Celebration of Women and Craft Beer

Saugatuck Brewing Company- Douglas, MI

So many beers... 

This was a really good event, that I think will grow and become something really wonderful. I met Liz Crowe, Owner of Wolverine State Brewing; Annette May, the first female Cicerone; Katie Spayde, a home brewing expert and Cicerone with Siciliano's Market; Kathy Johnson, the Founder of Saugatuck Brewing Company; Sheryl Rose and her Pussycat Beer Guild; Sarah Aldrich, Marketing at Founder's Brewing and Amy Sherman, Chef and host of The Great American Beer Trail; and probably more that I'm forgetting!

Blonde

The first beer I had was the Saugatuck Brewing Co. Blonde? Honestly I don't remember - it was beer and it was light enough that I could drink it, there was nothing that spectacular about it that I remember.

The Menu

Then I did the Beer & Cheese Tasting with Amy Sherman - This was awesome, and luckily I have the guide still so I can tell you everything that I tried. I was very distracted though, since I was sitting next to the owner and she was more interested in my app then the tasting.  

Michigan Wheat Ale

Round 1: Michigan Wheat Ale with Aged Goat Cheese - I didn't care for this beer, it smelled like
wheat, grass and honey. The cheese helped it a lot. A finished this beer. 

Pathfinder Ale

Round 2: Pathfinder Pale Ale and ESB/Amber with Habenaro Jack Cheese - I loved this cheese. What, I supposed to tell you about the beer? Well, again I drank so many beers a lot of them ran together and these were all kind of similar; tasted like beer - the cheese made them better. I finished both of these beers

ESB/Amber

Round 3: Dead Goat Dopplebock with Gruyere - This beer I remember, it was the first dark one we tasted and it was very caramel-ly. I liked it, it was strong but the gruyere with it was great! I finished this beer.

Dead Goat Dopplebock

Round 4: Singapore IPA with Aged Sharp Cheddar - I didn't like this combination at all. I don't really care for cheddar or IPA, so I know that I wasn't super impressed with this pairing; but I also know I was 5 beers in and Kathy was chatting up a storm. I drank maybe 1/2 of this one. 

Singapore IPA

Round 5: (Yes, I'm on round 5) Big Swingin' Richard and Pier Cove Porter paired with Danish Blue Cheese - These were my 2 favorites, they both were dark, heavy and strong. Big Swingin' Richard is a barrel aged beer, I believe it's brand new. I could give or take the cheese paired with them, I love blue cheese but I think after 6 1/2, I was a little overwhelmed. I did not finished either of these beers.

Pier Cove Porter
(poor image quality because I had hit
a button on my phone and didn't realize it)

After the Pairings there was another presentation and the chance to try more beers, I passed on all of these and drank water until it was time to go.

Big Swingin' Richard
(again, with the photo quality; sorry)

Oh! and I won an incredible goodie bag from Saugatuck Brewing Company. It was a great event, and I can't wait for next year. I made some new friends and tried some great beers, I just wish I could remember more about them ;)