On a recent trip to Northern Michigan I was pleasantly
surprised to be taken to a new brewery in the Petoskey area called Mackinaw
Trail Winery and Brewery. The new brewery
(opened in 2014) is located in the established winery (2004) on a property that
includes a large vineyard, a building for events, and a modern tasting room/bistro. I'm told that future plans include a
bed-and-breakfast and a distillery. All-in-all,
Mackinaw Trial will be a fun tourist destination in this area.
At the tasting room you can try the beer, wine, or
cider. Being me, I choose to try the
beer for which a surprising 9 were offered.
There was a good range of styles including a Pilsner, fruit wheat,
amber, two IPAs, and several stouts. One
of the stouts was barrel aged (Molasses Bourbon Stout) with impressive stats:
ABV% = 14.5; IBU = 88. This one was
quite good and I think it will improve with age. I bought a 22 ouncer for this purpose. All the beers were very good and some had
clever names such as the U.P Yours IP "eh". Get it?
They also had a double IPA they called Double Trouble. I imagine that it won’t be long before they
get a note from Founder's Brewing asking them to not use that name, as Founder's has
used the same name for their outstanding Imperial IPA. You can get a 5 sample flight of beer for $10.
I look forward to seeing this brewery grow and expect that
it will continue to make excellent beers and I hope to see them at the various
Michigan beer festivals in years to come.
If you're in the Petoskey area, you will not be disappointed in this
winery/brewery. Find them on the web at: http://www.mackinawtrailwinery.com/brewery/
Cheers,
Zymus
