It's no secret in the past decade or so, that craft breweries and micro breweries have become all the rage across the US. Pretty much every state hosts a plethora of options. It isn't uncommon to find at least one or two if not more in every larger city.
I'm probably a little biased, but I feel Michigan ranks at the top of the list when it comes to the quality of their offerings. There are a couple of regions that have really grown over the past couple of years and Traverse City is one of them.
If you head to the downtown area of "TC", you will find no less than ten breweries or tap rooms in a relatively small space. If you expand your search out to within 50 miles of TC, you will likely find at least a dozen more.
Middle Coast Brewing Company is one of those gems. I mentioned yesterday that @iikrypticsii and I were just outside Traverse City for a conference. Since he had never been to the city before, I decided to take him for a ride on Thursday afternoon.
I knew he wasn't a fan of beer, so I started looking for a place that also made their own hard seltzers. It wasn't long before I settled on Middle Coast. They had at least twelve beers on tap and then another six or so hand crafted hard seltzers. It fit the bill perfectly.
As you can see from the photos, the interior is very long. The front of the establishment almost looks like a bakery or coffee shop and then it expands into the areas you see above. Random eclectic seating is everywhere.
Sorry, I forgot to mention, they have a really cool outdoor seating area. Had it not been the end of October, we might have spent our time out there. Actually, this past weekend we had "second summer" and it was beautiful. I have a feeling more than a couple of people found themselves relaxing on the patio at Middle Coast.
Instead, @iikrypticsii and I made our way to the back of the establishment where the bar was located across the back wall. Having just turned 21 a short time ago, I thought it would be kind of cool for him to have this right of passage and sit at a bar to have a drink. Of course maybe this wasn't his first time, I don't know, but it was his first time at a bar with me, so at least there's that.
While glass walls and views of the brewing equipment is pretty much old hat at places like this, it was all new to him and he was pretty fascinated by it all.
If I wasn't the driver, I might have went with a flight and tried a variety of their offerings. Instead, since I needed to be responsible, I settled for their Oktoberfest (or two). It was a fantastic Marzen that finished clean and went down much to easy. It's funny because even though I know I love Oktoberfest beer, every time I have one it's like I fall in love with it all over again. There is just something so special about it.
Perhaps it is the fact that it is only available for a limited time then you have to wait a year to get some more. I don't know. What I do know is it was amazing!
I've gotta be honest, I don't even remember what flavor of seltzer my friend ordered at this point. What I do know is that he enjoyed it and when we had finished the first round, a second round was pretty much a given.
At one point the waitress asked us if we wanted to see a menu. Unfortunately, we had dinner waiting for us back at the conference. If it wasn't for that a the moderate drive back to our hotel, I probably could have stayed here all night.
It's definitely on my list to bring my wife and our friends back to. I think it would be perfect since her good friend doesn't care for beer either and sometimes my wife just isn't in a mood for beer. The hand crafted hard seltzers make Middle Coast a great balance for beer lovers and non beer lovers alike.
iikrypticsii and I spent a good hour at Middle Coast and talked about all manner of things that people usually talk about at the bar. Conversation flowed as freely as the taps and it was quite honestly one of my favorite parts of the whole trip.
If you ever make it to the Traverse City area, you are definitely going to be inundated with options in terms of places to dine and places to drink. Even if you just stop in for a quick one, make sure Middle Coast is on your list!
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