in the Michiana area for a couple weeks...

I'm up here in Mishawaka with work for the next two weeks.

Anybody have some must do beer activities. I'm gonna hit some liquor stores for beers that aren't available in Kentucky, but are there any great pubs or even breweries in the area?

I would make the drive to Bell's in Kalamazoo.

3 Floyd's is close ish, bells, new Holland is good too. Holland,mi is a neat area for a day trip anyway. Dark horse isn't too far either.

A few years back we did a beer vacation in that area:
2 brothers
3 Floyd's
Bells
New Holland
Michigan brewing
Founders
Arcadia
Dark horse

In 5 days

I would say do not miss Founder's if you can get to Grand Rapids. Also, the Frederick Meijer Gardens in Grand Rapids is pretty cool.

Xtant said:

I'm up here in Mishawaka with work for the next two weeks.

Anybody have some must do beer activities. I'm gonna hit some liquor stores for beers that aren't available in Kentucky, but are there any great pubs or even breweries in the area?

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I lived in the Hampton Inn north of Notre Dame for 6 months so I can make quite a few suggestions from an out of town'ers point of view both beer and food related.

Paw Paw Brewing Great new brewery, I was there when they opened less than two years ago.

The Livery- Great beer and atmosphere

The Round Barn

Bells- Is less than an hour and they have a nice homebrew store.

New Holland Brewing

Chubby Trout -Great 1 lb. Bluegill dinner, fresh sushi , excellent steaks and quite a few craft taps.

Taste of Asia- The best Chinese I found, I ate here at least once a week the entire time I was there.

Belmont Beverage- The two I found in the area to have the best selection were:
1102 East Ewing Ave
South Bend, IN 46613
Phone: 574-234-0666

1621 South Bend Ave
South Bend, IN 46617
Phone: 574-233-4603

If you have a smart phone I would recommend these two apps. I travel 6 states for business and I have very rarely been disappointed with the information from either of these resources.

Find Craft Beer
Urban Spoon

I will post more as I recall them. Enjoy our stay.

You can ignore everything said so far because no one mentioned shorts.

Skip bells, the fact that they are popular always astounds me, biggest beer myth perpetuated..."yeah...but 2 hearted". Lol

Jolly pumpkin, founders, shorts, and find your way to 3 Floyd's it is one of the best breweries anywhere.

I've been with you on other occassions but this one just aint right. Bells Two Hearted and Bells Oberon are elixirs of the Gods my man -throw the old man's stout in there as well!

I've studied the Shorts HumaLupaliscious and the Pandemonium at lenght. I side on the side of the previous mentioned Bells products.

Jhoss

Check out Bare Hands Brewery in Granger, IN (basically in Mishawaka) and Iechyd Da in Elkhart, IN. Both are great new breweries in our fine area. If you want some great beer and food, there is Fiddler's Hearth in South bend, IN. Great tap list and great pub food (I love the scottish burger). All less than 15-20 minutes out of Mishawaka. There is also Greenbush Brewing Co about an hour away in Michigan.

Also, I disagree on Taste of Asia, I would favor J. W. Chen's in South Bend, IN for the best Chinese food in the area. The lady that run's the place is amazing as is her cooking. Khun-Daeng Thai Kitchen is also amazing for Thai food, I could live on that place alone.

Also, the Potawatomi Zoo's Zoo brew is sept 7th. http://potawatomizoo.org/Zoo_Brew.asp it's a nice little beer event for local breweries and helps out the wildlife.

http://www.fiddlershearth.com/

http://iechyddabrewingcompany.com/

http://www.barehandsbrew.com/

http://www.greenbushbrewing.com/

http://www.khundaeng.com/

http://www.jwchens.com/

Jhoss said:

I've been with you on other occassions but this one just aint right. Bells Two Hearted and Bells Oberon are elixirs of the Gods my man -throw the old man's stout in there as well!

I've studied the Shorts HumaLupaliscious and the Pandemonium at lenght. I side on the side of the previous mentioned Bells products.

Jhoss

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I knew I would be on thin ice with the Michigan people.

I do like two hearted, it is a quality beer. For me though, it stops there.

Oberon just isn't my kind of American wheat and I have had years of hopslam(fresh) that are solid and some that are anything but.

Bells amber, pale ale, and some others even less memorable "standard" are about as meh as beer gets. I have not had some of their specialty stouts(would like to) but have heard mixed things. That's like, just my opinion man...

Long and short of it is, I LOVE Michigan(especially the UP and west coast of the hand) and they have a more than respectable beer scene with lots of good beer, you'll have a blast.

DonMagee said:

Check out Bare Hands Brewery in Granger, IN (basically in Mishawaka) and Iechyd Da in Elkhart, IN. Both are great new breweries in our fine area. If you want some great beer and food, there is Fiddler's Hearth in South bend, IN. Great tap list and great pub food (I love the scottish burger). All less than 15-20 minutes out of Mishawaka. There is also Greenbush Brewing Co about an hour away in Michigan.

Also, I disagree on Taste of Asia, I would favor J. W. Chen's in South Bend, IN for the best Chinese food in the area. The lady that run's the place is amazing as is her cooking. Khun-Daeng Thai Kitchen is also amazing for Thai food, I could live on that place alone.

Also, the Potawatomi Zoo's Zoo brew is sept 7th. http://potawatomizoo.org/Zoo_Brew.asp it's a nice little beer event for local breweries and helps out the wildlife.

http://www.fiddlershearth.com/

http://iechyddabrewingcompany.com/

http://www.barehandsbrew.com/

http://www.greenbushbrewing.com/

http://www.khundaeng.com/

http://www.jwchens.com/

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Good to hear about these newer places, I will make a point to go! My wife is from Elkhart originally , and still has a lot of family in the goshen area

Sounds like some great suggestions. I have Saturday and Sunday completely free. Maybe I need to start planning.

Driving isn't an issue.

Looks like two hours for Founders and an hour and a half for 3 Floyds.

Xtant said:

Sounds like some great suggestions. I have Saturday and Sunday completely free. Maybe I need to start planning.

Driving isn't an issue.

Looks like two hours for Founders and an hour and a half for 3 Floyds.

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Just a block or three from Founders ia a great pub they have over 50 taps and more bottles than I can count. They specialize in MI. beer so you may be able to knock off the list you my not be able to get too.

Hopcat

I didn't get a chance to go to Hopcat, but I did hit up Founders.

It was pretty neat. I tried their Spite. It was a pepper pale ale according to the bartender. He said it had a "little heat." I initially passed on it, but my curiosity got the better of me. It was light and refresh-holy crap. The burn. It started off light and crisp, but before I could even start to pick out flavors, the peppers hit. Then I noticed my lips were tingling. Then burning. Then reached over and grabbed one of the many glasses of water the barback had set up. It was hot. Very hot. For dinner I had their Big Easy (phenomenal sandwich) and their chips and salsa. Spite had at least twice the bite of their salsa. It was an, um, interesting beer.

I've also been picking through various liquor stores to come up with beers unavailable in KY. So far:

- Fat Tire
- Ranger
- Blue Paddler
- Somersault
- Yeti Imperial Stout
- Boulevard Brewing Co Dark Truth Stout
- Keweenaw's Widow Maker Black Ale
- Atwater's Vanilla Java Porter

The New Belgium's were not new to me, but I've never had the others. I just picked up the Yeti and it is fantastic.

I'm seriously debating the three hour drive to Wisconsin to pick up some New Glarus brews...

Check out boulevard 's other smokestack series beers if you can get them. Dark truth is great, as is sixth glass and the Saison Brett is phenomenal.

New Holland makes some phenomenal beers... Dragon's Milk is a barrel age dark ale/stout that comes in at 10% abv, and is complex, smooth, and sneaky... you have to be careful drinking it because the 10% sneaks up on you because it is so balanced and smooth!

They also make a great sour (Blue Sunday Sour), a Mole inspired ale (El Mole Ocho), a smoked Rye porter (Charkoota Rye), a honey infused triple (Beerhive Triple), a very balanced IIPA (Imperial Hatter)... they also just released their fall seasonal pumpkin ale that is well received (Ichabod).