Mini Beer Tour VII

A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of traveling to Detroit. The word has ignorantly spread stating that the city has decayed horribly. I think Detroit has more life than the bare eye can understand. There is proudness in the people; the way they move and talk when refereeing to their hometown goes beyond patriotic. I realize that there is more than abandoned buildings or pretty parks in Detroit…it’s the people who make the city.

A few reasons to go to Detroit:

Atwater Brewing Company

As I parked my car outside a factory-like building…I was not sure that we had arrived to the place marked by the GPS as Atwater Brewing. As I parked, a ‘pompous’ touristy like couple arrived at the same time as we did but quickly panicked at the site and returned to their car…the place did give an air of shadiness, construction/alley feel…At first, we didn’t see any signs of a tap room or pub, so we began to explore our way inside…I didn’t travel half way across the state ‘not’ to drink an Atwater beer. As we imagined, the building entrance was hidden on the opposite side of what seemed the main entrance. I do not know if they’ve been remodeling, but what we entered as ‘Atwater Brewing Company’ was this huge concrete storage room packed to the roof with crates of beer…in other words, ‘beer paradise’. As we walked thru the tall structures of beer boxes of ‘Dirty Blonde’ and ‘Vanilla Java Porter’, we heard faint rumors of music and laughter. As we approached to what seemed like a provisional bar, we sat on a long table with some ‘hipster’ like chaps, and we drank some wonderful beer. People where friendly and eager to drink, and why not, the beer was fantastic.  As I always do, I ordered the house IPA and later, the famously known Vanilla Java Porter…people have come to recognize this as a fantastic brew, and I have to agree. It is quite great…

As the drinks settled in our systems, we realized that we should keep drinking/moving, so we headed downtown for another beer.

Detroit Brewing Co.

As we parked the car in a possible ticket zone, we saw the shining beautiful sign of the Detroit Brewery Co. calling us forth. I had come here a year before to witness the Tigers get whooped by the New York Yankees. The place was equally packed as back then, but no game was scheduled… once again I didn’t try several beers that I would have liked to. The beer was good (though I am easily satisfied when it comes to alcohol), and people seem to love it. The Local 1529 IPA was my first pick and it did not disappoint, I also had some of the Detroit Red. By this point I was completely buzzed and ready for the main attraction of the night...anyways, if you want to have a great meal and some amazing drinks, you should go visit Detroit Brewing Co., it will not disappoint. 

Wings Stadium

As we drove towards the main attraction of our trip, we realized that moving thru Detroit is so much easier than expected. We parked and went inside the Stadium. I wish I could come see a hockey game, but today was not the case. As we sat waiting for MUSE to come out and perform, we realized that the only negative experience in our trip was paying 7$ for a shitty Coors Light…but when the tongue is on fire, you need anything to put it out. We recognized some of our hipster friends from Atwater, and even some familiar faces from Detroit Brewing, but then again, alcohol makes you see things that you later won’t remember. MUSE was better than expected…the visual aspects of their show was phenomenal.

 

Come to Detroit, there is so much to do…

Cerveza Indio

Cerveza Indio is literally, without exaggeration, the beer that I’ve consumed most in my life. Let me explain; during my undergraduate studies in Morelia, Mexico, my roommates and I had this wonderful habit of buying a caguamón of Cerveza Indio every night. Literally every night, we would drink a 40oz Indio beer. As I remember, Indio was the first brand to promote 25% more product in their bottles. This made the choosing process so much easier…we would just get the largest amount of beer for the least amount of money. Time has passed since the ‘every-night-beer-fest’ but the memories remain fresh in my mind…at least the ones that haven’t been tainted by a horrible hangover.
Anyhow, Cerveza Indio seems to be moving into the US market, and quite frankly I think it is a great move. Mexican culture holds a strong affinity to their roots and the influence it creates around the world is quite astonishing. Mexicans in the US will see this beer on the shelves and it will create a spark that will remind them of home. Second generation families will find a connection with the beer that their families drank down in Mexico and Americans who know the beer from their touristy travels to Mexico will portray it in their parties reminiscing on how wonderful Mexico is and how they wished they could go back. I’m not going to go into the details of marketing…I’m just saying, in the verge of the American micro-brewery industry, every company will do everything in their power to get their brew recognized.

 

For some reason the memories of Indio that stay afloat have to do with the beach. Every time I think about Indio, the image of me, dangling on a hammock with a caguamón in my hand pop into my head. In that same deal, I think about Mexican beer cocktails…‘Micheladas’ or ‘Clamatos’. So instead of ranting out on the quality of this beer and all that technical bullshit, I’m going to post my own recipe for what my American friends have classified as a ‘Mexican bloody Mary’…or how it was recently baptized: El Bloody Pedro.

EL BLOODY PEDRO!

1 Cerveza Indio (or 2…or 8)
2 key limes
8oz. Clamato juice
1 splash of Maggi seasoning
1 splash of Worcestershire sauce
1 hint of Tajin
1 splash of Valentina sauce
1 hint of pepper

How to Mix
Pint Glass or any container really…

1.       Rub rim of glass with used lime

2.       Dip in salt

3.       Mix all ingredients (except for beer) and stir

4.       Slowly add beer to match ideal taste

  Drink and enjoy!

Smitten

Bell’s Brewery has become one of my favorite spots in the world. I love spending time in their tap room and drinking myself giggly. Bell’s is truly a landmark of Kalamazoo’s unique culture. I enjoy many of their beers…when I leave Kalamazoo, I will take two cases for the trip; Two-hearted Ale and Hopslam. 

Just recently I came across a cute little beer that they’ve been marketing thru February called “Smitten Golden Rye Ale”… I realized that the label connotes a flower being petal-picked; a subtle yet strong symbolic representation of ‘love to be’. Little did my mind even process that the beer hit the area around Valentine’s Day. I don’t think too much of Valentines, honestly I think it’s a harsh sad ‘holiday’ which only reminds us how fragile we are as humans. Love and friendship does not need a day to pin-point the need to buy meaningless cards with pointless words. I might sound like a Valentines- Grinch, and it might be because as a kid I once urged the need to receive little pieces of paper with nice little sentences and never actually received them (ultra dramatic *sigh*). Still…I do believe in love, and its power in this world. I also believe the more we recall love as an object or as a word, it loses its meaning. So instead of celebrating love in a certain day, why don’t we show it whenever possible?
Go get a six-pack of Smitten and celebrate your love or drown your sorrows…either way, your belly will appreciate it.

Mexican Beer Tour IV

Every year when I go back to Mexico, there’s a horrible feel between being on a vacation and being at home…I hate it. It’s the small details during my trip that make this feeling get worse: someone slightly changed the furniture in the living room; a friend moved out of his apartment and you weren’t aware about it; your favorite taco stand moved without notice to your email. As I slowly ease into the feel of being back ‘home’, I become less and less sensitive to these details and things seem familiar once more. By the end of the journey, I usually don’t want to leave anymore. Today, months since I was in Mexico, I look out the window and the snow reminds me that I’m far away from home. Far away from that hospitality that no other place in the world can resemble. Far away from the food that not even the most authentic restaurant can replicate. Still, the feel of stone and wood lingers in my head as I remember the cafes near my old school…I look forward to going back to Mexico.

At the end of my last trip, I spent some time in Amati café. My world turned inside out as my nostalgia from another ‘home’ became apparent; beers…such as the ones brewed in Michigan. Years back when I used to live in Morelia I would have frowned upon the idea of ‘artisanal beer’; mostly because I would only drink ‘shitty’ charanda or mescal. Don’t get me wrong, these drinks can be really incredible…but not the brands that you purchase in plastic containers. I want to think that I’ve matured my sense of taste and now I urge myself to consume more sophisticated beverages. Maybe? Not really, I still drink a lot of the ‘shitty’ liquor…I just drink some of the good stuff too.

In the sophisticated boundaries of ‘elite’ beer making, I present the next wave of brewers’ goodness: Cerveceria La Bru.

La Bru was initiated as a co-op between three home brewers, Jeffrey Shults, Daron White and Rodrigo Cervantes. This crew has been together for about seven years.  Since then, they’ve managed to produce and distribute their beer around Morelia. In the time I spent in this lovely ‘townslike’ city, I had the wonderful opportunity to share drinks with these delightful chaps, and as I would quote a friend of mine “get ma’ drink on, bitches”. Though I didn’t get to savior each beer meticulously, I did get a good impression on most of their production.

I am a huge IPA nerd, so that was my first pick; it had a nice balance and a zesty tangy bite…at least enough for any Moreliano to feel it and exclaim “ay wey di”. I also had some of their Ginger Ale and I thought it had a nice ‘session-beer’ feel. I can definitely see a big crowed liking this drink; personally I wouldn’t feel any attraction to this ginger beauty. My impressions aim more towards their least known beers, particularly the ‘experimental’ coffee stout. I’ve had plenty coffee stouts since I’ve lived in Michigan. What I realize is that in order to get a good coffee stout, you need to get good coffee. In other words; if you live in Morelia, you have a sea of options when purchasing toasted coffee beans. I think La Bru knows this, and they’re doing it right. As soon as they start manufacturing it, their coffee stout will become their next big hit. Other local brewers will follow on this trait if they haven’t already. Salud for all the good beer in Mexico…it’s about fucking time.

Mexican Beer Tour III

Making beer today is no new discovery. We’ve been brewing beer for literally hundreds of years. In some places they’ve been using the same live cultures for that amount of time. Beer brewing has passed its time for ‘exploration’. Society has begun its expansion stage; we are trying to get more people to drink beer...better beer. If we look at beer brewing as an art, it holds many similarities to music. We’ve come to a point of recreating beer recipes as we recreate Bach cantatas. Which is the feature that embellishes art and makes it more interesting? Which factor brings worlds together? What influences the taste of beer if it’s brewed by a musician or an architect? To what extent can an artist or a non-artist influence the taste of the beer? I don’t know but I’m sure that the answer is at the end of beer glass. What I do know is that in Morelia, Mexico there’s a Brewery held down by an incredible musician named Alan Daows and the results of his beers are quite pleasant. His brewery is Brewfus Cervecería.

A small side note…When you visit Morelia, you have to stop by at Amaticafe. This wonderful place is a gathering point for musicians and beer connoisseurs alike. Located behind the renowned Conservatorio de las Rosas, Amaticafe is the place to go and drink artisanal brews. The air lingers with a smell of curiosity…you see people drinking IPA’s and stouts for the very first time! That…to me, is magical. Let me clarify really quickly; not an I.P.A but an “ee’pa”. 

To keep it short and magical, Brewfus beers are good. But my ‘review’ goes towards the beers that are not yet marketed. I get an exclusive glimpse into the creative stage of the brewer himself: The experimental Pale Ale B41 and the Altbir 33. After pouring both drinks and sharing them around the table. It has been decided the Altbir 33 should receive a proper name, and be ready for distribution…but that’s just a bunch of drunks talking. Alan’s Altbier style beer has a sweet crisp taste which led to an extensive fight about German lagers. I think all beers should engage people in discussion, especially if you’re ‘nerding-it-up’ with some epic board games…this case; Settlers of Catan! Anyway, I loved the yeasty taste that lingered sweetly throughout the whole beer, and the lacing from the pour was just majestic.

You’ll hear more from Brewfus Cerveceria… I feel like a schmuck for not snatching a Brewfus glass when I had the chance.