I was there for the Friday session. What a blast! I was excited to catch some Greenbush, Brewery Vivant and some others that I can't get very often. But what I really ended up enjoying were some of the breweries I had never heard of that had short lines. I had a sour Pils from White Flame Brewing Co. out of Hudsonville that was delicious. A great Flanders Red from Griffin Claw in Birmingham (just opened a week or two ago).
The sours definitely seemed to be the big trend this year. Another one I had was called Turn of Events from the Livery. It was a barrel aged sour bourbon oaked imperial wild ale. So many descriptors, but it was tasty and the various flavor elements were pretty well balanced. Also, more sublter flavored styles like Pilsners and Kolsches seemed to be gaining prominence. There was even a good Pilsner Wine from Our Brewing Co. out of Holland (they also had a nice IPA).
I had one cask beer from Greenbush, but I found out it had just been put in the cask with raspberries the day before. So, it got virtually no character from the wood and only a little bit from the raspberries. The cask brew I had that blew me away was from Ore Dock Brewing Co. It was a session Pale Ale and it was just tasty and balanced. As close to a real ale as I think I've probably ever had.
The other big surprise for me was Perrin Brewing Co from Comstock Park. I got to taste 3 of theirs and they were all really good. I had their Pure Ale and my comment that my wife wrote down was that I could drink 17 of them and enjoy it.
My favorites are probably that Flanders Red from Griffin Claw, the Sour Pils from White Flame and then Brewery Vivant's Trebuchet (Belgian DIPA). That brewery knows how to do a seriously delicious belgian IPA and DIPA. I still have yet to taste something in that style that I like from any other brewery.