It’s the early evening of day ten and we just finished visiting Sierra Nevada brewery and eating dinner at In-N-out burger. I must say that that In-N-Out is by far my favorite fast food chain in the US. That isn’t really saying too much, considering the fact that I don’t eat much fast food (at least outside of Beercation). All that aside, let me tell go back in time to the morning of day six. As I mentioned at the end of the day five blog, day six began with a bit of a hiccup. We woke up at the Biggerstaff’s house and Matt couldn’t find his keys. We all did a bit of drinking the night before and none of us could remember who had his keys last.
Matt remembered giving me his keys to grab my bags out of the trunk so that we could all get situated for bed the night before. But I distinctively remember giving Matt his keys back. He also remembers opening up bottles of beer that we bought along Beercation and were enjoying at the Biggerstaff’s house. We looked for nearly a half hour without any success locating Matt’s keys. But no one had asked Andrew whether or not he had them or remembered borrowing them the night before. Once Andrew was done showering, we approached him to see what he knew of the missing keys.
Surely enough, Andrew had put them in the bottom of his bag. But Matt has outside when we found out this information. So I thought it would be a good idea to mess with him. I approached him outside and said something along the lines of, “I’ve got some good news and some bad news. The good news is, this (losing his keys) is the worst problem we’ve had so far on this trip. The bad news is that Andrew doesn’t have your keys either.” I head back inside, eager to share my joke with everyone. Ben, erring on the side of compassion, decides that enough is enough and tells Matt that I was just messing with him and Andrew had his keys in his bag all along.
After saying goodbye and thanking the Biggerstaff’s for the overwhelming show of hospitality, we headed in search of some good beer at Three Floyd’s Brewery in Munster, Indiana. Stopping in Hobart for a quick lunch, we made it to Three Floyds about an hour and a half after leaving the Biggerstaff’s house. We arrived at Three Floyds and everyone but me tried a sampler which included four of the breweries top selling beers. Because I had already visited and tried quite a few of the beers at Three Floyds, I decided to have an Apocalypse Cow. Matt, Andrew, and Ben all thoroughly enjoyed their samplers and we hit the road to stop at my parents place on our way north toward Wisconsin.
We got to my parents house and were greeted by dad and sat down to enjoy some BLTs and waffles my mom made in the morning. I tried to eat light when we stopped for food in Hobart at Chipotle so I could save room for food at my parents. Everyone else ate a burrito, so I don’t assuming that they wouldn’t eat much. But boy was I surprised when Ben ate a BLT, Matt had some waffles and a sandwich, and Andrew also ate some waffles and half a sandwich. I made an awesome BLT with potato chips and a cold glass of water to wash it all down. It was nice to be able to unload all my dirty clothes at home and grab clean clothes for the rest of the trip. But obviously the best part was being able to see my family and secondly telling them about how great our trip had been so far. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a chance to see my little sister. So Melora if you are reading this, sorry I missed you when we stopped by. But I have a surprise for you when we meet up again in Florida. And for mom and dad, I’ll also have a surprise for you two, as well. (I wanted to write you two, too but I thought that might be confusing). And no mom it isn’t like the mother’s day card I sent you. For those of you not in my family, I’ll get back to Beercation.
After spending a little less than an hour with my family, we were off to Wisconsin to our first stop at Tyranena Brewery in Lakes Mills, Wisconsin. Coming from home, this was a great placed to stop because of the great community feel at this brewery. Although we encountered what seemed like a ridiculous amount of road closures and construction, we eventually made our way to Tyranena Brewing. After ordering a sampler of beer at the bar, I met an older couple sitting next to me at the bar. We made small talk about employment, Wisconsin, and the brewery itself. She told me that I should try and speak with the head brewer at the brewery who was sitting outside enjoying some live music. So, I waited for him to head inside to the bar and approached him with a number of questions in the back of my head.
I asked him if he would mind if I videotaped our conversation, but he was a bit hesitant to be on camera. Nonetheless, we had a great conversation about his role as head brewer, the brewery itself, and the local and community feel to Tyranena. He said that as the head brewer he was responsible for creating the beer and didn’t have much to do with the beer outside of Wisconsin. He did mention that Tyranena had distribution to the Chicago area. When we discussed the brewery, I told him that I thought it had a very local and community-oriented feel to it. We exchanged opinions about what it meant to be local and both agreed that the brewery was heavily tied to the community. He said that Tyranena was the only brewery he was aware of that supported running (half and full marathons), cycling (not sure the exact events, sorry), and local charities and events. I was very impressed with the breweries interest in staying local. The brewery doesn’t even serve but recommends ordering food to the brewery from local eateries or bring your own food from other local establishments. The outdoor garden even has a grill, so Tyranena was a place to buy their beer and BYOM (bring your own meat). One thing that the head brewer mentioned during our conversation was that their brewery was about 1/8 the size of Capital. Ironically enough, there Beercation’s next stop in Wisconsin.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Day 5 Part 2
After talking with the head brewer at Old Peninsula, we were off to visit the highly recommended Livery. We hit the road and arrive there about an hour later. We walk into the Livery and notice an outdoor beer garden to the left with a few people enjoying the muggy summer weather. After walking through the entrance, we head down a flight of stairs to the bar area and order a sampler of the beers on tap. This bar has a lot of cycling jerseys, paintings, and other objects throughout the bar and even some beers with a cycling influence. When we get our samplers, I ask the bartender if Steve the head brewer is around. He lets me know that Steve will be down to talk to us in a few minutes, so we slowly begin to consume our samples. After we’ve finished a couple of beers in our samplers, Steve approaches our table and our trip to the Livery becomes one that we will always remember.
After explaining our trip to Steve, he asks us if we’d like to take a tour of his brewing operation. He agrees to let me film everything that I’m about to tell you, so I’ll work out a way to put this extended tour and interview online. We leave our samples on the table and head upstairs to get a private tour of the Livery. Steve unlocks the door to his world and we are in for quite a surprising treat.
Steve shows us his operation and explains how he acquired his equipment, the equipment’s use, and then leads us to some of the barrels that he’s currently aging. He tells us that he started the Livery because of people like us, who enjoy locally crafted beer and a great atmosphere to enjoy beer in. Some more words are exchanged and questions answered by Steve. Then he asks us if we’d like to sample some of his more rare beers. If you remember earlier, we all tried some of Harpoon’s 100 barrel series beer. The beer that we were about to try was a single barrel of beer that Steve had been aging and hadn’t tried himself.
Of course, we felt honored to sample his creation and give our thoughts about the beer. And let’s face it, who can turn down a free uniquely crafted beer or a free beer in general? Not me. So Steve crawls over some brewing supplies to get back to the barrel we were about to sample. He uses a tasting stick (not sure that’s the correct terminology but it sounds cool) to remove a few ounces of beer and puts it into a pint glass. We were able to get try to great beers including: a bourbon aged beer, a peach infused beer, and our collective favorite a maple beer. The maple beer was aging in a barrel that was originally used to make maple syrup, then sold to Founder’s to make a breakfast beer, and finally sold to Steve to make this amazing tasting maple beer. After tasting some truly unique and amazing beers and talking in depth to Livery owner Steve, we had to say goodbye.
We thanked Steve for his hospitality and the opportunity to gain some useful insight into his company and the brewing industry, we headed out with the intention of making it to Munster, Indiana. Unfortunately, we didn’t make it as far as Munster and instead ended up in Michigan City, Indiana. Thankfully, I had a great friend who lives in town, Annie Biggerstaff. So, we stopped in town to try a few beers and get some food. I let Annie know that she was welcome to meet us for dinner. A few minutes and beer samples later, Annie joined us for food and drinks. She let me know that if we were planning on staying in town that her parents wouldn’t mind letting us stay at their place. After making sure that the Biggerstaff’s wouldn’t mind four charming young gentleman at their house for the night, we headed off to Annie’s to meet the Biggerstaff family.
When we arrived at the Biggerstaff’s, we were greeted by Annie’s mom and dad, Peg and Steve. First off, let me say that they were both extremely hospitable and we really appreciated the opportunity to meet them and crash at their house for a night. I must also mention that Steve’s pulled pork was phenomenal. Seriously though, it was some of the best that I’ve ever had and was perfect late night compliment to a few beers. Ben, Andrew, Matt, and I also introduced ourselves and thanked the Biggerstaff’s for their hospitality. Then Ben, Andrew, and Matt went outside to join Steve enjoying the cool summer breeze coming off the lake. I stay inside to get chat with Annie and get acquainted with Peg. We talk a little about a lot of things.
I let Peg know about Beercation, my family trip to Florida the week after Beercation ends, and my future employment with Chase. Peg and I talk for a bit and get on the topic of my family vacation to Florida and wonders where we are staying. At the time, I’m not sure but I know we are staying near the Clearwater and Tampa area. And I right now I’ve talked to my parents for the past five days and still haven’t remembered to ask what town we are staying in. Sorry to get off track but Peg did recommend some great places to visit, grab a bite to eat, and some attractions in the area. I give her my email address and the link to this blog and tell her to email me what she’s just told me and check out our blog. So if you are reading this Peg, thanks so much for the hospitality and recommendations in Florida. And tell Steve that I’m might need to steal his recipe for the pulled pork. Lastly, Annie you should come visit the Chicago area sometime soon. Likewise I’ll try my best to make a trip to either Michigan City or Purdue sometime in the near future. Overall day five was a blast, the combination of the Livery and staying with at the Biggerstaff’s at night made for a great time. Day six was also a fun time but the beginning of the day started off with a bit of a road bump.
After explaining our trip to Steve, he asks us if we’d like to take a tour of his brewing operation. He agrees to let me film everything that I’m about to tell you, so I’ll work out a way to put this extended tour and interview online. We leave our samples on the table and head upstairs to get a private tour of the Livery. Steve unlocks the door to his world and we are in for quite a surprising treat.
Steve shows us his operation and explains how he acquired his equipment, the equipment’s use, and then leads us to some of the barrels that he’s currently aging. He tells us that he started the Livery because of people like us, who enjoy locally crafted beer and a great atmosphere to enjoy beer in. Some more words are exchanged and questions answered by Steve. Then he asks us if we’d like to sample some of his more rare beers. If you remember earlier, we all tried some of Harpoon’s 100 barrel series beer. The beer that we were about to try was a single barrel of beer that Steve had been aging and hadn’t tried himself.
Of course, we felt honored to sample his creation and give our thoughts about the beer. And let’s face it, who can turn down a free uniquely crafted beer or a free beer in general? Not me. So Steve crawls over some brewing supplies to get back to the barrel we were about to sample. He uses a tasting stick (not sure that’s the correct terminology but it sounds cool) to remove a few ounces of beer and puts it into a pint glass. We were able to get try to great beers including: a bourbon aged beer, a peach infused beer, and our collective favorite a maple beer. The maple beer was aging in a barrel that was originally used to make maple syrup, then sold to Founder’s to make a breakfast beer, and finally sold to Steve to make this amazing tasting maple beer. After tasting some truly unique and amazing beers and talking in depth to Livery owner Steve, we had to say goodbye.
We thanked Steve for his hospitality and the opportunity to gain some useful insight into his company and the brewing industry, we headed out with the intention of making it to Munster, Indiana. Unfortunately, we didn’t make it as far as Munster and instead ended up in Michigan City, Indiana. Thankfully, I had a great friend who lives in town, Annie Biggerstaff. So, we stopped in town to try a few beers and get some food. I let Annie know that she was welcome to meet us for dinner. A few minutes and beer samples later, Annie joined us for food and drinks. She let me know that if we were planning on staying in town that her parents wouldn’t mind letting us stay at their place. After making sure that the Biggerstaff’s wouldn’t mind four charming young gentleman at their house for the night, we headed off to Annie’s to meet the Biggerstaff family.
When we arrived at the Biggerstaff’s, we were greeted by Annie’s mom and dad, Peg and Steve. First off, let me say that they were both extremely hospitable and we really appreciated the opportunity to meet them and crash at their house for a night. I must also mention that Steve’s pulled pork was phenomenal. Seriously though, it was some of the best that I’ve ever had and was perfect late night compliment to a few beers. Ben, Andrew, Matt, and I also introduced ourselves and thanked the Biggerstaff’s for their hospitality. Then Ben, Andrew, and Matt went outside to join Steve enjoying the cool summer breeze coming off the lake. I stay inside to get chat with Annie and get acquainted with Peg. We talk a little about a lot of things.
I let Peg know about Beercation, my family trip to Florida the week after Beercation ends, and my future employment with Chase. Peg and I talk for a bit and get on the topic of my family vacation to Florida and wonders where we are staying. At the time, I’m not sure but I know we are staying near the Clearwater and Tampa area. And I right now I’ve talked to my parents for the past five days and still haven’t remembered to ask what town we are staying in. Sorry to get off track but Peg did recommend some great places to visit, grab a bite to eat, and some attractions in the area. I give her my email address and the link to this blog and tell her to email me what she’s just told me and check out our blog. So if you are reading this Peg, thanks so much for the hospitality and recommendations in Florida. And tell Steve that I’m might need to steal his recipe for the pulled pork. Lastly, Annie you should come visit the Chicago area sometime soon. Likewise I’ll try my best to make a trip to either Michigan City or Purdue sometime in the near future. Overall day five was a blast, the combination of the Livery and staying with at the Biggerstaff’s at night made for a great time. Day six was also a fun time but the beginning of the day started off with a bit of a road bump.
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