Spring beer guide 2010

Brewmaster Rockne VanMeter knows that a good spring beer should be light and “effervescent.” Currently Bastone features two “springtime” brews on tap: the Biere de Garde is a French farmhouse ale that is maltier and hoppier than its sister Belgian saisons. It goes down well in warmer weather and you can drink a few “without feeling like you drank a bottle of whiskey,” Rockne says. The Black Wit is a Belgian black ale styled after its year-round Wit (which has notes of orange peel and coriander) that is more of a spring transition beer. The Black Wit has a hint of orange with chocolate and roast characters and is lighter-bodied, making it more of a “drinking” beer (i.e., you can knock back a few of these). Soon Bastone will be releasing their annual Hefeweizen, a not-too-strong German wheat beer with notes of clove and banana. Hefeweizens are very popular in the warm weather months, and this one will be followed with its brother from another mother, the Dunkelweizen. This is a dark hefeweizen with the same banana and clove characteristics but also with notes of roast and chocolate -- still light enough for spring and summer; Rockne mentions that this is a good dark beer in the summertime for people who prefer dark beer. Bastone offers happy hour specials seven days a week from 3-6 p.m. which is $1 off pints and half-off pizzas, frites, and mussels. They also offer mug club memberships for a one-time-only lifetime fee of $50.

Black Lotus is a popular urban chic spot in up-and-coming Clawson that attracts the trendy 20-something crowd.But this says nothing about its beer. Aside from some typical standards, Black Lotus usually features a few stand-out seasonal beers with unexpected twists. For spring, it’s the I Think Spring Ale, with honey and chamomile, full of soothing floral notes that inevitably conjure images of life after the deep-freeze. Also served this season is the White Pepper Wit, a very light, upbeat wheat beer with a slight hint of pepper at the end of the palate. The Clay-Town Vintage Brown Ale is great as a dark springtime beer, similar to Newcastle with a sweet, malty finish but still light enough to enjoy a few pints. Other warm weather options include their People Mover Pilsner and Hip Hops American Pale Ale, both light in color and body. Black Lotus Brewing offers a full menu and happy hour specials Monday-Friday from 4-6 p.m., which includes half-off appetizers like their popular Lotus Wings and half-off regular select pints. From 12-2 p.m. daily BL offers a burger and pint for $5.99. There is also a mug club that costs $35 annually and includes 10% off all food purchases and a special 20-oz. logo mug with discounted fills.

Ann Arbor’s Blue Tractor doesn’t miss a beat when it comes to recreating the deep south here in the midwest. Just reference its list of bourbons and rye whiskeys on the menu as well as their “retro” beer list (in cans): Schlitz, PBR, Stroh’s. But connoisseurs needn’t be concerned; just because its house brews share a menu with Blatz doesn’t mean they’re playing the same ballgame. Washington St. Wheat is out now, and is another refreshing wheat to please the palate. The Bearded Pig Pilsner is a classic lager perfect for chugging -- not that, er, we recommend that. The Bumper Crop IPA is an American IPA loaded with hops for that distinctly bitter bite ... something about hops and heat, they just seem to go together so well! Come for the beer but stay for the food! (Or vice-versa, whatever works for you.) The menu here is a fried-fish-and-BBQ-lover’s delight. Enjoy half-off draft beer and $1 off everything else during its daily happy hours from 3-6 p.m. and 10 p.m.-12 a.m. seven days a week. Or join the mug club: $40 gets you a lifetime membership as well as a logo glass, a T-shirt or hat, and $1 off all pints.

At any point in time Dragonmead Microbrewery in Warren has nearly 50 beers on tap and many of them are perfectly suited for spring sipping (and by “sipping,” we of course mean gulping generously). The Redwing Raspberry Wheat and the Castlebrite Ale (an apricot wheat) are both flavored with natural fruit juices and puree, very conducive to spring drinking. And, Bil’s Witbier has the orange and coriander notes of a Wit. Between these three it’s practically a farmer’s market on your tongue! In May they will be bringing out its Maibock, a German lager, called Tuhelles Enbock (if you say it out loud…a couple of times…slowly…sounds like…”to hell[s] and back” -- there ‘ya go). Dragonmead is also known for its clever naming conventions, such as the local favorite Final Absolution. They also have the German wheat beer Nagelweiss and the fruity Kaiser’s Kölsch on tap year-round, making for an easy transition for those who just can’t wait for summer summer or just like to pretend once in awhile. Dragonmead offers a Passport Club for beer fans which is $25 for a lifetime membership and looks like a passport with spots for tasting notes and special benefits just for members. Also, there's a sudstastic happy hour every Monday-Thursday from 3-7 p.m. when select pints are $3.50.

Grizzly Peak is another one of the many fine breweries out the Ann Arbor way, but it is definitely worth the trip. Great food, great beer: you can’t ask for anything more. For spring, brewmaster Duncan Williams has his Yorkshire Angel, a northern English-style pale ale brewed with oat malt filled with generous dose of hops: Creamy, smooth, lightly toasty with a hoppy finish. The Our Little Giant Lager has clean malt and hop and is a friendly 4.4% ABV so you can enjoy more than one easily. The Hop Happy Monk is a hoppy take on Trappist-style ales with lots of European-style hops blended with pilsner malt, wheat and sugar. For hop-heads, this is definitely the place you want to be because Grizzly Peak also has its Imperial Goldings Ale available. It's made with 25 pounds of U.S. and East Kent Goldings hops (in non-beer-person’s terms, that’s a lot). The Strang Wullie Strong Scotch Ale will also be making a brief appearance, big and malty with molasses-like sweetness which is a nice way to say goodbye to winter. Late April, La Fille Du Fermier (the Farmer’s Daughter) will be released. This is Duncan’s take on Belgian/French farmhouse ale, brewed with oats, Munich malt, brown sugar, spices, and fermented with a spicy and fruity Belgian yeast: light, fruity, and thirst-quenching. May will see the release of El Heffe, its Bavarian-style Hefeweizen. For $60, enthusiasts can get a lifetime membership to its mug club which and includes a personal 20-oz. mug with deeply discounted pours, as well as an invitation to its annual brew-off where home brewers can show off their stuff. Happy hour is 4-6 p.m. Monday-Friday and seven days a week in the Den from 11 p.m. 'til closing time and features $2 off pints, $3 off 22-oz. drafts and $5 off pitchers.

Kuhnhenn in Warren started as a hardware store. Now it’s one of the most experimental brewers in the state ... Ever had a beer that was 14% ABV? That tasted just like smooth pumpkin pie without a note of alcohol? A trip to Kuhnhenn can be dangerous without a DD; don’t say we didn’t warn you. This season Kuhnhenn offers its White Devil Imperial Wit Wheat beer, made with Michigan unmalted organic wheat (and loaded with medium bitterness). This ranks a little lower on its scale at only 8% ABV (still higher than most beers). A little more the Kuhnhenn speed is the Oud Bruine, a sour cherry that’s 11.5% ABV (now we're talking). This is a Flemish-style ale made with Munich malt intensified by boiling overnight and aged for six months on a blend of exotic yeasts and micro flora and infused with Michigan Montmorency Cherries (got all that? It's gooood). A Maibock most likely is coming later in the season. And, because the beer is so high-quality (and also probably because the place is always packed), Kuhnhenn doesn't usually run any specials, but Tuesdays take $2 off your growler fill. And believe it: you’ll want to leave with a handful of growlers.

Detroit's Motor City Brewing Works introduced its hard cider in 2009 and it’s been a smashing -- um, no pun intended -- success. Made with Michigan apples and raisins, it’s more tart than sweet and is perfect in the spring…summer…fall…and winter. It’s a perfect year-round beverage, so thankfully MCBW have decided to keep it year-round! As far as beers go, you can always depend on good ol’ reliable Ghettoblaster (an English-style mild ale) to be on tap, as well as its signature lager and pale ale. For spring there will also be the 90W-40 available, a double American pale ale, and they say an amber wheat may be served up. In mid-May, MCBW will have an orange honey blossom wheat available (just in time for their rooftop patio to open!). The kitchen is open late every day serving gourmet brick-oven pizzas, and every Wednesday night they host This Week in Art from 7-11 p.m. -- where local artists get to showcase and sell their art. Drink beer, hang out, buy art. Yes.

At Rochester Mills, brewer Eric Briggeman keeps a rotating list of seasonals and favorites on tap to please a broad spectrum of beer drinkers’ palates. Right now in April, he's featuring a Czech pilsner-style lager, which is the most famous and familiar beer style (though this one will have almost as much hop character as a pale ale but with a distinctly different flavor profile). In May, it's “Maybock” Maibock will be released, which is a malty German-style lager with a slightly higher alcohol content (about 6-6.5% ABV). Rochester Mills also features 10 different beers on tap at all times, which right now includes its Water Street Wheat German-style wheat beer, a hefeweizen, and the Wits Organic, an American-style witbier. Happy hour specials are Monday-Friday 4-6 p.m. with $3 pints, $3 well drinks, and half-off appetizers. Membership to the mug club costs $35.00 annually and gets you a numbered 20-oz. mug with discounted fills, free beer all day on your birthday (you can make up the cost of the membership right there!), a monthly e-newsletter, and an annual party for members with free food and beer.

Christopher Reilly is the head brewer and cheesemaker at Traffic Jam & Snug, Detroit’s only from-scratch kitchen-slash-brewery-slash-dairy-slash-bakery (as well as Michigan’s first designated brewpub). He just released his Owaso Wheat, which is a wheat beer made from unmalted Michigan wheat from Owaso (hence “Owaso Wheat"). Traffic Jam will roll out its Maibock this month, and you can always count on its pilsner on tap (the good old-fashioned stand-by beer like the one to transition your Bud Light-drinking friends to craft beer). Happy hour is Monday-Friday 3-7 p.m. at the bar with $1 off pints.