Day 5 Part one

We just stopped for a bathroom break and gas in Wyoming, and I must say there isn’t a whole lot of anything here. Aside from a few gas stations, the state is very open with a bit of hills and mountains, but our trek ahead looks a bit flatter. The last town we stopped in had a whopping 261 residents, the largest city in a hundred miles in any direction. How 261 people can live in that town baffles me. What jobs are around the area? Just a thought but let me fill you in on my favorite brewery trip and day, up until yesterday. Yesterday’s Colorado’s Brewers Festival was a blast but you’ll have to wait for me to catch up in my blogging to read stories about our drunken escapades. Without further ado, here’s what we did on day five.

We woke up and checked out of our hotel in Ann Arbor. After a bit of driving through Michigan, we made a stop for some five dollar footlongs at Subway. Our first stop of the brought us to Bell’s Brewery. I really liked the beer and atmosphere here. We all made our own personalized six beer sampler. Having tried a few different beers (both the Oberon and Two-hearted), I tried six beers that were all new to me. I must say that they were all great. Everyone else really enjoyed the Oberon and Two-hearted. After sampling a few beers, we made our way to the gift shop and home brewing store.

One of the employees, Trevor gave a great tour of the home brewing and gift shop at Bell’s. He does a lot of home brewing and also gave me some great advice. The best of which is, “Sanitation, sanitation, sanitation, sanitation, and sanitation.” I have the tour on video and will figure out how to get it online. He also told us that our Beercation would not be complete without a stop to The Livery. He said to ask for Steve, the owner and head brewer. But before making a memorable stop at the Livery, we took a brief detour to the Old Peninsula in town.
We left Bell’s and made a quick drive over to Old Peninsula and immediately ordered a sampler of all the beers on tap. I was able to talk in depth with the head brewer about this brewery, his roll, and where the company has come since he began working there. He started as a home brewer in the nineties and began a home brewing club in the area. He let me tour the facility while we chatted and also gave me some advice about home brewing. He said don’t get into it to make money, do it for yourself and to enjoy doing it. He also recommended joining a home brew club. For him, the home brew club helps him stay up to date on new sometimes revolutionary techniques that he can use to improve his brewing on a larger scale.