(Ypsilanti, MI and Portland, OR) – Two of the biggest beer fests of the summer will be happening this week. The Oregon Brewers Festival kicks off tonight with the Oregon Brewers Dinner (sold out) and tomorrow morning with brunch (sold out) and a parade. The three-day event will then feature over 75 beers. The Michigan fest takes place Friday evening and Saturday afternoon. Fests are all about camaraderie with other beer drinkers but it doesn’t hurt to know what great beer is available so we’ve got our top picks below.
Note: for more info on the fests, hit these links: Oregon Brewers Festival (full beer list); Michigan Summer Beer Festival (full beer list)
Most of our focus will be on the Michigan festival because we have over 4x the number of beers with which to work. There will be more beers at each of the tables that we mention; we’re just discussing the highlights here.
MICHIGAN SUMMER BEER FESTIVAL
Founders Brewing
Founders Brewing will be offering a number of great beers at its table. Led by Kentucky Breakfast Stout, the brewery will also have another well-known beer, Devil Dancer IPA, beside it. Maybe even more interesting will be the Bourbon Porter and Bourbon Red’s Rye.
Dark Horse Brewing
Dark Horse will be pulling out all the stops with its top three brews on hand: Dark Horse Reserve Special Black Bier is a porter, among the world’s top 10 in the style, Double Crooked Tree IPA, and Plead the 5th Imperial Stout.
Jolly Pumpkin Ales
If you can’t make it to the brewery on Friday, August 1, for your own bottle(s), Jolly Pumpkin will have its newest batch of its sour blend, Perseguidor, at the fest. The brewery will also be featuring the newest beer in the Bam Farmhouse Series, yet to be released, Weizen Bam. Luciernaga Grand Reserve is a Belgian ale. According to RateBeer, it is the “original batch of the Luciernaga from 2004, aged in a bourbon barrel for 14 months.”
Short’s Brewing
Short’s will be offering two special releases albeit on separate days. The Very Cherry Trippel will be on one day while the 1492 IPA will be on the other. The brewery will also bring the 2nd ranked brew in its arsenal, the 2008 Anniversary IPA
- Honorable Mentions
- Kuhnhenn Fourth Dimension Old Ale
- The Livery Wheat Trippelbock
- Michigan Imperial Stout
- Big Rock Reserve Farmhouse Ale
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OREGON BREWERS FESTIVAL
Russian River Pliny the Elder must be considered the jewel of this event. The beer was just released in the Bay Area for the first time in bottles. Though Russian River Brewing will begin distributing in Oregon soon, it doesn’t sound like PtE will be among the beers making it up there, so this could be the only chance for some to try it.
Surly Brewing will bring over Coffee Bender from Minnesota. This is one of their limited releases and a beer that isn’t available in its line of cans. It’s got good ratings thus far despite a low number of reviews. Another case in which this may be the only time some Oregonians get to try this beer.
We mentioned Lagunitas Hop Stoopid among our top 10 American Craft Beer Fest picks as well. Considering this is Lagunitas’ top-rated brew to date, it was for good reason. On a side note, the beer will be on draft in Chicago bars over the weekend as well. A big weekend for Lagunitas!
Green Flash Brewing also brings its Hop Head Red to the fest from SoCal. The beer has earned over a 4.0 average rating at Beer Advocate. Distribution of this beer just expanded as well and it can now be found in Massachusetts among other places.
- Honorable Mentions
- Bridgeport Hop Czar
- Bell’s Porter
- Goose Island Matilda
- Ninkasi Total Domination IPA