Lansing Breweries and BBQ

When I made plans for my recent trip to Lansing, MI, it was going to be about Brunch, Biking, Breweries, and BBQ.  I brought my bike with me so it would be easier to get from one place to another.  When I got up in the morning, I made plans to go to brunch, which I have already talked about, but the route took me along the very scenic river trail with a dock-like wooden trail that ran over the river in many places, and many scenic places like the R. E. Olds Transportation Museum, and the River Trail Theater.  The rest of the day was about biking to breweries and finishing with BBQ.

 

 

The first place I stopped after brunch was Ozone's Brewhouse, a small place in Old Town Lansing, located about a block from Golden Harvest.  As it was early, I was one of the first people there, which gave me time to study the place and peruse the menu.  The space reminded me of an old woodshop with everything made of wood and the bar topped with a glossy resin finish with a multicolored bottle cap design inlaid in several places.  Ozone is three Oxygen atoms bonded together and with a chemical formula of O3.  The design of the Ozone's Brewhouse label has both the chemical formula and structure of ozone in the name which I, as a chemist, thought was pretty cool.  They have a twelve beer tap list with a pretty good variety.  When I go to a new place, I prefer to maximize my samples and order a flight.  Ozone's did not have a set flight and they had a price for four ounce pours, so you could create your own flight.  As I had just had an enormous brunch, and I planned on visiting several places, I decided to keep things a little light and only ordered 4 - four ounce pours of a variety of styles.  I started out with Tyrannosaurus Razz Raspberry Saison.  It wasn't incredibly sweet or tart, but it had a nice raspberry aroma and finishing flavor with definite saison funk.  After fruit, I went to bourbon with Black Roses Bourbon Barrel Aged Imperial Stout.  This tasted big with a definite bourbon flavor.  The next beer kind of blew my mind which is exactly what it was supposed to do.  Called White Collar Crime, it was labeled a White Stout.  Now the idea of a white stout is a bit mind blowing because stouts are made with roasted malt, which gives the beer its dark flavor.  This beer is a pale ale brewed with cocoa nibs and cold brewed coffee, flavors that are frequently found in stouts.  While it certainly tastes like a stout, it very definitely did not look like a stout because it did not use roasted malt.  My final beer was Hopbreaker, which was an Imperial IPA.  It was pretty hoppy and flavorful with a nice body and with that it was time to get on the road again.

The next stop was the biggest brewery in the Lansing area, Lansing Brewing Company.
It takes its name from the original Lansing Brewing Company that operated in the city from 1898 until 1914 when it was closed in the movement toward Prohibition. The new Lansing Brewing Company opened in 2014 and uses the theme of the labor movement to build on.  Lansing was very important in the Labor Movement and the original was popular among the laborers in the new Oldsmobile Factory.  They had an Amber Cream Ale that was very popular which the new brewery also has.  I am going to guess that it is also very popular because when I tried to order it, they were out.  I started with a pint of Union Golden Ale and a small pour of Munchies Double Dank Double IPA.  The golden ale was solid and very drinkable.  The Double IPA, as it's name implies was dank and was going for a taste like marijuana smells.  It was not the dankest brew that I have ever had, but it was pretty dank.  While I was drinking these, I noticed some serving trays that seemed to be for flights.  Flights were not listed on the menu or else I would have ordered one when I sat.  I asked if they did flights, they did, so I ordered one.  I had already had the Golden Ale and their double IPA so they were off the list, but they had 12 beers on tap so I had choices.  In my flight I chose Michigan Medley Session IPA, Sly and the Family Saison Black Saison, Urban Grove Wheat Ale, Fox in the Henhouse Saison, and Saiko Himitsu Rice Lager.  Under normal circumstances, I wouldn't have chosen the rice lager because the idea reminds me too much of Budweiser, but I wanted something on the lighter side.  It wasn't bad, but it also wasn't something that I would drink regularly.  Everything else was pretty good with my favorite probably being the Black Saison.  Lansing Brewing Company seems to be the most popular brewery in the Lansing Area, though they are also the safest as far as styles and flavors are concerned.

 

The last brewery that I stopped at was Ellison Brewery & Spirits, located in East Lansing, east of the MSU campus.  As I went to MSU, I did have to make a few stops to see landmarks and my dorm, but I didn't have to really go out of my way.  Located on a dead end road off East Lansing's main drag, you would think that it would be relatively easy to find.  Unfortunately the entrance is in the back of a generic factory building off the road and there is only one small sign on a door in the front, so it can be a little difficult where it is.  If you look into the alley/driveway behind the building, you can easily see a brewing tank, so I used that as a direction aid.  I had had some beer from Ellison and I liked it, so I was determined to find it.  Once you find the tap room, you see that it's kind of small with seating at the curved bar, high tops, and picnic tables for about 60 people (tightly).  There is a garage door at the entrance and space for the area to be used as a patio when the temperature was warmer than it was when I was there.  It was pretty busy, but I was waited on pretty quickly and found a spot to sit at a picnic table.  Their beers were little more on the exotic side and they did them well.  I ordered the Big Black Stout, BRB Fruit Ale made with Raspberries, Blueberries, and Blackberries, Crescent Fresh IPA, and Relativity Double IPA.  All of the beers had big flavors and were very good.  The two IPAs were West Coast and East Coast.  The Crescent Fresh being the West Coast IPA was very clear.  The Relativity was an East Coast IPA that was very hazy and had a juicy and citrusy flavor.  The Big Black Stout was solid with a nice coffee flavor, and BRB was tart and fruity.  Of the four, I think that I liked the Relativity Double IPA best.  My only issue was in the way the beers were served.  While I do understand the logic of serving beers in the order that they were ordered, the problem with that is that you could start with a beer that overwhelms your taste buds and kills your taste for the rest of your beers.  I prefer to have my beers served from light to dark.

I finished off the day with more food, stopping at the inventively named Meat BBQ, located very close to where I started in Lansing.  It was very popular when we went, I met my brother there, so there was a wait.  Luckily, my brother arrived before I did which alleviated most of our wait.  They have a pretty good beer list, but as I had been drinking all afternoon, I was not in the mood for any more.  We started things off with their Nachos.  These started out with hand cut Tortilla Chips topped with Pork, Brisket, and Bacon, Cheese and BBQ Sauce, and drizzled with Onions, Tomato, Jalopeno, and Avocado.  It was sloppy but it was really good and while it was served as an appetizer, it could have easily served as a main course.  For my main course, I went with a Half Rack of Ribs served with two sides.  The sides offered were normal BBQ fare and I went with Mac and Cheese and Potato Salad (although this Potato Salad was made with Blue Cheese and Bacon).  The ribs were dry rubbed and glazed with a sweet and spicy sauce, similar to Memphis-Style.  It was all good, but with my my high caloric intake for the day, I ended up taking most of it home which was fine because it was still good warmed up.  My day of Brunch (with Bacon and Broccoli), Beer, Biking, and BBQ was complete.  I had a lot of fun and enjoyed my experience at all of my stops.