Going to the U.P. in June - brewery/restaurant ideas?

My wife and I are heading up the the U.P. for 3 or 4 days, probably during the second week of June. Just a short getaway--mostly around the Keweenaw Peninsula and western part of U.P. Will be staying in Houghton.

And good recommendations for breweries and casual places to eat?

 

Thanks for the tips, Yooper! I have heard mixed reviews for KBC, but I'll try them anyway. We will probably make it up to Copper Harbor, so I'll keep a lookout for the new brewpub (Brickside?).

 

Red jacket brewing company in calumet

 

There's only like 4-5 breweries on that penninsula. You can hit them all.

I've had beer at Keweenaw Brewing and it's mediocre. The Library is decent and an interesting place to visit. Food was good when we ate there.

I missed out on Red Jacket in Calumet due to them not open the day we went by there. Brickside was not open yet last time we went up. Looks like a cool little place.

Marquette is not too far away. Blackrocks brewing seems to be making some fine beers IMO. The Vierling Restaurant has pretty good beer and food.

 

Just got back from the U.P. today. We stayed in Laurium, MI, and only made it to two breweries. We ate dinner at Michigan House/Red Jacket in Calumet. I only tried their coffee oatmeal stout, and it was tasty. The food was quite good too.

We hit Brickside in Copper Harbor. The people there were very friendly, but the beers were kind of a mixed bag. We tried a flight of 8. The best were the saison, Scotch ale and their porter. There were a couple pale ales, including a SMaSH, that were OK, but not especially memorable. But two beers had bad off-flavors. The IPA had an intense diacetyl aroma and taste, so much so that I could barely smell or taste the hops. Their stout had a sharp sour taste, like vinegar. Maybe bad tap lines.

We never made it to any breweries in Houghton, and didn't make it to Marquette. Maybe next trip up that way.

We did have an awesome 4 days there, with great weather for hiking and photography.