[Metromode] Metro Detroit's Jerky Boys

STEVE FRANCIS-COUNTRY SMOKE HOUSE - DAVID LEWINSKI PHOTOGRAPHY

The state of Michigan has exactly two seasons: construction and hunting. With the orange barrels behind us and the orange vests in full force, Michigan's army of outdoorsmen arm themselves with all the essentials – and that includes Michigan-made jerky.

Up in the U.P. homemade jerky is a way of life, made fresh in-house at every gas station and roadside convenience store along U.S. Route 2. In metro Detroit, the art of dried, cured meat (outside of jerky's fancy cousin charcuterie) is a bit less ubiquitous, but one family is keeping the tradition alive and well, and they've built a loyal following worldwide.

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[EID ON AIR] Talking meads and merds on the Craig Fahle Show

Me with Craig Fahle. 

Just last week (ye gods has it only been a week??) I was a guest on the Craig Fahle Show on WDET talking about mead, thanks to this little piece in Hour. I put together a bunch of notes for the show which, of course, I never once referenced. So now I'm sharing them with you. Initially I was only going to share a few key tidbits, but then I figured I might as well just start at the beginning and not assume people already have a basic knowledge of what I'm talking about. 

You can listen to the Craig Fahle Show's snippet on mead with me here. I've also done a lot of mead primer work here, for your reference. 

PS, "merds." It's a thing now.

NOTES:

What is mead? 
Mead is an alcoholic beverage made from honey. The difference between mead and beer and wine is in the fermentables in the product - in beer it's grains, in wine it's grapes, and in mead it's honey.

Because honey is the primary ingredient, yes, it is sweet, but the sweetness can be tempered just like in a wine and meads can also be bone-dry.

Mead is the oldest alcoholic beverage in the world. The famous French anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss makes a case for the invention of mead as a marker of the passage "from nature to culture." (And everyone who has ever written anything remotely significant about mead has referenced this.)

Meads are typically the strength of wine, roughly around 14% alcohol (though that can vary significantly).

Are there different kinds of meads? 
Much as there are different regions and varietals of wine and different styles of beer, there are dozens of different varieties of meads, but some of the most common that you'll find are as follow:
-Melomel - made with fruit
-Braggot - beer/mead hybrid using malt (with or without hops)
-Cyser - honey and apple juice fermented together
-Pyment - honey and red or white grapes (a wine hybrid)

Mead now has its own National Mead Day on August 3, an effort by the American Homebrewers Association.

B. Nektar Meadery, Ferndale
-Brad Dahlhofer is the co-owner of B. Nektar Meadery with his wife Kari and partner Paul Zimmerman.
-B. Nektar just entered the New York market.
-B. Nektar has expanded into a second production space, also in Ferndale, about six times the size of their original space, and recently added another 4,000 gallons of capacity.
-They are currently in the process of getting a brewery license so they can make braggots. UPDATE: As of October 31, 2013, they have received their federal brewing license and will soon begin making braggots.
-When they started producing the Zombie Killer, a lightly-hopped cherry cyser session mead, in 2011, it was a coup for the company and became their claim to fame; Ken Schramm and others credit them with bringing mead national attention.
-Next up was Evil Genius, a lightly-carbonated IPA-style mead that, to the best of their knowledge, was the first IPA-style mead in the country (though not the first hopped) - note, Evil Genius is no longer in production due to an issue with availability for one of the ingredients.
-Other carbonated session meads now include: Necromangocon, Kill All the Golfers (an Arnold Palmer style mead), Black Fang (made with blackberry, clove, orange).
-They will produce 25,000 cases of carbonated meads alone this year.
-New Devil's Night releases including new session mead Dwarf Invasion (made with cherry, hops), the Smoked Pumpkin Caper (made with smoked pumpkin, squash, and sweet potato, smoked honey, brown sugar, pumpkin pie spices, aged in a Goose Island Bourbon County Stout barrel clocking in at 15%ABV), Devil's Juice (orange blossom honey, smoked 'mutt' honey, pineapple juice, and a blend of 3 hot peppers), Eye Ball (like a highball, ginger and raw wildflower honey aged in rye whiskey barrels, one of partner meadmaker Ian Radogost-Givens' creations; he will be doing more experiMental B-Sides and a barrel-aged series.
-In the works: the barrel-aged series and more B-sides.
-We're seeing more and more carbonated mead at trade shows, presumable thanks to the success these guys have had.
-B. Nektar might be the largest meadery in the country right now, with Red Stone Meadery in Boulder next closest in size and production.

Ken Schramm, Schramm's Mead, Ferndale
-Read about his new Ferndale meadery here.
-Heart of Darkness is his signature mead, which used to be made at B. Nektar before Schramm got his own licensed meadery. It is made from homegrown, hand-harvested fruit from Schramm’s orchard and berry patch. The cherries are of the Schraammbeek variety, an intensely flavorful, European morello type, the raspberries are Heritage and Latham, and the black currants are Crandall and Consort. Production is extremely limited, as the amount of care and labor which go into each batch is substantial. Much of the fruit is netted to prevent birds from eating what should be your mead. This is a hand-crafted mead, if ever there was one.
-Where B. Nektar's meads appeal to the beer nerds, Schramm's meads are more elegant, akin to fine wines.
-Schramm is a world-renowned expert in mead, having wrote the book on it. The Compleat Meadmaker was released in 2003. It is still considered the current book of reference for meadmaking, and Schramm plans on a second edition soon. He is to mead what Brian Polcyn is to charcuterie.
-He plans on producing 300 gallons per month, all self-distributed.
-He also co-created the Mazer Cup, the largest mead event in the world featuring both home brewers and commercial meads in competition.
-Schramm has his standard blackberry, raspberry, and ginger meads, but he also has special meads like the Heart of Darkness, the Statement (made with Hungarian cherries) and Black Heart, a black raspberry melomel being released on Halloween.

Kuhnenn Brewing Co., Warren + Clinton Twp.
-The cult favorite craft brewery just bought a new production facility, which will open next spring
-The new brewery also has the capacity to produce 2,000-3,000 barrels (120,000-180,000 gallons) of mead.
-They will focus on braggots, lightly carbonated session meads (beer/mead "hybrids"). They will still make limited release still meads for brewery release only.
-They will distribute their braggots starting in Michigan and expanding out.
-Still meads will be special releases likely brewery only
-Every March they host "Mead Madness" with a slew of new limited specialty mead releases every week.
-They were covered in Imbibe Magazine's recent article on American meads, along with B. Nektar.
-They're currently known for meads like their Bourbon Barrel French Toast mead and Imperial Bourbon Barrel Braggot.
-Meadmaker Frank Retell has taken home scores of golds, silvers and bronzes at the Mazer Cup for his braggots, pyments, dessert meads, melomels...the list goes on and on.

Other Michigan meadmakers
-Dragonmead in Warren (currently going through a major expansion)
-Superior Lakes in Harrison Twp.
-St. Ambrose Cellars (now making some carbonated meads)
-Bardic Wells

[Real Detroit] Falling Down Beer Company

Photo by Nicole Rupersburg.

Let's just get this out of the way: yes, there is a brewery opening in Warren that is called Falling Down Beer Company. Yes, this is actually its name. Yes, it is meant as a joke – an inside joke, in fact, referring to a time co-owner Mark Larson tripped after having a beer and his friends from that point forward forevermore would jokingly ask if he was "falling down drunk yet" after one beer.

So how's that for an origins story? Not quite X-Men: First Class, but as far as anecdotes go this will definitely be a good one to share with all of the new friends you will surely make once Falling Down Beer Company opens to the public on 3/29.

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[EID Feature] Have Beer, Will Travel: Falling Down Beer Company Opens March 29

All photos by Nicole Rupersburg.

One of the things that has particularly impressed me about Falling Down Beer Company is not their beer. I haven't even had any of it yet. In fact, hardly anyone has, save for a few mug club members and friends and family of the owners. What has impressed me is the strong following they've been able to build – over 3,700 followers on Facebook alone – before they even opened their doors.

There is a lot of talk in the media about the power of social media for small businesses. Some of it is pat; puerile even. As one media friend of mine has noted, careers in social media are the new pyramid scheme: one social media expert teaches others who want to teach others how to be social media experts and then you just Tweet social media tips to people who then re-tweet them to their followers, and so on. It's a silly reality of our nü economy and one that has yet to be fully vetted for its long-term reliability as both marketing tool and career plan, as there has yet to be a social media platform that has proven itself to be long-term sustainable. Will people flee Facebook the way they mass-exited MySpace when things just got too Blingee? Only time will tell.

But in the here and now of 2013, Facebook is arguably the best way to build and reach an audience. And Falling Down Beer Co. has been able to do that exceedingly well, considering they're not even open yet.

When I sat down to talk with co-owner Mark Larson about how exactly he was able to amass such a strong following in advance of opening their doors, I found out that Larson actually has a marketing degree, though he currently works in IT (in addition to now owning a brewery). "I'm the sole marketer [of Falling Down]. I'm actually using the degree I've never used!" he jokes.

His strategy was pretty intuitive: get friends and family to like the page first. Then he spent $100 on Facebook ads targeted to over-21 craft beer drinkers in Warren and surrounding areas. He started liking and interacting with other brewery pages, reached out to the journalists and beer bloggers, posted to fan pages like the Detroit Red Wings and 97.1 to increase visibility to other potential fans (and Warren is definitely a Red Wings/97.1 kind of town). The rest has all been keeping their Facebook community constantly updated with photos of the bar in progress, the brewing process, the building permit, photos and regular updates to engage their audience. All in all they spent $100 (from which they got about 500 new fans) and are already a known name in the southeastern Michigan craft beer community without even tapping their first public keg.

Another innovative strategy they implemented prior to opening was selling mug club "founding members" memberships in advance of opening. Founding memberships weren't cheap ($125) but the 82 people who bought one received a lot of incentives other mug club programs don't offer, including six growler fills, T-shirts, and invitations to private events. (The mug clubbers, most of which live in or near Warren, have already tried the Ninja Chicken and Beaver beers.) And there was also an Indiegogo campaign early last summer, too.

Mark Larson (left) and George Lang, owners of Falling Down Beer Co.

Mark and his founding partner George Lang (who also works a day job in IT) started out as homebrewers. Their home-brewed beers gained a following amongst their friends and family and they started getting requests for kegs, so it made sense to start a brewery. "IT started as a hobby, so now I'm working two hobbies!" says Mark. As the saying goes, do what you love and you'll never work a day in your life. (It also helps that Mark and George are both telecommuters, which is an ideal situation for anyone trying to juggle multiple careers at once – take it from someone who does exactly that.)

During their due diligence phase, they reached out to several cities. Warren happened to offer the best location, an old ice cream shop and diner (that looks like it was probably a Big Boy's before that) located right by the Hazel Park racetrack. It's not glamorous, because nothing in Warren is, but there is an established base of beer geek culture here that cannot be denied – Kuhnhenn Brewing Company and Dragonmead Microbrewery, both also located in Warren, have a devout following, and despite the fact that neither of them produce enough beer for any level of significant distribution, both are known names in craft beer throughout the Midwest region and are multi-time national award winning breweries.

In fact, when Mark started doing his research, he actually found the location to be quite ideal. "I used Short's in Bellaire and Witch's Hat in South Lyon as case studies," he says. "Look at Witch's Hat: they're in South Lyon and hard to get to, but they had a line out the door for the first three months. It was crazy. I knew so many people who ran out there and made the trip [just to check it out]. And there's Dark Horse in Marshall, in the middle of nowhere, and it's always packed."

Agreed. Beeries have most certainly established "Have beer, will travel" as a code of ethics.

"We also liked this spot because it's right off the freeway, it's a straight shot to Ferndale, and Chrysler and GM are nearby." Warren is also metro Detroit's largest suburb and the third largest city (by population) in Michigan. Bottom line: there's plenty of thirsty people out there.

Falling Down Beer Company opens to the public on Friday, March 29. In next week's issue of Real Detroit Weekly I'll have more information for you about the beer they'll be serving (like the Ninja Chicken and Beaver beers noted above), the origin of their name, their long-term plans for distribution and their commitment to all things Michigan-made, but I do so very much hate to repeat myself so you'll just have to keep your peepers peeled for that.

Want to see more? View the Flickr set here.

Real Detroit Weekly: Tipsy McStaggers

"Simpsons fans will recognize the name of the rival bar that tried to buy the secret ingredient to the "Flaming Moe" for $1,000,000. Tipsy McStaggers is now a reality in Warren, and they've got a cartoonishly oversized burger to match the cartoon-inspired name.

'Open for almost a year now, Tipsy McStaggers is an Irish pub for the A.D.D. generation. They've got all the Michigan lottery games and Keno, seven plasma TVs for all the sporting events and karaoke five nights a week. There are enough flashing lights, spinning wheels and oversized foods to keep the attention of even the most easily distracted adult child.

'During the day, they are a restaurant. All food is homemade. There is no frozen dough, no frozen fries, no frozen anything. The fries are fresh-cut. The chicken wings are huge, fat, meaty wings that look like they came from an actual chicken (instead of the pigeon wings you get at most places). They make their own pizza dough and bread.

'Then there is the Tipsy Tower..."

Read the rest of the article here.

The Beer Series #2: Dragonmead Microbrewery

Most microbreweries will have about 8-12 beers on tap at any given time. Dragonmead Microbrewery has 45 or more, with about 60 different beers available in total (they have more beers than they do taps).

Dragonmead Microbrewery is tucked away in an inudstrial park right off the I-696 service drive at Groesbeck in Warren. If you're out that way, odds are pretty good you've driven by it dozens of times without ever noticing it. But inside this nondescript building is the highest-variety brewery in the world, thanks to an innovative three-barrel brewing system, which allows them to brew multiple times throughout the day in smaller batches enabling more variety as compared to most microbreweries’ 15-barrel system. Okay, for the layperson that might sound like so much mumbo-jumbo, but when co-owner Larry Channell walked me through their brewing operations and explained them to me it made PERFECT sense.

Put it this way: yes, having a three-barrel system is much more work-intensive, which isn't necessarily practical for most small breweries. A 15-barrel system yields 5x as much beer as the 3-barrel, allowing brewers to spend less time brewing (and more time focusing on other aspects of the business). However, if an ambitious brewer with a 15-barrel system tried to match Dragonmead in variety, they would end up having to dump about 5,000 barrels of wasted beer every year (keep in mind, most beers are only good for about 90 days), versus Dragonmead's 20 wasted barrels. "We designed it to be simple," Larry tells me. "With this system it takes about 6-8 hours to brew a single beer but we can overlap the brewing because of the different vessels we use, which means we can brew multiple times throughout the day."

Translation: they've got A LOT of different beers.

Larry went on to explain that their goal in opening this microbrewery was to target a niche market. They wanted to make every single style of beer in the world available at all times, and have each of those beers be excellent examples of that particular style of beer making. "We would ask ourselves, 'Why would anyone buy our beer over someone else's?' and 'Would the company last at least 50 years?'" Larry recalls. "We had been wanting to start a business for 10 years before this, but every kind of business we looked at we saw it gobbling itself up after a few years. The niche we created here is something no one else was trying to do. It's difficult to offer such variety, but it's something that can last forever, and we already knew people would pay more for superb beer."


And so, in 1997--long before craft brewing became the exponentially growing trend that it is today--Dragonmead was born. "We were all home brewers before this, and we found that we were making better beer than most breweries," Larry says. He was a chemical engineer, Bill and Earl (the other partners in the business) had backgrounds in sales & marketing and metal model making, respectively. Between the three of them, they had the trifecta for a successful brewery. Earl made the vessels, Larry made the beer, and Bill made it marketable: voila.

The rest of the story is rather simple: they chose this location in Warren because it was a central location to all of their homes and workplaces (of course they've since been able to quit their automotive jobs, and lucky for them) and because they wanted trucks to have easy access to get in and out. The name "Dragonmead" came from their background as avid Dungeons & Dragons fans. In fact, this was their whole inspiration for getting into home brewing. "We held a Medieval Wassail Feast and the only thing we didn't make or kill ourselves was the beer." So they started home brewing, and kept trying until they got it right.

And got it right they did! At the World Beer Cup, the Oscars of beer held on alternating years, they've taken home medals in the last three competitions, including a gold for the English-style mild ale Crusader Dark Mild Ale, another gold for the Belgian-style tripel Final Absolution Trippel, and a bronze for the strong Scotch ale Under the Kilt Wee Heavy.

During my visit, I got to chatting with Jack, who was himself enjoying a pint of Wee Heavy. Jack is a regular at Dragonmead and a home brewer himself. As I talked with Jack, a thought occurred to me: Jack is Michigan's beer industry. The more I spoke with various brewers, brewery owners, and beer lovers--the more I saw their passion for craft brews and the excitement they displayed when talking about different beers and the craft beer industry in general--the more I realized that this is a community unto itself. Most brewers start at home, they seek the advice of professional brewers on equipment and grain blends, the professionals in turn are more than happy to share their expertise, some even go on to open their own brewery (Dragonmead, Kuhnhenn, Sherwood, Liberty St.), and others just truly love the beer and want nothing more than to be around others who love it too. The craft beer industry is like one big extended family; if you're in one of these places enjoying a pint, then consider yourself a second cousin.

Oh, but the beer. Most of the beers at Dragonmead are high gravity and high alcohol (which also means they can store for a year or more). I've already mentioned Wee Heavy, a smooth and creamy Scotch strong with notes of toffee. I also sampled Lancelot's American Cream Ale, a light, smooth, slightly malty beer that appeals to a wide audience of beer drinkers. Nagelweiss is their Hefeweizen (a German-style wheat beer), with all that familiar hefeweiz-ian banana-clove goodness. The Crown Jewels Imperial Pale Ale starts out hoppy but mellows over time. The Russian Imperial Stout had the robust chocolate notes familiar to Imperial Stout fans. Bill's Witbier is everything Oberon could be. The Ring of Fire is brewed with hot jalapeno and habanero peppers (though the heat isn't overpowering; it mostly just lingers on your palate). Then there's Final Absolution.

Final Absolution: the beer that could be a video game. As with most Belgian-style brews, it is fermented with Belgian Candi Sugar. It's a very high gravity beer with a deceptively smooth finish, but don't be fooled: this baby's 10% alcohol by volume. Three pints of this are equivalent to one full pint of Scotch. This is a serious beer. (Another bar owner recently told me that the reason they don't carry Final Absolution is because most people can only have one--"We're not trying to encourage people to get drunk, but we definitely want them to be able to have more than one beer.") There is also a dark version of Final Absolution available, called simply "Evil Twin." Final's big brother Armageddon Grand Cru comes out once a year in May to celebrate their anniversary. Like all big brothers, Armageddon makes Final Absolution look like so much child's play.

All these high-alcohol beers will probably leave you nibbly. Dragonmead does have a deep fryer and can cook up some burgers, mini tacos, fries and such. They also have a cheese plate and venison sausage, which fits with the whole Wassail feast concept the brewery was born from. Otherwise, they have menus from all the local restaurants that deliver and encourage guests to go ahead and order some food. They also make their own wines, meads, and sodas (sold only on premises).

Efforts to expand the taproom (and the number of taps in said room) continue, and there may even be a second clone location in the future (possibly Frankenmuth, but this is all very premature). In the meantime, if it's quality and variety you seek and good company to share it with, Dragonmead awaits you. Say hi to Jack for me.

Hop Aboard! Michigan's Best Breweries on Metromode

"Since the Stroh's Brewery opened in 1850 in Detroit, Michigan has had a booming beer industry. Beer has always had a way of keeping the economy chugging along, as it continues to do even now. Michigan is the sixth-largest state for craft breweries, a local industry that just keeps growing.

'Currently there are nearly 90 craft breweries in the state of Michigan producing hundreds of different styles of handcrafted beer. Michigan's brewing industry contributes more than $24 million in wages and has a total economic impact of over $133 million annually.

'2009 has been a big year for Michigan beers. The winners of the 2009 Great American Beer Festival (the Emmy Awards of beer) were just announced in September, with Great "Beer" State brews sweeping up seven medal competitions. October brought the inaugural Detroit Beer Week, a celebration of local brews with coordinating events held all over Metro Detroit, followed by the first-ever Harvest Beer Festival hosted by the Michigan Brewer's Guild and featuring over 40 Michigan breweries inside Detroit's Eastern Market..."

Read the rest of the article here, and be sure to check out the inaugural Harvest Festival at Eastern Market this Saturday!

I Stole the Name Detoberfest from Someone Else

Originally published in D-Tales here.

Now. Let me preface all of the following by saying: EVERY. BAR. will be having an "Oktoberfest" celebration. All of them. They will serve you seasonal Sam Adams on draft and cheap plastic banners that say "Oktoberfest" strung on the walls and maybe even have their waitresses in fraulein costumes if you're really lucky.

What I care about is beer. I likes to keeps it real, dig?

At nearest count, there are (approximately if not exactly) 74 brewpubs and microbreweries in the Great Lakes State. Yes, 74. Yeah, I figured you didn't know that, that's why I told you.

Now. You can go to your (sound of violent wretching) O'Toole's, or wherever the hell you quasi-trendy people go to celebrate Oktoberfest and St. Patrick's Day and Thanksgiving Eve and New Year's Eve and Boxing Day and Guy Fawkes Day and whatever the hell else you use as an excuse to get shitfaced aside from just the plain 'ole sake of it, OR you could try to be a bit more authentic-like and patron one of these fine pubs with indigineous brews.

(Indigineous means local.)

Moving along.

Oktoberfest is now ("But it's only September?!?" "Yes, I know it's only September, but the Germans are strange and celebrate Oktoberfest in September, whereas Americans celebrate in the last weeks of September through most of October. Thus, it has already begun, regardless of your country."), so it's time you got out there and sipped some fine pumpkin ales and cream porters.

And if I see any of you with a Heineken bottle I will break it over your heads.

Don't judge me because I drink Miller Lite; I'm poor and it's certainly not my preference.

But if you're spending good money on beer, please let it not be on that overpriced imported Austrian swill.

Moving along.

The following list is of brewpubs and microbreweries of interest in the metro Detroit/Ann Arbor area with their Oktoberfest specials. Drink responsibly. Adopt a child.

(Mind you: some well-known establishments are missing because their Oktoberfest celebrations have already passed, they haven't got anything special planned, and/or their website is not updated with current information. I did my best. What I do for you...)

Arbor Brewing Company-Ann Arbor: Oktoberfest Beer Tasting Night, Thursday, October 9
Featuring Marzen and Vienna style lagers as well as an assortment of fall specialty ales and lagers. Tickets $25 advance/$30 day-of.

Atwater Block Brewery-Detroit
The Blocktoberfest seasonal brew is worth the off-season trip to the riverfront. Top that off with the Vanilla Java Porter 'cuz it's good.

Bastone Brewery-Royal Oak: September 29-October 23
Purchase a half-liter limited-edition beer stein for only $9 and get it filled with any brew--including the specially-brewed Oktoberfest Lager--for just $3 all during Oktoberfest. Also try the Jagerschnitzel, Sauerbraten, and Roast Chicken.

Big Rock Brewery-Birmingham
Now serving their seasonal beers: Kölsch, Wit, IPA, Strong Scotch Ale, and Russian Imperial Stout, with Altbier, German Pilsner, and Doppelbock now on tap.

Black Lotus Brewing Company-Clawson: Black Lotus Turns 2, Friday, September 26
Check out their Birthday Brew, a cream ale made with vanilla birthday cake frosting. Also try the Oktoberfest Bier and the Monster Mash Pumpkin Ale. This Friday, celebrate Oktoberfest with beer brats and DJ 2040.

Detroit Beer Company-Detroit: Anniversary Extravaganza, Saturday, October 18
Huge "Detroit-style" BBQ, $2.50 pints and mugs all day, live music 8:00-11:00PM.

Fort Street Brewery-Lincoln Park: Harvest Fest, now-September 27; Beer Fantasy Camp Sunday, October 5
Harvest Fest offers a special menu of Michigan-grown foods and Michigan-inspired menu items including: Duck & Cherry Ravioli, Baked Trout, Squash Bisque, Michigan Salad, Beer Battered Asparagus, Apple Stuffing, and more. A new harvest beer released at 8:00PM every night, Monday-Friday, through Harvest Fest.Beer Fantasy Camp offers six beer tastings with a three-course dinner. Tickets $35.

Grizzly Peak Brewing Company-Ann Arbor: September 29-October 23
Enjoy $5 pints of hand-crafted beer in a take-home limited-edition glass, with refills only $2 during Oktoberfest. Also enjoy authentic German foods such as Chicken Schnitzel and Braised Short Rib Goulash.

Kuhnhenn Brewing Company-Warren: Saturday, October 18
Enjoy traditional German Bier and cuisine, including Eisbein (smoked pork shank), sausages, and all the sides. Food served noon-8:00PM.

Motor City Brewing Works-Detroit
Try the Oktoberfest beer while they have it. Have some pizza, too. It's good.

Rochester Mills Beer Company-Rochester Hills: September 26-27
German-style beer, food, and music under a massive tent. Lots of good clean family fun with carnival games, balloon artists, moonwalks, pony rides, a petting zoo, magicians, clowns, and more. Friday 5:00-11:00PM, Saturday 1:00-11:00PM. Tickets $5, children 16 and under free. Proceeds benefit the Make-A-Wish Foundation and the YMCA North Oakland WAVES Swim Club.

Sherwood Brewing Company-Shelby Twp.: Saturday, October 4
Celebrate Oktoberfest on the release date of their special Fest Bier Oktoberfest. Bier, food, games, music, bier. And beer. And more bier.

And last, but most importantly:

The Dakota Inn Rathskeller-Detroit: Oktoberfest, Fridays and Saturdays September 26-October 4
Now celebrating its 75th anniversary, the Dakota Inn Rathskeller has been bringing authentic German cuisine, the widest selection of imported beers from Germany in the Detroit area (with special Oktoberfest brews flown in from Germany just for this occasion), and the infectious Old-World-style German sing-along tradition to Detroit for our very own slice of Bavaria! It is a historically designated site featuring intricate, hand-carved woodwork created by the current owner's grandfather, as well as trophy animal heads from family hunting trips, family pictures, and waitresses adorned in traditional Bavarian costume.The Rathskeller has been owned by the same family for three generations, and it continues to be Detroit's only authentic German bar. If you want to really experience Oktoberfest but can't afford the flight, look no further than the Dakota Inn. Tickets to all Friday and Saturday night Oktoberfest parties are $3, and are selling out fast. The party runs from 8:00PM-midnight.