Friday, July 13, 2018 (Northport, Michigan)

Well...after a wine tasting afternoon yesterday, today was beer tasting...just for Steve, I suspect! Our first destination was about an hour away, in Elk Rapids, Michigan at Short's Brewing Company.

THE SHORT’S STORY BEGAN IN 2002 when a 22-year-old brewer named Joe Short registered Short’s Brewing Company as a business in the state of Michigan. Having already gained significant brewing experience at other Michigan breweries, Joe realized that his style of brewing was best suited to his own business model where he would not have to answer to anyone for putting lots (and lots) of the best possible ingredients into his brews, or for brewing specialty beers that some might consider outrageous. Joe wanted to brew bold, flavorful and extremely creative beer, and felt that people would travel out of the way to get them.

The hostess let us try as many samples of beer as we wanted and after deciding what we wanted, she poured us glasses and we sat out at a table. They have a food truck for those wishing something to eat with their beer...

Dennis and Charlene are not fans of having their picture taken but were good sports about it...

Chairs made out of water skis...

On our way back down to Traverse City, the traffic was backed up...unfortunately, there had been an accident. Emergency services hadn't even arrived yet. We hope that no one was seriously hurt...

Next stop was at Right Brain Brewery ...
Right Brain's Pub has nearly 40 beers on tap at all times, and the eclectic look and feel inside is popular with beer consumers of all ages. With over 150,000 visitors a year, the pub is family friendly with a connection to the local community.

We believe in experimenting with unusual ingredients not typically used in the beer brewing process! We brew high quality popular styles like Ambers, Pales, Stouts, and IPAs. We also brew unique styles with unusual materials like whole pig parts, asparagus, or real cherry pie! There are NO EXTRACTS in our beer! All ingredients come from the ground. We care about the environment and buy local whenever possible. Not every new beer we brew is successful, but we prefer to always push the boundaries. We're up for the challenge! Join us and Keep Beer Curious.

It was packed when we arrived...apparently it is a popular stop on the local Kayak Brewery Tours ...

We enjoyed a brew and some wings and fries...thanks Dennis!

Before our next brewery stop, we popped in to meet and see Charlene's son's business...Snap! Printing - Design, Print, Mail. We met Wayne, his wife, Kerry and son, Mitchell...quite an operation they have going there! Very impressive. That's Wayne on the right...with 2 employees working on the left...

Then it was off to our final brewery stop...Brewery Terra Ferma....
We are Brewery Terra Firma, Michigan’s first agricultural brewery. Since 2013, we have been growing some of the ingredients for our beer on our 10-acre MAEAP certified farm, reusing byproducts and energy from the brewing process, setting a new standard in sustainability for others to follow, and supporting our community and people.

More interesting beer tasting...and our tour concluded. But we had one more stop before heading home. We met Wayne, Kerry and Mitchell for dinner at their favourite spot...Mulligan's Pub and Grill.
Wayne, Steve, me, Charlene, Kerry, Dennis and Mitchell...

A great picture as we leave the restaurant...

About an hour later, we were back at Dennis and Charlene's. Another great day!

We sat and chatted for a bit..The view from the tower...some clouds coming in...looking to the left...

...and to the right....

...and then Charlene, Dennis and I called it a night...but it was too early for Steve, so he stayed up a little longer and witness a spectacular sunset!