Clarkson Integrator

Issue date: 2/25/08 Section: Features

Media Credit: Ben Brown-Steiner Ben Brown-Steiner, beer guru, traveled to Michigan this past week, in search of high quality beers. Instead of a single beer, he found five distinct flavors worth mentioning.

I had a chance to visit one of Cleveland's most popular breweries, while I was visiting a friend a few weeks ago. My friend adamantly supports everything about Cleveland, so I assumed her praise for the Great Lakes Brewery was simply because it's in Cleveland. After a night of food, beer, and a free tour of their brewery, I understood why she enjoyed the brewery so much.

Opened in 1988, the Great Lakes brewery took advantage of three buildings that had also previously been a brewery. Since then they have grown, and currently distribute their beers to all of their bordering states, as well as Wisconsin, New York, and Illinois.

After a meal and a beer sampler at their pub we took the free tour of their brewery, which is located right across the street. The tour guide emphasized that no waste leaves the brewery. All of the left over hops and biomass are given to local farmers as fertilizer or high quality feed for their livestock. In addition, they try to buy from local farmers as much as possible.

They have six beers that are available year round, and a selection of seasonal and experimental beers. These beers are only available at their brew pub, during select periods. They have two lagers: the Dortmunder Gold and the Eliot Ness Amber. Both are excellent examples of the style, and have an impressive number of awards to prove it.

Another year-round beer is the Edmund Fitzgerald Porter. The name stems from a lake freighter that sank in Lake Superior. It was made famous in Gordon Lightfoot's song "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald." I'm not a huge fan of porters, but my mind could change if more tasted like the Edmund Fitzgerald Porter. The port is a deep, black beer that tastes of malts and chocolate, with a sweet chocolately aroma.

They also have an interesting attempt at a witbier called the Holy Moses White Ale. Its spices consist of chamomile, coriander, and orange peel. I couldn't tell if I liked it or if it was just the unique taste. I do plan on trying it again to get a better feel for it.

Continued...

Page 1 of 2 next >

Article Tools