In Ann Arbor, Beer Begets More Beer

If someone took the time to draw out all the connections between craft brewers in the Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti area, it might look like the incestuous family tree the back country people in Deliverance scrawled in their family bible. But even the most seasoned beer connoisseur probably wouldn't be able to taste those connections while sampling a pint from one of the many local brewpubs and microbreweries.

Fifteen years after Arbor Brewing Company Brewpub and Grizzly Peak Brewing Company's taps began gushing out crisp ales and rich porters, Ann Arbor is neck and neck with Grand Rapids for the most brewpubs and microbreweries in Michigan. It's no small feat for a state that ranks sixth in the number of breweries in the nation, according to the Beer Institute.

"Every brewery has their own unique approach and has their own house flavor," says Rene Greff, who along with husband, Matt Greff, owns Arbor Brewing Company and the Corner Brewery and Beer Garden in Ypsilanti. "Maybe three breweries in Ann Arbor all make a stout or all make a red ale – they're all going to be completely different."

Whether by coincidence or divine beer god intervention, Grizzly Peak has helped along that diversity by indoctrinating brewers who've gone on to become the head brewers at recently opened establishments, including Ron Jeffries of Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales and The Blue Tractor's Tim Schmidt.

And when Wolverine Beer opens up its lager-infused microbrewery and taproom on the West side of Ann Arbor this spring, Grizzly Peak alumnus Oliver Roberts will be the head guy manning the brew kettles. Roberts owes much of his commercial brewing knowledge to his time working under the Grizzly head brewer, Duncan Williams. But the American-style lagers he's been making for Wolverine Beer are an entirely different animal - with its flagship beers ranging from a light beer to a dark larger.

Grizzly Peak, on the other hand, is an English-style pub. After years of fine-tuning the six house beers and rotating taps, Williams has inserted his own ideas and personality into each of the British-inspired American ales that the brewpub offers. He's tweaked the Victors Gold recipe from a golden ale fermented with ale yeast to a crisp, ale-lager hybrid. He's also replaced the brewpub's old E.S.B. with an English style India Pale Ale, called Sheerwater I.P.A.

Williams used elements of traditional I.P.A.s, such as English hops that tend to be more rounded and muted, to concoct the Sheerwater recipe. Now, it's Williams' beer of choice when he's not sampling brews from the rotating taps. "There's something about the more subtle character of those hops and trying to match it with lighter malts and everything else with a traditional I.P.A.," Williams says. "Especially with it being pulled through the beer engine, as well – if it's done right, it has a real remarkable character."

Customers have taken note of the change. Spencer Thomas, a craft beer aficionado and home brewer from Ann Arbor, has seen Williams bring more variety and creativity to Grizzly Peak's beer. "The beer is a little fruitier, it has a little more clarity of flavor than it used to," Thomas says. "The individual components of the flavor–the hops and so forth–just stand out a little bit more, now."

Variety has always been a key selling point with Thomas, and he still returns to his longtime favorite, Arbor Brewing Company, for its townie-bar feel and selection of brews varying from hoppy I.P.A.s to cellar-barrel aged beers. "They've always been much more a local business," Thomas says, adding that the owners live in town and support community events and politics.

Its sister microbrewery, the Corner Brewery in Ypsilanti, also offers the same comfortable atmosphere and variety of world beer styles. "We're all about balance," Rene Greff says. "So we think that even beers that are complex and flavorful and interesting should always be well-balanced and drinkable."

Experimentation with fermentation

As downtown Ann Arbor has gained more craft beer establishments, newer brewpubs' food and beer menus seem to cater to increasingly specific niches. While Jolly Pumpkin boasts sour ales and pub food infused with gourmet ingredients, The Blue Tractor serves up southern-comfort-style barbeque and American-style beers. When Wolverine Beer opens up, they hope to lure the game-day crowd with their drinkable lagers.

And that heightened craft beer diversity tends to rub off on other brewers and nurture their creativity.

"It's just the way the creative mind works. It takes in what's around it, processes it, chews it up, mangles it and spits it out as something new and cool looking," Jeffries says. "For me anyway, it's the same with beer. There's no way that you can drink other people's beer and not have it impact yours." Jefferies' oak-aged sour beers at his Jolly Pumpkin microbrewery in Dexter and café in Ann Arbor have impacted locals brewers and craft beer aficionados. The popularity of Jeffries' sour beers points to how Americans' palates have matured, Williams says.

"You're hearing so much more about soured wood-aged beers or what they call ‘wild beers' nowadays," Williams says. "Maybe a year or so after he opened, the sour beer market, it took off – which kind of amazes me because I remember when the craft beer market opened up and you could not get someone to drink an I.P.A. because it was just too bitter."

With more craft beer lovers emerging on the scene –those who've already gotten their feet wet with thick porters and stouts, hoppy beers and, now, sour beers– the demand is steadily rising for non-traditional ingredients.

Jeffries welcomes the experimentation, as long as the beer tastes good. "Our gluten free beer is made with sorghum, tapioca, chestnuts and agaves. So that could be strange to some people," Jeffries says. "For the brewers festival, we had a cask of our Oro that we spiced with garlic and hot peppers - that might seem kind of weird to people."

Interesting ingredients have also made it into the recipes of local home brewers who use The Corner Brewery's 10-gallon "rat pad" brewing system. Mike O'Brien's "chips and salsa beer" was a hit when it flowed out of the rat pad a couple years ago. Now, the local home brewer is working with Matt Greff to get a variation of the chips and salsa beer out in time for Cinco de Mayo. "I had it stuck in my mind that chips and salsa beer would really make a good beer," O'Brien says. "And I meant just using chips and plain-old tomato-y, garlic-y, cilantro kind of salsa."

With craft beer styles becoming increasingly diverse, the formerly shunned American lagers are getting a fair share of attention by local craft beer entrepreneurs like Wolverine Beer. Even Roberts was skeptical of its lager-based concept when he was first approached to be head brewer.

"For my entire beer brewing life, I was trying to get away from American-style light watered-down beer," Roberts says, adding that he had always brewed ales with ease. "I basically made a Budweiser in my basement, and I was amazed at how difficult it was. And that was why I got really, really into it."

Now, that Roberts is cooking up different lager variations, he realizes that he's stumbled upon a craft beer genre that no one, at least to his knowledge, is making on a consistent basis.

"We're going to be a completely different flavor threshold," Roberts says. And he looks forward to the day where he stumbles upon a kind of beer that no one has tried before.

Still pondering what brews to sample at these local craft beer establishments? Take a cue from Williams, who often stops by the Corner for its hoppy Sacred Cow I.P.A. or Olde Number 22 Alt Bier.

During the winter months, a rich, dark beer like the Espresso Love Breakfast Stout at the Corner and Arbor Brewing might also do the trick. Plus, it's made with coffee from the Ugly Mug Cafe in Ypsilanti.

"It has a very subtle dark chocolate and espresso quality, kind of like a dark chocolate espresso bean," Rene Greff says. "The texture is slightly chalky, almost like a Turkish coffee, and then it has a creamy velvety mouth feel that gives it a richness."

At Grizzly Peak, the Bear Paw Porter stands as a go-to dark beer for O'Brien and Thomas. The English hop filled Sheerwater I.P.A. often lands on Thomas' Grizzly bar tab, as well.

For craft beer aficionados searching for something a bit different, Rene Greff recommends the cellar-aged beers at Arbor Brewing. And if you're venturing to Jolly Pumpkin, Greff suggests La Roja – a beer with a subtle sour quality and a good malt base that keeps it from being overly acidic.

But sour beer isn't for everyone, and that's when crisp beers like Blue Tractor's Bumper Crop I.P.A. – a clean, citrus-tasting American style I.P.A. with a medium body – or Wolverine Beer's flagship lager might be the way to go. Up against national brands like Budweiser, Labatt, and Miller Highlife, Wolverine Beer's lager scored third place in a blind tasting, Roberts says.

Of course, the "King of Beers" scored last.