With my beer nerd boyfriend to guide me, we headed north to Traverse City, a Michigan tourist town best known for its wineries and fancy bed and breakfasts. But it’s not just a place to sip vino anymore. The brewery scene has exploded in recent years, along with distilleries and small-batch food producers, making it an artisanal sustenance paradise.
Our first stop was an hour-out-of-the-way detour in Ludington, two hours southwest of Traverse City (just keep hugging the (634 S. Stiles Rd.) is perhaps the most country of all country breweries, hiding in the back of a residential lot in a barn behind a house. It features a small porch, an outdoor seating area, and an inclusive vibe (tagline: “Judge beer, not people”). There’s an outside window for ordering, with a giant chalkboard indicating what’s available. On this day, the brewer was pouring samples, and we tasted most of the lineup. We left with a four-pack of Pop Art, a grapefruit session ale that tastes like summer.
