International #IPADay in the Great Beer State!

Earlier this week the Beer Wench, along with many other influential people in the craft beer community, announced the 1st International IPA Day (August 4th).  Like many other craft beer enthusiasts, I was thrilled to see this announcement, not only because IPAs are my favorite beer style, or because I enjoy craft beer in general, but because this event will help draw more attention to craft beer.  This event is not only for those of us that already regularly enjoy craft beer and IPAs, but more importantly for those who don’t; IPA Day is about introducing and promoting craft beer to a wider audience.

In preparation for this event I have started a list of all the breweries, brew pubs, and bars that are participating in this event in Michigan—the Great Beer State.  I will continue to update this list as I receive more information.

•        Wolverine State Brewing Company, Ann Arbor: A fresh batch of Gulo Gulo,  Wolverine’s extremely popular India Pale Lager, will be released on # IPADay.    They will also have a discount on Insolent Mink, their IPA all day.
•        Ashley's, Ann Arbor: 10 IPAs will be on rotation, in addition to the 7 IPAs regularly on tap (Bell's Two-Hearted, Arcadia B-Craft Black, Founder's Red's Rye, Short's Huma Lupa Licious, Arcadia Hopmouth, Darkhorse Crooked Tree, and Bear Republic Racer 5).  Bell's The Oracle DIPA is the first beer confirmed for the rotating taps, with the other 9 likely being a mix of West Coast, East Coast, English, and possibly Belgian IPAs.

For more information on the 1st International IPA Day:

The Beer Wench, International #IPADay: a Message From the Founder

The Beer Fund Series—Drinking on a Budget

As fellow craft beer drinkers you all know that this hobby can take a toll on your budget.  Craft beer isn’t cheap, but then again, if we were looking for “cheap” beer we would just be drinking those macro brewed, fizzy yellow beverages anyway…and who wants to do that!  Nevertheless, we’ve all had times when our beer fund has run a little low, and we look for ways to cut expenses, but still manage to enjoy craft beer on a budget.  This familiar dilemma has inspired me to start a new series—The Beer Fund Series.

For the inaugural post of this series, here are the top 3 ways to start saving on beer:

1.     Join a Mug Club:  Joining a mug club is probably the easiest way to start immediately saving money on beer.  Mug clubs usually have some sort of upfront fee that will get you a discount on beer and sometimes various other benefits.  Be sure to ask about mug club memberships at any breweries or brew pubs that you visit regularly.  One of my favorite mug club memberships is at Wolverine State Brewing.  A $65 lifetime mug club membership will get you a 16-ounce mug for the 12-ounce price and $1 off growlers, along with various other cool perks and discounts.

2.     Drink at Happy Hour:  This is a pretty obvious way to save money on beer.  Many places have happy hour times where beer (and sometimes food) is served at big discounts.  Arbor Brewing has a great happy hour deal that includes ½ off drinks and some food discounts as well.  Happy hour at ABC is from 4-7pm and all day Monday.

3.     Fill-up a Grower:  Growlers are ½ gallon or 4 pints.  The price you pay for a growler will almost always be less than 4 individual pints.  If you’re on a tight budget, but still want to drink good craft beer, then fill up some growlers and have your friends come over to your place instead of meeting at the bar.  Growler refills at Liberty Street Brewing in Plymouth are only $9 on Sundays and Wednesdays—that’s only $2.25 per pint!

These are three easy ways to start saving money on beer, and this series will continue to highlight more ways to save, but still enjoy, craft beer.  Be sure to leave comments or email any of your favorite ways to save money on beer, and maybe your tip will be featured in a future edition of “The Beer Fund Series.”