhouse. Picture courtesy of me 

My absolutely favorite part of Blake’s Ciderhouse is the atmosphere!  It has this warm, inviting feeling as you walk through the doors you are taken back someplace in time.  Although everything is new it feels as if it has been there 100 years.  In the middle of the Ciderhouse is a fire place that has a campfire ambiance that makes you want to pull a chair up and put your feet on.  Also the table bases are made out of wooden barrels which is so appropriate for the décor.  Since the Michigan winter is hopefully over the Ciderhouse also has an outdoor patio with a fire pit complete with storytellers, drinks and lots of laughter.




Wooden barrel for table base.  Picture courtesy of me.

Ceiling fan at Blake's. Picture courtesy of me.
















Flight.  Picture courtesy of me

Come fly we me!  Blake’s has a drink option called  "flight” which allows you to try any 3 hard cider or wines.  Extremely popular selection for most people when I was at Blake's Ciderhouse there was at least one flight at almost every table.

The one and only thing lacking that I think would make a huge difference is a menu.  People love food!  Over and over talking to people I heard I wish they had more of a menu.  The menu consists of fries, chicken fingers, cheese sticks and a couple other items.  It would also target an audience that hasn’t been considered…nondrinkers.

Overall great place, worth the drive to Armada!  And if you wait a couple months for the strawberries to come in you could make a day out of it.

Welcome to Michigan’s Little Bavaria!

Michigan’s Little Bavaria also known as Frankenmuth, MI. 

This past week was spring break for my family and we decided to take an overnight trip to Bavarian Inn.  While in Frankenmuth we decided to check out Frankenmuth Brewery for a quick lunch. 

As I walked up to the doors I passed numerous extremely happy people walking out with cases of Frankenmuth Brewery’s seasonal brew-Twisted Helles.  Thanks to Groupon’s awesome deal which is still going on, so check it out.  Frankenmuth Brewery Groupon

 

When I walked in the door I was instantly impressed you walk directly into the retail store where you can buy shirts and other Frankenmuth Brewery souvenirs and of course 6 packs and German style growlers of five or six types of beer.  Oh and how could I forget Frankie’s Root Bier by the bottle, 6 pack or case.  Nope bier is not spelled wrong that is how Frankenmuth Brewery spells it, how cute is that?  So if ever to stop by to pick up your favorite beer or root bier you never have to be bothered with the restaurant, well unless you feel the need for some great food.

Speaking of food the menu was somewhat simple and by no means do I mean simple types of food but not an overwhelming number of options.  This is not a bad thing in my eyes, ask my husband he gets sick of the questions “What are you getting to eat?”, “Does this sound good to eat or this?”  So simple is GREAT in my family!

The building is HUGE with a great location overlooking the Cass River.  The brewery is 28,000 square feet with seating for 432 people indoors on various levels and when that Michigan winter finally breaks I expect the huge outdoor patio that can seat 250 people also on various levels to be packed.  The whole brewery has exposed brick walls that give you that loft, urban feeling and brewing equipment throughout.

So overall I am in LOVE with the Frankenmuth Brewery!

Hops Around Michigan?

 

Hops Around Michigan isn’t going to be a blog about what it sounds like-traveling around Michigan. Hops Around Michigan began with a friends brilliant idea of reviewing microbreweries around Michigan-BTW she graciously volunteered to visit these breweries with me.  Thanks for the great idea…you know who you are!  As my profile says my friends and family call me the beer snob, I consider myself as having a sophisticated palate and an appreciation for unique beer.  I can’t help that I enjoy an exceptional beer from time to time.  While visiting the various microbreweries I will also sample their food selection and critique the atmosphere.  Please stay tuned for my most recent visit to Frankenmuth Brewery.