Welcome to Michigan

OK, so I'm sort of living in Michigan now... if living in a Holiday Inn Express counts. Which it should, since I have no other home at the moment! We've had an offer on a house accepted, so cross your fingers!

While I'm here with little to do other than look at houses, find my way around, and sample the various area eateries, I'm also trying to test a few beers. This being the midwest, though, not all restaurants have a big selection of brews, unless you count Bud, Bud Light, Coors, Coors Light, Miller, Miller Light, etc. And I don't.

Last night, however, we made a pilgrimage back to Arbor Brewing Company in downtown Ann Arbor. In honor of their 1600th (I think) batch of Red Snapper Special Bitter, they made a Red Snapper on steroids: the HXL Best Bitter, with extra barley and extra Huxell hops. With an 8.1% ABV, they limit each person to only 3 of the 12 ounce steins. M and I found it quite tasty, though I realized later that I should have had another beer first, the HXL second, as after tasting the HXL, everything else just paled. While there we also picked up a 750 ml bottle of their Sour Blonde, which I look forward to trying!

Back in our hotel fridge, we have a 6-pack of Founder's Centennial IPA, which I picked up at the local grocery. For an IPA, it is the opposite of full bodied... I don't want to say weak, because it isn't, but it certainly isn't as full bodied as I would expect from an IPA.

Last but certainly not least, mark your calendars for the Michigan Brewer's Festival, July 25-26 in Ypsilanti. Tickets are $5 cheaper purchased in advance, and we bought our Saturday tickets at Arbor Brewing. Cheers!