Michigan Beer

[Detroitnerd]

It's a weird thing about Michigan: Even though it has a great reputation nationwide among beer-lovers, comparatively few Michiganders drink Michigan beer. Maybe it's just the sheer volume of blue-collar Joe six-packs guzzling Bud and Pabst and High Life. But some states really drink quite a lot more of their local beer. I'm thinking particularly of the Pacific Northwest. Oregonians drink a lot of Oregon beer, and about 12.4 percent of all beer sold in Oregon is Oregon-made.

http://oregonbeer.org/facts/

[reddog289]

I have liked most of the Michigan Beers I have tried, Yet I am cheap and drink alot of Beer. Therefore I end up drinking PBR, High Life, and of course Bud. But even with that I do prefer Shiner Beer from Texas over any Beer I have had from Michigan.

[muskie1]

I have liked most of the Michigan Beers I have tried, Yet I am cheap and drink alot of Beer. Therefore I end up drinking PBR, High Life, and of course Bud. But even with that I do prefer Shiner Beer from Texas over any Beer I have had from Michigan.

I have always been a big fan of Michigan beers, you do have to search somewhat to find them. As far as the expense side of it just start Homebrewing. The quality of locally available ingredients has gone way up from when I started about 20 yrs ago and you can make some pretty great beer for usually less than a run of the mill domestic. As mentioned in another post it is easy to do and 90% of it is cleanliness.

[DanFromDetroit]

It's a weird thing about Michigan: Even though it has a great reputation nationwide among beer-lovers, comparatively few Michiganders drink Michigan beer. Maybe it's just the sheer volume of blue-collar Joe six-packs guzzling Bud and Pabst and High Life. But some states really drink quite a lot more of their local beer. I'm thinking particularly of the Pacific Northwest. Oregonians drink a lot of Oregon beer, and about 12.4 percent of all beer sold in Oregon is Oregon-made.

http://oregonbeer.org/facts/

Agreed - I live in Portland now & the beer here is really fantastic. Bells is a great example of a good Michigan brewery & personally I've always like Atwater [[The Vanilla Porter in particular) but the beer here out west is just fantastic. I'm particular to the Rogue Public house down the street from me & the Full Sail Sessions is a high quality lager which I refer to as the Labatt Blue of the PNW.

/fun side note, when I lived in Raleigh - two local bars used Atwater Vanilla Porter in a combination with Framboise for a really delicious after dinner drink

[Downriviera]

What are they doing differently in Oregon to garner a 12% market share?

[Detroitnerd]

What are they doing differently in Oregon to garner a 12% market share?

That's a good question. Maybe they were on the leading edge. Michigan brewers had to work hard all through the 1990s just to loosen the state's restrictions on brewing. I think they had a headstart out there. Also, Michigan's population is a little older and more old-school, I think.

[7 & Van Dyke]

That's a good question. Maybe they were on the leading edge. Michigan brewers had to work hard all through the 1990s just to loosen the state's restrictions on brewing. I think they had a headstart out there. Also, Michigan's population is a little older and more old-school, I think.

Portland has the largest breweries per capita in the country. I think there are 36 breweries and brew pubs in the city. I can get a lot of Michigan beers in Philadelphia. You see Bell's, Founders, Dark Horse, Jolly Pumpkin, and New Holland regularly on tap out here. It's nice to see them expanding and reaching out to other parts of the country but it is sad that more Michigan bars don't carry Michigan beers. That was how I used to gauge which bars I went to in Detroit and Lansing. Who carried good or Michigan beers.