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Michigan Beer Series #056 | Hold MI Beer

·1 hr 17 min·5 clips

Steve says Michigan breweries are struggling, and the answer is more cooperation, not competition.

Rob and Wendy open with drinks. Wendy starts with Kunin Brewing Company's Divinator, a Doppelbach she brewed with the Divas and Kunin for a barrel-aged anniversary project. She drinks it from a Batch Brewing Company mason jar. Rob follows with a New Glarus Serendipity from Great Taste of the Midwest and then moves to a growler of Maplewood's cuppa. Steve from Hold My Beer joins the Michigan Beer Series. The mood stays relaxed, with the three of them moving from what they are drinking into the wider rhythm of Michigan beer talk without trying to push it anywhere. The 12 Breweries of Christmas is coming back. Rob also lays out the next wave of brewery pieces, including writeups for breweries 467 through 471 and a visit to Off the Chain Brewstillery that still needs to become copy. Full Measure becomes a problem of pride. Because Rob works there, he does not want to write the review himself, so the group tosses around the idea of letting Crystal handle that article instead. The scope keeps widening. Rob wants to move beyond straight brewery coverage and write more beer-related pieces that can start with a farm, a barstool conversation, or somebody who simply has a good beer story to tell. Top Hops Farms gets named. He says the point is to find people across the craft beer world, not only brewers, bartenders, or owners, because a worthwhile article can come from almost any corner of the scene if the conversation is good enough. Even the bar regulars count. He brings up a recent conversation at Gray Line in Grand Rapids to show how a random chat can become the seed of a piece. The recording turns scrappy near the end. Steve has to finish from the car after an audible, with bad lighting, uneven sound, and a joke about looking like Pennywise when he leans into the streetlight. The hosts roll with it. They close with the usual sign-off, and the show ends on the familiar idea that whatever you think of your beer, they think it gets better on draft.

As heard by us

A loose Michigan beer chat that stays local, practical, and easy to follow.

Michigan Beer Series #056 settles into an easy, local conversation that moves from what people are drinking to what gets written next. Steve from Hold My Beer brings a grounded, familiar presence, and the episode keeps finding its way back to brewery visits, article deadlines,…

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Why you'd press play

A relaxed Michigan beer chat with craft-beer side paths, article talk, and a guest who knows the scene.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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