MBG Summer Beer Festival in Ypsilanti this weekend

So, who's going to be there, and what are you looking forward to trying?

Bought a ticket but sold it. Decided to pass on the MI Summer Beer Festival this year. The winter fest is where it's at ;-)

mors said:

Bought a ticket but sold it. Decided to pass on the MI Summer Beer Festival this year. The winter fest is where it's at ;-)

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Two different crowds, from my experience, but I love them both!

I'm going to be there on saturday with my cousin, girlfriend, and a couple of her friends.

Looks like Friday AND Saturday are sold out! Over 800 beers!

Going both days with Enthusiast membership. Friday is a different crowd then saturday. Saturday tends to be more of a drunkfest, but it is still fun.

Bring a pancho, it might be rainy.

Saturday,Going with Son... I am so excited,did a 5 brewery tour to prep for Tomorrow... Sleepy time... I am not getting any younger. Dark Horse is bringing 99 beers....

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.

Here's some video I shot while enjoying the festivities, just in case anybody wanted to know how awesome a festival with over 80 breweries and 800 beers can be.

[ame]http://youtu.be/qUmbEDb8910[/ame]

...What a great event...

signpost said:

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.

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I, too, loved the sour pils. Really tart and wonderful. I'm glad Round barn brought back their Grape Expectations, because that was a favorite of mine inyears past and I never make it out there. Pike 51 impressed me with their selection, including their English Mild. Nothing too crazy, just some damn good beer. It was the first time I tried them and I was impressed. Also, being in their backyard, I'm glad I had an opportunity to try Unity Vibration's Bourbon Peach Wild Ale. It keeps disappearing from the shelves when I'm in the mood to buy it.

Freep.com has a photo gallery. Maybe someone from here can find themselves??