National Drink a Beer Day is September 28, 2018

You have to love the people that make up national days to celebrate.  There is no lack of creativity when it comes to reasons to get together and celebrate something.   September 28th is National Drink a Beer Day.  We have some great choices to help you decide which beer to drink.

An item in our ad that week will be Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA.  Brewed using a boatload of intense Northwest hops, this beer is boiled for 60 minutes while continuous hopping occurs.  This produces a bold flavor of hops balanced with sweet maltiness.  None of that violent hop in this beer.  The ABV is 6% and the IBUs are 60.  Pair this with a great vintage cheddar or spicy foods or grilled salmon. Available in all Family Fare stores.

Bell’s Two Hearted ale was and is one of our bestselling IPAs that we offer at Family Fare.  This item has taken a path that wasn’t foreseen by the Bells people and it has become its own big brand of beer.  The idea behind it was to make a beer that is simple to make that tastes great.   Enter Two Hearted.  It is hopped with 100% Centennial hops from the Northwest and is generously added to the kettle and to the fermenter.  Pine and grapefruit are in the nose.  The malt base is large enough to handle this much bittering and the flavor is rounded out with Bell’s own house yeast.  The ABV is 7% and has 55 IBUs. Available in all Family Fare stores.

One of New Holland’s new beer items is the Tangerine Space Machine.  This is a New England style IPA which indicates it is sweeter and is unfiltered.  This beer is very good and has great balance between the malt and hops.  The hops are Galaxy, Topaz, and Michigan Copper.  Nice to see local hops being used in local beer.  The ABV is 6.8% with 40 IBUs.  I would match this beer with Asian dishes that are spicy, Buffalo wings, and BBQ Ribs. Available in Michigan stores.

Ballast Point’s new IPA named Fathom has fruit flavors that are derived from the hops.  It is described as a west coast style which means it is very hop forward in the malt/hop balance.  Zesty orange and piney hops are the flavors.  ABV is 6% and IBUs are at 50. Fathom only available in Michigan stores. Ballast Point offers an assortment of varietals’ across all Family Fare stores.

Local to our eastside stores is Atwater Brewing.  If you get a chance, visit the Atwater in the Park brewpub in Grosse Point Park, MI.  It is in a vacated church, stained glass and all.  There is a huge tent outside and the food is out of this world delicious.  I had a plate of their sausages with their Blueberry Cobbler beer, one of the best food and beer pairing I’ve experienced.  Our best-selling Atwater beer is the Vanilla Java Porter.  VGP for short.  The style of this beer is English Porter and the color is a deep brown.  Chocolate malt, coffee beans, and vanilla extract are blended with U.S. Goldings hops.  It is a most delicious beer. Available in Michigan stores.

Now you have some great choices to celebrate Drink a Beer Day!

• Started in the Grocery business bagging at D&W in 1975.  Worked at D&W for 30 years in various departments.

• Worked at SpartanNash for 11 years.  Currently the Category Manager for Wine/Beer/Spirits for SpartanNash East.

• Have been a category manager since 1990 and a category manager of beer  since 1997.  CM of wine and spirits since 2007.

• Have travelled extensively which provided the opportunity to taste many foods and beverages from Hong Kong to Caribbean, from California to Maine.

• Love to cook, grill, and bake, snow ski, sail, and read books.    Best baked item – a bourbon pecan pie with rum crust.  Best grilled item – salmon with blueberry onion wine sauce and goat cheese.  Best cooked item – Squash Apple soup with bourbon.  Best ski slope – Go Devil at Keystone.  Best book – Wonder.

• 1 wife, 3 children, 7.3 grandchildren.