May and June 2016
L. Mawby Winery |
How do you decide which wineries and breweries to visit?
There are so many choices in the Grand Traverse Bay area, that it is difficult to decide which wineries and breweries to visit. Especially, in only four or five days time. We made our decisions based on value, prior visit experience (if any), and proximity to where we were staying or traveling.
Michigan Brewvine Passports and TC Ale Trail Atlases |
Traverse City and Leelanau Breweries
We visited Rare Bird Brew Pub by bicycle from Traverse City State Park. It was pretty easy to get to the pub, other than the ride down Eighth Street with traffic. There was a bicycle rack on the sidewalk in front of the brewery. The atmosphere inside was pleasant and comfortable. They had many brews on tap, although only a few of them were their brews. This location is listed on the Traverse City Ale Trail, and they have discounts in the Brewvine Passport. After this stop, we had planned to stop at Big Toe Brewery next door, for the extra credit stamp on the Traverse City Ale Trail; however, that brewery has gone out of business.Our next stop by bicycle was Brewery Ferment, located just a couple of blocks southwest of Rare Bird Brew Pub on Union Street. There was no bicycle rack at Brewery Ferment, although there was room to park our four bikes out front. This location has picnic tables on the sidewalk. There is inside seating, and a dart board inside. Brewery Ferment is listed on the Traverse City Ale Trail, and they have discounts in the Brewvine Passport. This is the only location we visited that would not stamp our Ale Trail Atlas, if we used a coupon from the Brewvine Passport. The Ale Trail Atlas is not a discount, and it does not say it cannot be stamped with a discount purchase. We pointed this out to the bartender; however, she would not give in. And, we had paid $25 for the passports! She also did not tell us she was not going to give us an Ale Trail Stamp until after we had already paid with the discount coupons (we had all four books on the bar when we ordered and paid). The beers in this brewery were not great enough to make us want to visit again for an Ale Trail stamp; therefore, our almost completed Ale Trail Atlases were now useless. Because of this experience, I will never visit this brewery again. She could have at least told us she was not going to stamp our Ale Trail books before applying the discount and processing our payment.
Sampler at North Peak Brewing Company |
Workshop Brewing is located about 1½ blocks away from North Peak Brewing, behind Hotel Indigo. Workshop Brewing had many beers on tap, inside and outside seating, and live music when we visited on Friday evening. We used the Happy Hour discounts ($1 off a pint) in our Brewvine passports, and we received Ale Trail stamps.
Sampler at Right Brain Brewery |
The Filling Station Microbrewery has a couple of great coupons in the Brewvine Passport, and they are listed in Traverse City Ale Trail Atlas, as well. This is where completed Ale Trail Atlases are redeemed. We were able to redeem one of our Atlases for the prize by showing the employee at The Filling Station our purchase receipt for the beers at Brewery Ferment (where the employee would not stamp our booklet). The prize is a silicone pint glass, which we have not used yet.
TC Ale Trail prize - available in several colors |
Sampler at Hop Lot Brewing Co. |
Winery visits on Leelanau Peninsula, and surrounding areas
We visited L. Mawby Winery to redeem my prize for four. We had been to Mawby Winery several times prior to this visit. The service was excellent, as usual. Mawby offers two tastings for no charge, and then we enjoyed our prize tasting and snack outside overlooking the hills. The photo at the top of this blog post is of my beverages and snack. We each also received a Mawby/Leelanau peninsula champagne glass like the ones pictured below. Mawby has a discount in the Brewvine Passport, which we did not use, as my prize package also included 15% off purchases. I enjoy sparkling wines, so I hope to make it back to this winery again before the end of the year.L. Mawby glasses |
There are discounts for Black Star Farms in the Brewvine Passport. The Suttons Bay tasting room was very busy when we visited. This location also has an Inn, and Terrace restaurant. This one of my favorite Black Star Farms locations.
View from Knot Just a Bar - photo taken when we visited by boat in 2014 |
Forty-Five North |
Forty-Five North inside |
Boathouse Vineyards and Northern Latitudes Distillery are located at the bridge on M204 in Lake Leelanau. Boathouse Vineyards charged $1 per taste, which I thought was expensive for what we got. There were seats outside overlooking the lake, where you could sit to enjoy a beverage or lunch. Northern Latitudes Distillery offered free tastes. Their products were some of the smoothest I have tasted, although the purchase price was high. The cost for most items was $29.95 per bottle. I did not get a good look at the bottle to see if it was 750 ml or 1 liter. We had lunch at Thunderbird Cafe, which is located in the same building as the distillery. The service was great, and the food was good.
We also visited Bel Lago Vineyards and Winery and St. Ambrose Cellars. Both of these locations have a coupon in the Brewvine Passbook for 50 cent tastings; however, neither location actually charged for tastings. They both offered five complimentary tastes. Bel Lago is in Cedar on Leelanau Peninsula, and St. Ambrose Cellars is in Buelah. If you "check-in" on Facebook while visiting St. Ambrose Cellars, you can receive a complimentary logo wine glass.
Michigan Brewvine Passport and Traverse City Ale Trail Atlases
Michigan Brewvine Passports cost $25 each, and expire one year from date of purchase. The cost is a bit expensive, unless you are able to use the book often. We do not live in the area, which would make it easier to get more value from the book. We had a couple of northern Michigan trips planned, so we purchased the books during a BOGO free promotion January 2016. Traverse City Ale Trail Atlases are complimentary, and you can get one at any of the participating breweries.If you have are planning your trip with either of these booklets, be aware that the following locations are no longer in business: Big Toe Brewery in Traverse City, Bravo Zula Brewery in Acme, and Motovino Cellars in Northport.
Please let me know if you have any questions, and always remember to drink responsibly. Feel free to share this post!
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