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MICHIGAN BEER GUIDE Michigan Beer Guide® July / August 2016 • Issue 145 In this Edition Cover: Beer industry pioneer Ted Badgerow talks about his early efforts to open The Real Ale Company in Chelsea back in 1982 and his new Beer is a Woman’s World location in Ypsilanti. istorically, beer was within the The sucky beer was lager while most of Ted Talks, an interview with Ted Badgerow 4 domain of women far longer than that the new, craft beer, was ale, the kind of beer Drafting Table Brewery, Isaac Perry 8 Hof men. As lager only recently grew to women brewed for thousands of years. Greyline Brewing Company, Sarah McGrath 10 dominate ale, so too did men grow to domi- In the 14th and 15th Centuries, that One Well Brewing Company, Eric Strader 12 nate the world’s beer scene. These relatively changed; men began brewing the beer and Hop Farming in Michigan, Austen Smith 14 recent developments span only a short slice of formed governing guilds to protect their trade. Fermenta, Pauline Knighton 18 human history. More recent evidence in the form of photo- Brew News 20 As nomadic creatures, men were the graphs of brewers taken at brewers association Beer Industry Related Business, Brad Probert 28 hunters while women were the gatherers, and meetings and even at breweries depicts only Beer & Music Pt 2, Santiago Gomez 30 the process of brewing begins with gathering. men. I will add here: look at what happened Lansing Report, Jim Brown 32 When civilization gradually converted to beer under their watch, after growing to Murmurs/Brewery Progress Updates 34 nomadic lifestyles into sedentary ones, it was over four thousand breweries in the USA MBG Featured Brewery Updates 34 still the woman’s work to harvest grain and their competition reduced them to under 50. MBG Sampling of Summer Festival Beers 42-43 turn it into beer and bread to feed her family. From the written record, we find the MBG Brewery Directory 44 Thus women were the primary beer producers very first recorded recipe, dated to 1800 B.C., Worthy Beer Events 49 from the dawn of civilization and through the was for beer, and this at a time when very few Homebrew, Breweriana, Cider, Mead 51 Middle Ages. Near the end of the Middle people were literate. The cuneiform tablet dis- Advertiser Index 52 Ages, court records and the rise of guilds show covered at the Sumerian settlement of Godin a transition from women brewers to men. Tepe, is dedicated to the goddess of beer and Established 1997 Today, the generally accepted beginning of known as The Hymn to Ninkasi. Four thou- Copyright 1997 - 2016 civilization was around 12,000 years ago, and sand years later, documentation shows women Published and Edited by Rex & Mary Halfpenny the end of the middle ages was around 1500; possessed little else then brewing equipment. DBA Michigan Beer Guide® (MBG) thus, women dominated the brewing world for Will future researchers discover the PO Box 648, Leonard, Michigan 48367-0648 95 percent of civilization’s history. return of women dedicated to beer and brew- (248) 628-6584 E-mail Rex at [email protected] or And what did men do to beer? To begin ing at the dawn of the information age? Mary at [email protected] with, they sold beer and made money doing it. Will digital archaeologists dig up obso- MBG Online: www.michiganbeerguide.com This, in turn, led to the string of improve- lete tablets with data like this about the Pink Technical Support: Aaron Bricker Proofreading: Isaac and Andrea Perry ments implemented to reduce cost and Boots Society? “We are the female movers and Created and Printed in Michigan, USA increase efficiency. Men advanced the science shakers in the beer industry. We get the beer of brewing, right along with the advance- brewed and fermented with the highest possi- Editorial Content: All editorial and photos by Rex and Mary Halfpenny ments of the industrial revolution and ble quality. We also own breweries, package unless otherwise noted. Press releases, editorial and photo through the modern era. the beer, design beers, serve beers, write about submissions are always welcome. Opinions expressed or It is worth mentioning that these beer, and cover just about any aspect of beer, implied do not necessarily represent those of the publishers. Directory Content: advancements turned the world of beer away and we are all women.” Submissions for the MBG Brewers Directory & Worthy Beer from its geographic and ethnically diverse Or this about Barley’s Angels? Events are due by the 10th of the even month preceding beginnings into a world of mass-market same- “This movement was started by the publication. Send your events anytime for posting on our ness. In other words, these advancements took world’s leading female beer experts who decid- website: [email protected] Advertising: beer from style diversity to American adjunct ed it’s time to combat crap brews, and its side- Contact Rex Halfpenny at: e-mail mibeerguyd@aol or call lager, culminating in light beer. kick bad beer image, and get women all over 248-628-6584 for sizes, rates, and deadlines. The craft beer movement began, by the globe enjoying incredible artisan ale (and Distribution: men, to reverse the homogenization of mass- lager!).” MBG is available at all advertiser locations and all commer- cial subscribing breweries as well as many beer knowledge- market sameness and restore style diversity. As There are today many other such organi- able retailers, home brew shops, and all State of Michigan this trend to bring back aroma, color, flavor, zations including our own Michigan based Welcome Centers. finish and aftertaste to beer grew, it began to Fermenta. It’s wonderful to see these modern Individual Subscriptions: Receive 12 months of Michigan Beer Guide attract a larger and larger following, including initiatives to reach and help women reestab- (6 issues) for $18.00 mailed first class to your address in the the return of women who rightfully thought lish their once vital role rooted from the very USA. Send your check or USPS Money Order to the beer sucked. dawn of brewing history. RGH address above to start your subscription. Page 3 MICHIGAN BEER GUIDE were added. In 1978 the street level was con- to license us. Our application just sat idle. No Ted Talks verted into a restaurant and the upper floors one had asked to be a brewer for over 30 years. By Rex Halfpenny into offices. We were lucky to get introduced to Senator With the introduction aside, here is my John (Jack) Kelly, who literally walked us e were really excited to learn that interview with Ted a few days before we went through the state liquor control offices and Ted Badgerow had partnered with to press with this edition. expedited our license. His sister Sue comes in WDavid Roberts to return to the Rex: I have to ask, what’s it like brewing here once in awhile. Michigan craft brewing industry. To us, Ted is today as opposed to 34 years ago? Rex: Tell me about the Chelsea products. like a rock star; he pioneered craft beer before Ted: We made three styles of beer, Stout, it was called craft or even micro. His celebrity Porter, and Chelsea Ale. What I most remem- is right up there with Larry Bell, Fred ber is all the hand filling. I swore I’d never fill Schumacher, and Tom Burns, only he predates another bottle again. We sold the beer for them all. $20.00 a case. It cost us $25.60 to produce it. You see, Ted, now 65 years of age, is not a Rex: How did you get into brewing in the first time start up. His original effort started in first place? 1982 when he opened The Real Ale Ted: My partner was Gordie Averill. He Company in Chelsea. It was one of the less was a dairy farmer in Sparta and I used to help than 50 breweries operating in the USA, and him on the farm. One day Gordie complained the third one in Michigan, behind Stroh about how little the return was for a tank of Brewery and Geyer Brothers Brewing Co. milk. I looked at the tank and asked, well, The Real Ale Company was so newswor- what it was full of beer? thy at the time; Time Magazine ran a story Rex: What are you most excited about about Ted and the new small brewery start-ups right now? titled “Small is Tasty” in their July 25, 1983 Ted: I am really excited about a couple edition. The Ann Arbor News, March 28, 1982 beers coming up and what I’d like to brew Ted and Dave decided to call their micro- Ted: Everything is different now. We did next. Like cooking, you go into the kitchen brewery Ypsi Alehouse, home of Mishigama not have all the stuff brewers have available to and open the fridge and see opportunities. Craft Brewing. After a few soft openings in late them today back then. We could not buy sacks Sometimes its unforeseen circumstances that 2015, Ypsi Ale House opened to the public on of malted grain; we used Blue Ribbon Malt develop into happy accidents. January 2, making it the first new brewery to Syrup sold in large containers by Munton and Rex: And what’s your greatest concern? officially open in 2016. The micro is located at Fison and EDME. For equipment, it was all Ted: That I am entrusted with the lives 124 Pearl Street in Downtown Ypsilanti.