Tour Stop 60 - Silver Harbor Brewing Co. - 6/9/2018

6/9/2018 Silver Harbor Brewing, 721 Pleasant Street, Saint Joseph, MI 49085 phone: 269.281.7100   website: SilverHarborBrewing.com
Hours: Sunday - Thursday 11:00am - 10:00pm | Friday & Saturday 11:00am - 11:00pm

Experience before you go . . .

Well there is nothing like a good wedding and a wedding rehearsal dinner. And since marriage can drive anyone to drink it's only appropriate that the dinner is at a Brewery! Sweet niece Emma is marrying Wesley and we're celebrating at Silver Harbor Brewing in Saint Joseph MI. This will be the HBT's first stop in Michigan and it makes ten states so far! Yes, the whole family is here so you'll be looking at a family wedding album (yay!) but I hope you really get the true feeling of Silver Habor because it's a great place to go, even if you're not getting married!

Just over two years old, Silver Harbor sits in downtown St. Joseph, deriving its name from its location between Silver Beach and Benton Harbor. Like so many breweries, it's the culmination of a passion that some friends had to get together and make something special. They have a full food menu along with terrific beer and one goal they have is that they ". . . want everyone to find a beer they can enjoy". They refurbished a 100 year old building to get that "rustic industrial" atmosphere. It's an environment that welcomes all, offering wine and spirits for non-beer drinkers *gasp* and a kid-friendly food menu. Ben Dahl is the General Manager and the head brewmaster is Christian Cook.

Helping our party out, along with Ben, was Amanda and Erica. Some of their creativity comes out in their beer names. I had both the Hops, Sweat and Tears IPA 6.8% ABV and 66 IBU, along with its "bigger and badder cousin" the Juice, Sweat and Tears IPA 6.6% ABV and 40 IBU. One More Week is a Red Imperial Ale 8.6% ABV and 108 IBU with incredible balance and flavor. Other favorites we all had were So Heffin' Good Hefeweizen 4% ABV and 13 IBU, Good Timez Razzberry Wheat 5%ABV and 12 IBU, and Cookie Monsta, a Bourbon Barrel Aged Stout 11.4% ABV and 80 IBU. Please check out their full beer menu, they have 15 taps going at all times with some specials thrown in from time to time.

They have a very unique beer called the Smoked Beer. They claim it's the first known live smoked beer. They start with their Kumbaya Brown Ale, and they inject hickory smoke into a glass chamber and bring it table side. The smoke flavor infuses itself into the beer during the process. Very dramatic presentation!

       

Part of our group included a portion of the North Park University (IL) Soccer team. Americans and Swedes that were put together last year and went to the NCAA finals. They had a great run and fell 2-1 to Messiah College (PA) in the championship game. They enter this year's campaign as #2 in the country. They're number one in my book! The North Park Vikings finished their season with a record of 20-2-2. They look rather innocent, but are fierce competitors on the Soccer field. And we know Swedes love their beer too. Wes is actually one of the coaches and Emma's brother Eric is also on the team. No wonder they're so good! If you're in Chicago this coming season, come and check out one of their games. Skoal!

We have several goals for the Hoppin' Brewery Tour. Of course, we want to let everyone know what they can expect from the breweries in their neighborhoods and across the country. We want to accurately describe the experience you can expect. We have another goal, and that is to reap the benefits of our vast following! We don't ask for anything, but once in while it would be nice . . . well, it happened at Silver Harbor! Ben, the GM, gave me a complimentary bottle of their award winning brew called "Shipfaced". It's a unique brew that earned Silver Harbor Brewing a Gold Medal in 2016 at the U.S. Open Beer Championships in Ohio and earned a second gold medal win last year. The victory was at the massive 2017 Great American Beer Festival competition in Denver, Colorado. Shipfaced is a 12.6-percent English Barleywine brewed with grains of paradise and bottled for four months to give it great balance and incredible flavor. Ben says, “This is the Super Bowl of awards for the beer industry, we couldn’t be more excited.” Congratulations Ben and crew, and thanks for the beer!

Well I hope I didn't bore you with the family photos. Mom and Dad, wife and kids, nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles, and lots of friends. You can see how well we were treated and what a fun atmosphere the brewery has. The open-air back room was an awesome place to get together for our celebration. The food was tremendous and we lucked out on the weather. Are you planning a trip to St. Joseph or Benton Harbor, MI? If you are then be sure to stop at Silver Harbor Brewing. If you're not, then put something on your calendar. Right on Lake Michigan, it's a beautiful spot and you'll get the opportunity to visit one of the finest breweries you can find anywhere. Silver Harbor Brewing!

Until next time and remember.........

Go get'cha one!!