First Taste: Fort Street Brewery

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Fort Street Brewery

Metromix Detroit First Tastes

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There's something special about a corner bar -- that’s really on a corner. Authentic, inviting - real: Set up in a neighborhood with all of its cards showing on the table. Nothing pretentious and no marketing gimmicks – a place that is as honest as its name. Right off the bat, you know what you are in for at Fort Street Brewery. Beer, beer, and more beer!

Opened since Valentine’s Day 2005, Lincoln Park’s Fort Street has tapped over 352 new beers, and by the time that crusty old editor gets this up on Metromix, several more are sure to be flowing into steins and mugs.

There’s a reason for it all, of course, just ask owner Pete Romain. Like many entrepreneurs, he started Fort Street Brewery out of a need – the need for a good brewpub, and the need for a place to get good beer. So, when some of the Michigan laws changed, he picked up Brewmaster Doug Beedy (trained at the Siebel Institute of Technology in Chicago), and went to work at creating a place where neighborhood people could come to every day, for simple things like good beer, comfort food and affordable prices.

And that’s what Fort Street Brewery is all about – the simple things - no frills, or bells and whistles. Order the pierogies and bratwurst and you’ll get six potato and cheese pierogies, served with bratwurst, piled with sauerkraut and onions.

Try one of its wraps, like a beef and cheddar wrap (with a generous portion of grilled roast beef, onions, and melted cheddar cheese wrapped in a tortilla) or the chicken caesar wrap (grilled chicken breast diced and mixed with romaine lettuce, parmesan cheese and Caesar dressing, wrapped in a tortilla). Good stuff.

There are plenty of unique and creative options, too, including signature items like the scotch egg (a hardboiled egg wrapped in spicy sausage, rolled in bread crumbs, and deep fried), and sauerkraut balls (simply sauerkraut rolled in breadcrumbs and fried).

Growing in popularity, and sure to be a standard menu item in future is the chicken and waffles (a crisp waffle, topped with cheddar cheese, a fried egg, country fried chicken, more cheddar cheese, and three strips of bacon, with a side of syrup), the stuffed turkey burger (ground turkey mixed with bread stuffing and seasoning, topped with cranberry sauce), and the beer-can chicken (currently available Thursday through Sunday).

Fort Street Brewery holds a Fantasy Camp where folks can learn about different beers, while being paired with different menu items.  Real enthusiasts can join its Fan Club and receive discounts on beer, get yearly drink glasses, and invitations to private parties.

The Brewery is available for bookings of large groups – up to 140. In the summertime (or at least warm Michigan weather), enjoy the food and drink on the outside patio (which seats up to 24). Unlike many other cities, Lincoln Park has free parking, which is located in the rear of the Brewery.

Whether you are already one of the converted masses to cask conditioning brewpub beers, or would just like to try out something unique and different, Fort Street Brewery can be your corner pub.

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