The past 12 months have been exciting for the folks at Tapistry Brewing Company. And now, following a year of hard work, it’s time to celebrate.
On Saturday, July 19 the brewery, at 4236 Lake Street in Bridgeman celebrates its one year anniversary with live music, food, prizes and plenty of limited edition and barrel aged beer.
"The party really is a thank you. It’s a thank you to the community, to all the patrons that we’ve had this past year, and to all the people that aren’t familiar with us to check out all the beers we’ll have that day," says Greg Korson, co-owner of Tapistry Brewing Company.
The beers on tap will be headlined by four barrel aged offerings including Kilting Me Softly, a scotch ale that has been aging in bourbon barrels provided by Journeyman Distillery in Three Oaks; a Sour Blond, the first of its kind created at Tapistry; an IPA; and Eilmer, a Belgian style Triple housed in gin barrels.
"This is our first time ever using gin barrel. It's going to be a little bit of a surprise to us in how it’s going to come out; we’re trying to have a little bit of fun with these," Korson says.
All of the beers offered during the party, including a couple of one-off brews that will be served only at the party, are in essence a microcosm of what Tapistry Brewing is all about--finding unique ways to offer both traditional and contemporary beer styles.
"Every brewery is going to have their own niche, everybody is going to have their thing, and a big part of our thing is making beers that people enjoy but at the same time exposing them to all these different styles of beer, maybe offering something they wouldn’t be able to find unless they traveled all over the world," Korson says.
Bringing the many beers of the world to Southwest Michigan was a primary goal of Tapistry right from the beginning, but as it turns out, the brewery is also bringing brewers from around the world to the area as well.
Tapistry, which had to say goodbye to one of its assistant brewers earlier in the year has recently welcomed Philip Zanello to the team. Zanello, a native of Brazil, brings a different understanding and new mindset to the table when it comes to brewing Tapistry’s beers.
Zanello also is a graduate of Chicago’s Siebel Institute of Technology, the country’s oldest brewing school. "He is very proficient in home brewing from his time in Brazil," says Korson. "It’s good to have a little bit of new perspectives. We’re extremely pleased to have him on board now."
With its brewing team now securely in place Tapistry is ready celebrate its one year anniversary and then plans to move forward and continue experimenting with both and new beer styles.
"It’s been exciting. It’s been challenging, sometimes nerve wracking. Up to this point, I’ve lost count, but we’ve come close to 40 different beers that we’ve produced already. We’ve had the opportunity to be very creative," Korson says.
Writer: Jeremy Martin, Second Wave Media
Source: Greg Korson, Tapistry Brewing Company
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