A Whale’s Story

Fine beer brewed from local landmark’s inspiration
By Daniel Herd
Sun contributor
On a cooling fall day, the sharp wind catches hold of a few remaining gold leaves, tearing them from an oak that sits on the eastern slope of the whaleback. Covered with evergreens, the front of this dune is soon to turn white in the coming winter winds. The Whaleback has been painted, hiked, climbed and storied. And at least once it has changed someone’s life. With its sweeping view of the islands, the Manitou Passage and Good Harbor Bay it is not surprising that the solace and sustenance of this perched dune has inspired another unique piece of the Leelanau experience.

The fish-like silhouette of this beach-blown formation brought entrepreneur and local transplant Charles Psenka to develop a beer that fits the land’s natural beauty. Born of all natural ingredients and an old world process, Leelanau Brewing Company’s first beer, “Whaleback White” attempts to find a harmonic place among the roadside vegetable stands, hiking trails, cold summer nights and lengthy beach days. But this is not your everyday beer, as the originator explains, “when you are sitting on whaleback, in that place, with this beer, it can be a ‘planets-aligned’ moment … but this beer isn’t for everyone: it’s a wine drinker’s beer.” True to this statement, the beer is presented in 750ml bottles, just like wine. With its sharp, tart start and citrus-apple flavor, the beer drinks more like a pinot gris than an ale, but the Barbasol head and fresh, yeasty aroma remind you that it’s still a true brew. A Leland native who now lives in Ferndale, Michigan with his wife Robin and seven-month-old son Charlie, Psenka developed this beer to specifically match what he felt about the location and the local need for a completely unique beer.
Just as the blustery cold winds and crusty snow keep many would-be residents warm in southern climates, this beer appeals to only a portion of beer drinkers. But Psenka never intended to create just another good lager: this brew evolved from a personal obsession with beer, a location-led vision and a few good connections.
Psenka was introduced to the area when his parents acquired the Snow Bird bed and breakfast in Leland and so, 20 years ago, when tourists were scarce, the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore was young, and housing still affordable, Charles Psenka fell in love with the area and its unique character. During a phone interview, he wistfully recalls how there were only a few wineries back then and there were no breweries: “there was a vacancy for beer here”. While this observation may sound odd from someone who was then almost a decade shy of the drinking age, Psenka recounts how he became interested in beer at an early age. “I was 12 or maybe younger when I inherited a large beer can collection, and I kept collecting them after that.” With this aluminum history for support and Leelanau County’s beauty for inspiration, it only took a chance encounter for the now southern Michigander to follow through with his desire to create a brew to fit the locale.
From the age of 19, Psenka has been an entrepreneur, developing several companies, attending college and even teaching classes for those interested in becoming self-starters. This collection of skills later coalesced into a technology position where Psenka matches those in need of web design with web-based content developers. But while the job became more permanent, it also drew him away from the area. “This isn’t something I could do in Leelanau County … yet” he muses. But while working with a wine seller, he saw a way he could be more connected to the place he loves: he could make a special beer for a special place.
Serendipitously, not too long after that, Psenka met Ron Jeffries, the brewmaster for Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales, based in Dexter, Michigan. In Jeffries methods, Psenka found the artist to make the masterpiece. With 14 years of experience and a devotion to traditional methods, Jeffries was the medium though which Whaleback White would be born. “I’m not a brewmaster,” said Psenka. “It takes a lot of time and devotion to getting it all perfect, Ron has that.” Then, like an excited six-year-old recounting the details of his Lego land, Psenka launches into the specifics: “We use open fermentation and old oak vessels … I just purchased a custom built, 1200 liter French Oak barrel from a German cooper.” This new barrel is the start of the next big thing.
In working to get a more permanent foothold in these sugar sand bluffs, Psenka plans on turning a family barn into the new home of Leelanau Brewing Company. There is no fixed timeline for this endeavor, but he sees it as a way to bring his love of beer and the area together. Just as the wineries moved in and became a fixture, Psenka hopes to make Leelanau Brewing Co a local pride with national reach. “It is important that it is locally loved, but right now most of my sales are outside the county.”
To match this goal of expansion, he is also working on another brew. “When people taste Whaleback, they expect something they’ve had before. It isn’t. The new beer (Good Harbor Golden) will be a lot more recognizable.” This news should please Cedar City Market’s stalwart steward, Phil Thiel who sells Whaleback. Thiel remarked that, “it is an excellent example of this kind of beer, but it has a sharp flavor with a lot of orange and citrus, so for a lot of people it is very different than what they are used to.” And that may be part of the enjoyment.
Like the Whaleback, that evergreen-skinned icon of the Manitou Passage, like the stone-littered shores that frame our inland sea, and like those falling, golden leaves, Psenka’s beer is just enough past ordinary to be as special as the Leelanau hills. Maybe just like the land from which it was born, not everyone will appreciate it, but for those that do, nothing in the world will ever come close. One can almost feel the planets starting to align.