This past weekend marked another positive step in the progress of the local craft beer industry.
If you had a chance to attend The Michigan Brewer's Guild Winter Beer Festival this past weekend you noticed many positive things about beer brewing in the State of Michigan. Probably the most noticeable thing was that the event sold out a month earlier than last year and extra tickets had to be made available.
The Winter Beer Festival has become one of the hottest tickets to get, as people come out of their winter slumber and get outside with friends. It offers beer drinkers the opportunities to discover new local breweries and beer styles. It offers brewers to show off their "works of art" or "labors of love" to retail and consumers.
The hottest styles seemed to be Black IPA's and anything "Barrel Aged".
There are many brewers who are creating great hopped beers that have a robust malt note. It's happening nationally, as well. So much so that the BJCP (Beer Judges Certification Panel) now recognizes Black IPA as a style to be added in beer judging categories.
If you're a person who likes the flavor of whiskey than you might want to explore some barrel aged styles. These styles exude tremendous flavors given to the beer by the wooden vessels that store the beer, for up to 2+ years.
No matter what your taste profile is, no matter how experienced of a beer drinker you are, and no matter if your male or female the event offers style and flavor variety as well as a fantastic social outlet to hang with people you like or make new friends who have a passion for great beer and fun.