Throughout the year I sample brews and take notes. Sometimes I don't have time to publish my notes, months go by, and by the time I could blog about them I have forgotten most of my impressions. Twitter helps a little in this regard allowing mirco-blogging on the fly when I don't have time to share my full thoughts. But this year, as always, there were plenty of brews that flew under the radar. Mostly due to my obsession with Mountain biking which occupies every free moment of my life until it's just too damn cold to think about it (yes they make clothes for that now, but they are expensive and it's just not the same). But one drinking establishment from this past year stands out. This last April I made my first trip to Waldorff Brew Pub and had dinner with my wife. Waldorff is housed downtown Hastings, in a classic old brick building - technically two with the wall between opened partially up - with tall ceilings, a firebrick oven, tin signs and everything I would want in a pub if it were my own. I had sampled their brews at Winter beer festivals and they were always first class. I ordered their flight of four sampler which included Sundancer, Kolsch, Bee Sting Honey Rye, Hoipnoxxxious IPA, and Cobains Double Dark IPA (yes that's five). I also ordered the prime rib. Let me state for the record that I have had a lot of bad prime rib in my life, once and only once do I remember having the most amazing prime rib at a hole in the wall restaurant in Montana decades ago. But overall I am generally disappointed when I order prime rib. I was all prepped for the disappointment, I was not prepared to be taken back to my childhood with the most amazing prime rib on earth. It came accompanied with tasty mashed potatoes and vegetables.
The Sundancer was a sweet lemony wheat beer, the Kolsch had a incredibly sweet honey aroma, mild, with a medium body, it was sweet like a mead but lighter, a very decent golden session beer. The Bee Sting had an amber style character with sweet caramelized dark honey and fresh maple syrup notes, a coppery amber - very drinkable - ale.
The Hopnoxxxious IPA is a nice balanced IPA dry hopped with Amarillo hops, overall a great IPA. The Cobains Double Dark IPA is an AMAZING ale, it was dark before dark was cool. Not your typical 'dark' IPA this 2010 World Beer Expo Best of Show winner is something to come back for, and I did. This fall I managed to go biking down at Yankee Springs. If you haven't biked there you should, at bit sandy given the time of year, but fun none the less. I hiked down Devil's Soupbowl and took fuzzy photos which didn't do it justice. Yankee Springs has great pines, fast downhill and good climbs. Aside from the sharp slapper on the warm up loop it was a good time. Of course I could not help but swing by Waldorff afterward. I ordered a Cobains. Dark like a stout, a little dark roasted malt, Amarillo hops - lots of hops - this is a unique and incredible ale. I remember it standing out, unfortunately too much time has passed to give it an honest review. Hopefully I can do it justice in the future with a full review. I also enjoyed a Monte Cristo, deep fried heaven dusted with powdered sugar. Warning if you are not in good health it might fire you straight into cardiac arrest.
In the end, everyone I knew recommended Waldorf for the great food, comfortable atmosphere, and good beer. I was worried that with all the hype that I would be disappointed. It lived up to everything, with some of the best food and beer - maybe the best food and beer - in Michigan.
