Dapples (overdue Manistee mumblings)

The weekend before last, in honor of the last decent expected weather in Michigan, a trip just came together on a lark.

It was impromptu, happenstance, and serendipitousish, and thus begins my flawed and biased re-telling...

As y'all might know, the public lands administered by the US Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management are, unless specifically prohibited otherwise, open to the public for recreation (meaning hiking, camping, hunting, parcheesi, whatever). Assuming you aren't governed by something else (hunting season/permits, motorized vehicle restrictions, etc.) you can pretty much do your thing. And in the Manistee N.F. you've got a stretch of the North Country Scenic Trail, which is on its way from New York to North Dakota (a glimpse of the map below and full map of the National Trail System here). And the NCST, which you can read up on here, also intersects the Big M trail system. Lessee here... a pinch of trail, a dash of forest... hmm.

So G brought the minivan over, we packed in some bikes, some gear, some food and drink, I refrained from making any Soccer Mom wisecracks, and off we went up to Manistee.

4 hours later we're within the bounds of the forest. While it was a little confusing figuring out what all the obviously private dwellings were doing in the middle of what we expected to be just miles and miles of pseudo-wilderness (remember that "Wilderness" has specific federal definitions... which MNF isn't), we nevertheless managed to blunder about.

We got to the established USFS campgrounds, and instead of paying the ridiculous fee ($12 for a campsite where there was no water, no showers, no nada... just a flat piece of ground) we elected to just plop ourselves out in the forest somewhere. Down this chunky 2-track, down that chunky 2-track. Hoping that we're on public land and not inadvertently stumbling onto private land or a meth lab so that we don't get shot.

We find a spot, set up tent-age, get the bikes out and go for a quickie ride. Nice to roll out of home base and in a 5-10 minute ride be on a trail that goes for 1000 miles in either direction. NICE trail I tell ya. Wooded singletrack moseying through stands of pines and oaks and maples. Occasional boardwalk or bridge crossing creek and marsh. We go south a ways and notice that the map board at a road intersection indicates part of the NCST off-limits to bikes. Puzzling, but not a worry since it was time to turn around, and there was more trail to the north of our campsite. Back to camp in delicious pre-fall weather, make some dinner (Saag Paneer) and a beer, or was it wine start a little campfire, sit around a bit before turning in for the night.

A nice morning to wake up to and an easy breakfast of instant oatmeal and instant coffee. I have to confess - I am an unapologetic coffee snob. I'll tell you how much I hate when a bean blend is cheaping it out with Brazilian filler beans. I'll bitch about strength. But when it comes to carrying gear and cooking on the trail... nothing beats coffee crystals for that perfect combo of light, easy, adjustable strength, quick, and no cleanup or garbage. Leave the coffee pot at home, folks. Just carry instant.

Right, so the next day we have some breakfast and lazily make our way into bike gear, pack lunch and stuff, and head north seeing lots of pretty forest (some of it heavily wind-damaged, but happily cleared trail) and on the road connecting off-road trail, this yard art/eco-mower. We get to the Big M Outer Loop intersection and head around the outside of the Outer Loop, which has a couple climb sections of note and interesting bridge building technique. I've never seen bridges on primarily MTB trails that had handrails. Constructed with downed trees and a chainsaw. Three of 'em. It was weird.

So at the top of one of the longer climbs, the stomachs growling decreed that lunch was to be had, so we pulled over, munched a lunch, and lazed about in the forest watching the dappled leaves, listening to the breeze in the trees, napping a bit. er... I mean "resting my eyes"

Rolling along after lunch, it became time to head back, and so we did. Back to the campsite in just enough time to mosey over to the river and rinse our selves off ("The Little Manistee River... where the water flows clear and chilly, and the scrotal shrinkage is instantaneous."), gather water, and get to cooking. Fried tempeh with zucchini and Kung Pao/Szechuan noodles, some wine, and a campfire. Nice, that. Bummer though - the rain, she did come. Luckily, the warning sprinkles gave us time to get things stored away before it got raining for serious. But there was lots of firewood left over, and plenty of wine and beer, and that was unfortunate that they couldn't both get used that night.

But the next day was the journey back, and along the way came the Beer Gauntlet. On the way back from the Northwestern Lower (Peninsula of Michigan, for you out-of-staters) to Ann Arbor, the highway is littered with breweries. It's like a truck was driving along and they just fell out the back. Founder's in Grand Rapids, Bell's in Kalamazoo, Arcadia in Battle Creek, Dark Horse in Marshall.

Gotta say, the start and end points were... tasty. Founder's, y'all rock. I have much beer love for you. And you sponsor bike racin'. And have cool live music. Have I mentioned I like your beer lots? Kentucky Breakfast Stout, while very limited in availability, is delicious. Round and full, swells nicely on the tongue and rolls strong, comes off it slowly and gently. Well done. If you get a chance, give it a try. And the regular Breakfast Stout. And the Red's Rye. And Black Rye. And the Dirty Bastard Scotch Ale.

I limited myself in time and liver capacity to one, and we moved on to Bell's. While it's a fascinating tap room (with art and maps and historical documents), the beer was... mediocre. Bell's continues to non-impress me. Yes, they are the 800 lb gorilla in Michigan Beer. But the hoopla about Oberon is overrated, especially since every time I had it this year it has been terrible. Two-Hearted Ale, sure, but that's about all I can stand to buy. Everything else is ridiculously priced, and not really good enough to justify the price. I had the sampler, had a hard time picking because there was nothing on tap that hadn't been around on store shelves already over the past 5 years.

On to Arcadia. Beautiful bar/restaurant in the celtic style, but again... nothing new. The beers have remained the same as they have been for 10 years. While they've had small-run interesting but not very available batches like Coco Loco, Hopmouth, and Cereal Killer, the rest of the beers have stayed middling.

Dark Horse Brewing wins the Upstart Award. It's a tiny, tiny place in Marshall, MI (also a tiny place). What they lack in refinement of label art they make up for in enthusiasm. Favorites of mine: Crooked Tree IPA, the Black Beer, the Amber Ale, and the joint venture with Corner Brewery: Dark Corner. Tasty stuff, it is.

And Dark Horse likes bike racin' too. Oh yeah, and the sister brewery of Corner Brewery, Arbor Brewing Co. also sponsors bike racin'. I'm seeing a trend here.

Ok, blah. I've blathered too long. Forest, Bikes, Beer: mmm, Good.

woof.

got mead?

El Batcho Numero Uno. Batch the First. Zee Ertsten Batchenheit. Gruppo Uno di Mead-olio.

The quickie bottlings I did the other weekend of Batches #2 and #3 (test batches, mind you) I hereby declare didn't count. These, they're gonna sit for a while, relax, condition, etc. etc. I definitely noticed a difference between the taste of the initial bottlings (test bottlings, we'll say) a month ago, and what resulted after it sitting around was much improved. So I'm gonna do more of that.

And as I racked batches 4 and 7 tonight, I tasted the same kinds of things - it's very "young". Raw. Surely lots of yeasties floating around in it.

The good news? Well, I think I'd have a different opinion of #1 if I hadn't brought some to the Pesto Party. Turns out Jeff's friend (and Cheryl's co-worker?) Colleen is an experienced amateur meader, and I couldn't stop picking at her brain all afternoon - we talked shop, likely to the extreme annoyance of bystanders. While I don't ever think we got to the bottom of that question about legislative action vs. judicial precedence, we did find out that we have tons of beer, outdoor-sey, and opinionated things in common, so chances are better than average that we'll run into each other at a local pub and get to revisit the question. Of course, if there's beer involved, I really wonder whether we'll get anywhere on the topic then, either. What with all the yak-yak-yak that I seem to indulge in, not to mention Georgina's enabling enthusiasm for conversational dynamics.

While I think that Colleen's and my tastes are wildly divergent (I like the sweeter and she likes the dryer ones), she had encouraging things to say about #1. If her sincerity was affected because of my "well, here's the first batch... I think it might suck buuuut...." or if she truly liked it, the effect is the same when positive comments come from people with more experience than I have. I feel ok about my first efforts, and since it's fun fussing with the whole thing, I'm not planning stopping any time soon.

Oh yeah, and I end up with a bunch o' hooch at the end... there's that going for me.

So... the bad news. Batches #5 and #6 just don't seem to be doing anything anymore. I thought they might be done with primary fermenting, but when I stuck my nose in the carboy, they still smelled really sweet, and there was only the tiniest amount of lees in the bottom. These, of course would be the batches that I screwed up the proportions on - they had an original gravity off the scale, meaning > 1.200, which = "way too much". I'm actually wondering if the yeasties didn't just... give up (imagine the chorus of 100 million little yeast bacteria bemoaning "geez, there's just way too much sugar to work on in here, I quit.") Regardless, it'll give it another try tomorrow - another yeast starter going, I'll dilute the batches in half, pitch some more yeast in, and see if it can't get going again.

Le Hooch

Though it's become quite popular and all the kids are doing it these days, I don't presume to have the patience or attention span to brew beer at home. Not to mention that there's tons of breweries out there doing a fine job and I can get a variety of their products at lots of local places.

But what I can't get my hands on, that I do so enjoy? Mead. Yeah, like what the Vikings and other such hearty folk be drinkin' while they be pillagin'. There's the Redstone Meadery that I almost went to when I was out in Boulder last summer. And of course, there's probably lots of meading going on among those SCA people, but I just don't go that way. The thing is, my true motivation is essentially financial. Redstone's meads are about $20/bottle. That's ridiculous. Especially when it goes down really smooth and eaaasy.

So I went out and bought 12 lbs of honey, some yeast, a carboy (big glass jar), a big stock pot, some stoppers and whatnot, and off I go. The mix has been bubbling away fermenting their little yeasty hearts out on the counter for a couple days now. The unexpected discoveries? Damn if it doesn't take a long time (hours and hours) for 3 gallons of almost-boiling liquid to cool off (I'll have to get me a must/wort chiller). Oh yeah, and holy crap... talk about luscious sweet floral scents - when you have steaming honey/water mix, all these remarkable scents come off it. At one point when cooling, it was even "buttery". I kid you not. Like sweet, but luscious... butter.

Along the way, one thing I don't get riled up about much: interstate commerce laws applying to internet wine sales. But I gotta say, whoever is drawing the mascot over at Free The Grapes? Splendid work.

Shackles The Bondage Grape. How many mixed messages are there in there? Who cares. I just love the little hands, and fighting stance, and grumpy frown, and chin but no nose. He's like Hoffa, on the town square, fighting for freedom and a living wage. But he doesn't have a megaphone.

And he's a grape.

Gone Beering, etc.

This weekend (tomorrow) is the Winter Beer Fest, which I won't hesitate to say I'm pretty stoked about. Gonna make a long day/weekend out of it - breakfast/lunch/brunch, then schlep out to Lansing, sample beer all afternoon, hang out with Georgina, Stacey, Andre, (Pete & Wendy?), goof around in town, then crash in Lansing, sleep in, and eventually come home sometime on Sunday. Not a bad plan, if I say so myself.

Finally am making "the switch"... I put my TV away in the basement storage locker some months ago, but somehow neglected to discontinue cable service because it's also my ISP. Well, I ordered up the DSL, the modem came in the mail yesterday, I'm waiting for it to get activated, and then I'll be free of the crappy Comcast service once and for all. I'll admit, I really don't miss TV. Sure, it's fun to watch the Toob and all, but I haven't had a speck of withdrawl.

I've been ignoring movies out there in the world for a couple weeks - I got the annual membership to Michigan Theater a while back, but haven't used it as much as I expected... I think I'll go see Sweet Land tonight (hopefully it's not playing in the cramped screening room). Either that, or Breach.

Oh yeah, and maybe later I'll tell the story about how one of my neighbors threatened to kill me yesterday. That one's pretty interesting...

the new old hell-yeah

Dear Ann Arbor/Ypsi Beer Enthsiasts:

If you haven't been to Arbor Brewing Co. in the past month or so, you REALLY need to stop there and have a pint. I don't know what it is they did, but 3 months ago I was wondering whether the beers were just going to continue a downward spiral into boringness. But then KA-THWOCKO! Just the other day I was there, and boy howdy... they sure did do something about the beers. Put some new stuff on the menu too (hooray for the IPA Chicken with goat cheese sammich)

Three new ones I hadn't had before, but fully endorse: Downtown Brown (not a diva beer, but very drinkable pint after pint). HXL - a nameplay on the Huxell, but XL because it's a high-gravity double-strength version of the Huxell Best Bitter. Too heavy to have lots of, but tasty fer sure. And saving the best for last: the Duggie Style Rye. Fuckin' hell, y'all. Even it's smells have temporal complexity. The smell has a start and finish, and they work together so well. Taste? Well, that's even a better part you'll have to discover yourself.

And not only the new stuff, but it seems they've freshened up the Porter too. I used to think Grizzly Peak had a better porter and ABC had a better stout. I think ABC has re-taken the Porter crown on this one. Smoky and with a little bit of a snap on the tongue. Niiice.

I know the brewmaster is unlikely to be reading this, but on the off chance he is: An absofuckinglutely STELLAR job with these brews. Keep 'em coming. Glad to see new stuff. Glad to have ABC again be a destination for me and not just "when I'm in the neighborhood".

Grizzly Peak brewmaster? You'd best sharpen up your game if you don't want to get dropped.

Shadow Art Fair

Went to Shadow Art Fair today at Corner Brewery in Ypsi... saw some nifty stuff, and bought a little too. It was pretty chock full of people at the fair, but I heard that Friday was ridiculous busy - as in how-many-people-can-fit-in-this-building full.

Stuff I liked...

Miranda Tarrow's "Circus Peanuts" (which now hangs on my wall)

...and there's just something about "A Half-Sucked Egg" (Miranda Tarrow & Howard Forbes) that I really like. Didn't buy the work, but got the postcard...


Chris Sandon, a part of Dirty Bros. had some alluring/disturbing work available, and lastly, I think I'm going to get all my greeting cards from SappyCards from now on.

Mead, I tell you, mead

At the local upscale liquor/deli/lotto, I stumbled on some mead from Redstone Meadery. Never having had it, I thought I'd give it a try. Very, very tasty and drinkable. I'm kind of feeling like a viking right now and wish I had a horn to drink it out of. Go and try some sometime soon... of course, assuming you don't hate honey (who hates honey?).

Corner Brewery

Been away (blog-wise) for a while, and in the intervening time, a new brewpub has cropped up in the Ann Arbor/Ypsi area... Corner Brewery recently opened in Ypsilanti... an offshoot of Arbor Brewing Company (which, if you ask me, is a hallowed local landmark). There's Grizzly Peak, which has respectable brews, but for some reason doesn't have a damn website... everything I find google-wise only point to their corporate headquarters, which explains the difference you feel between the two pubs. ABC is is locally owned and operated, and GP is cog in a larger organization. Something to be said for each approach to running a business, I'm not going to pass judgement. They both make good brews, but when I'm in the mood for local-ness or I'm just looking for good beer, I go to ABC. When my needs are food-ish, I can't resist the temptation of those polenta fries they have at GP. (used to be the garlic fries at ABC, but they've been kind of chintsy with the garlic lately, and those polenta fries really hit the spot).

So anyway, ABC opened up a brewpub in Ypsi, and I decided to go for a glass or two. Honestly, I'll say that I commend ABC for their beers, and am glad to support them (my beer motto: Think Globally, Drink Locally - Support Your Local Brewmaster) because I like the place, but the Corner Brewery needs a bit of work. I know there's something to be said for the honest, down home, "rustic" look, but CB really needs some help on the interior. My hope is that they rushed the opening and skimped on the interior decorating in favor of getting the doors open, but that they will come back to the interior later... I'll for sure be checking in occasionally (ABC downtown AA is closer for me, so a "regular" brewpub visit would still be at ABC) Oddly, there's a rumor of GP opening up a place in Ypsi, but who knows how real that is.

Matt and Renee, if you're reading this: I have had many a pleasant pint over the past 10 years and would gladly recommend ABC to anyone I know. But about the new place... if there's only a munchie-menu, the paint is peeling off the windows, and the brick work looks like it's desperately in need of a scrubbing/sandblasting, why would I go there? I guess there's the geography of going to Ypsi vs. Ann Arbor and serving the Ypsi market, but since I'm in Ann Arbor, I can't think of a reason to travel for a pint when Washington St. is so close.