Fun and games always seem to follow Bob Sutherland. The Cherry Republic owner frequently walks around Glen Arbor sans shoes; his weekly “Orchard Report” emails describe sons Colebrook and Hawthorn playing in the Sleeping Bear Dunes, and cherry pit spitting contests are an important part of the visit to Cherry Republic’s campus.
The Sleeping Bear Ale Trail celebrates half a dozen (relatively) new breweries along the M-22 and US-31 corridors in Leelanau and Benzie counties. Patrons could foreseeably visit all six over the course of a weekend. The Ale Trail complement’s the region’s already well-established wine tourism pilgrimages and traditional drinking holes.
Cheers to local craft breweries! Two of six breweries on the newly minted “Sleeping Bear Ale Trail” made the top five of MLive’s Best New Michigan Brewery search. Frankfort’s Stormcloud Brewing Company won the gold medal earlier this month, and Hop Lot in Suttons Bay came in fourth.
The second annual Empire Hops Festival will run from noon until 10 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 3. The festival takes place on Front St, between Union and La Rue Streets. An entry fee of $15 will be charged which will include complimentary glass & drink tickets. Guests under 16 are free.
Quaint and creative Empire already hosts the Asparagus Festival in mid-May and the revived Hill Climb racecar event in September. Next up is the village’s inaugural Hops Festival, which organizers hope will also become an annual event.
Scott Whybrew is a man with a plan for retirement: hops farming. “You’ve heard of people spending their children’s inheritance?” he asks with a straight face. In October Scott and his wife Gerri, the parents of three adult children, purchased a 110-acre former apple orchard on Kittlinger Road in Empire Township. Over the course of the fall and a challenging winter, the couple employed a crew of eight-to-10 local men who turned the feral orchard into a working hop farm.
Local restaurateurs and northern Michigan breweries will show off their best as Glen Arbor kicks off the summer season with the annual BBQ & Brew Festival on Saturday, June 15 from 2 until 8 p.m.