Behind the Mitten

This weekend's first-ever Ice Jam Winter Festival at Perrin Brewing Co. (Jan. 28, 2017) will have its share of highlights. The big news for craft beer drinkers, a chance to drink Cigar City's famous Jai Alai IPA without driving all the way to Florida. The festival begins with a Frostbite 5k walk/run at 1:30 p.m. Special beer releases on tap at 2 p.m. Live music at 3 p.m. The festival takes place in heated tents at Perrin Brewing Co. in Comstock Park near Grand Rapids, Michigan.

On this episode of Behind the Mitten, John and Amy travel to Tibbs Brewing Company in Kalamazoo to talk about the local beer scene as well as cultural institutions such as the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts and Miller Auditorium at WMU.

Making a special singing appearance on the show is Michael Sobel, President of the Mall City Harmonizers about special Valentine's Day gifts.

Show Notes
Segment 1:
Interview with Kevin Tibbs of Tibbs Brewing Co. More info about Tibbs at https://www.facebook.com/TibbsBrewingCompany/?fref=ts

Segment 2 (Listen at 10:07):
John and Amy talk to Katie Houston of the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts. More info at https://www.facebook.com/KIARTS1/?fref=ts

Segment 3 (Listen at 19:19):
John and Amy talk to Bethany Gauthier of Miller Auditorium on the campus of Western Michigan University. They have several shows still going on this season, and they are anticipating the arrival of "The Lion King" next season. More info at http://www.facebook.com/MillerAuditorium

Segment 4 (Listen at 28:30):
We finally get to talk to Michael Sopel about the Mall City Harmonizers. And we get to talk Kevin and Trevor of Tibbs Brewing Company about Beer of the Week. More on the Mall City Harmonizers at www.BarbershopHarmony.org

More on BTM:
https://www.facebook.com/behindthemitten/?fref=ts

John Gonzalez and Amy Sherman of MLive and Behind the Mitten stopped by West Michigan Live on WOOD Radio to talk about local events and their upcoming weekend show. They brought along Kevin Tibbs of Tibbs Brewing Company in Kalamazoo.

This weekend's show is broadcast from Tibbs, which is in the middle of Kalamazoo Beer Week.

More info on #KBW2017 at http://www.kalamazoobeerweek.com/

More info on Tibbs at https://www.facebook.com/TibbsBrewingCompany/?fref=ts

More info on BTM at https://www.facebook.com/behindthemitten/?fref=ts

John Gonzalez and Amy Sherman of MLive and the "Behind the Mitten" radio show spend some time with Chris Knape and Garry Boyd of HopCat, which is celebrating its 9th anniversary on Jan. 21, 2017 with special bottle releases and a Crack Fries Eating Contest.

The celebration begins at 11 a.m. in Grand Rapids, the site of the original location, and at 10 a.m. at other statewide locations.

The Crack Fries Eating contest begins at 3 p.m. The entry fee is $5, which will be donated to local charity in each market. (HopCat plans to match the total donation.)

Even if you don't want to participate in the contest, customers will receive free Crack Fries from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m. with any purchase.

In addition, a limited number of HopCat's 2017 Oil Spiller, its trademark Imperial Stout and 2017 Red Nymph, its Flanders Red Sour Ale, will be released in Grand Rapids. Other special releases are planned.

More information at HopCat.com. https://hopcat.com/grand-rapids

MLive story: http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2017/01/free_crack_fries_annual_eating.html

John Gonzalez and Amy Sherman of MLive recorded this show at Perrin Brewing Co. in Comstock Park as part of the No Problems Training Runs as part of the Fifth Third River Bank Run. (The training runs are the second Tuesday of each month.)

This show aired Jan. 14-15, 2017.

Segment 1: John and Amy talk to Scott Stenstrom about this year's Fifth Third River Bank Run, which is May 13. Scott is the assistant to the Race Director.

Segment 2 (listen at 9:57): John and Amy talk to Scott a little bit more about why Fifth Third is involved with the race, and they also talk to Lindsey VanDenBoom of Perrin Brewing Co. about the No Problems Training Runs. She talks about upcoming events, including the upcoming Perrin Ice Jam on Jan. 28. More info: https://www.facebook.com/events/393554480975953/

Segment 3 (listen at 18:56): John and Amy talk to Road Warrior Dan Oumedian, as well as race coaches Joann Karpowicz and Amy Polega. Listen to Amy's inspiring story about how she quit smoking through running.

Segment 4 (listen at 28:57): John and Amy talk to race co-founder Marty Allen and Elite Race Director Greg Meyer, who has won the Fifth Third River Bank Run 7 times. He tells how he even broke one of his Calder trophies. (Greg also won the Boston Marathon in 1983.)

More on the Fifth Third River Bank Run in Grand Rapids at https://www.53riverbankrun.com/

More on BTM at https://www.facebook.com/behindthemitten/?fref=ts

John Gonzalez and Amy Sherman of MLive and "Behind the Mitten" spend some time with Eric Hoffman of Unruly Brewing in Muskegon and Allen Serio of the Burning Foot Beer Festival at Pere Marquette Park.

This Podcast was recorded Jan. 12, 2017 at the Michigan Brewers Guild Conference in Kalamazoo.

John and Amy talk to Allen about how the festival began, and how popular it has become in just two years. Tickets for this year's festival (Aug. 26, 2017) go on sale in June.

More on Burning Foot at https://www.facebook.com/burningfootbeerfest/?fref=ts

More info on Unruly at https://www.facebook.com/UnrulyBrewing/?fref=ts

Behind the Mitten is a one-hour radio show that airs on 10 stations across Michigan. More on BTM at https://www.facebook.com/behindthemitten/

John Gonzalez and Amy Sherman of MLive and "Behind the Mitten" spend some time catching up with Fred Bueltmann of New Holland Brewery.

This Podcast was recorded Jan. 12, 2017 at the Michigan Brewers Guild Conference in Kalamazoo.

While Amy was at a session, John talked to Fred about beer, spirits, his own Podcast and music.

More on New Holland at https://www.facebook.com/newhollandbrew/?fref=ts

Behind the Mitten is a one-hour radio show that airs on 10 stations across Michigan. More on BTM at https://www.facebook.com/behindthemitten/

John Gonzalez and Amy Sherman of MLive and "Behind the Mitten" spend some time catching up with Rick Schmitt and Brian Confer at Stormcloud Brewing Co. in Frankfort.

This Podcast was recorded Jan. 12, 2017 at the Michigan Brewers Guild Conference in Kalamazoo.

John and Amy talk to Stormcloud about its busy winter season with an upcoming film and dinner series. And its popular curling league.

John and Amy picked them as Michigan's Best New Brewery in 2016. http://www.mlive.com/dining/index.ssf/2016/08/michigans_best_new_brewery_our_2.html#0

More on Stormcloud at https://www.facebook.com/StormcloudBrewing/?fref=ts

Behind the Mitten is a one-hour radio show that airs on 10 stations across Michigan. More on BTM at https://www.facebook.com/behindthemitten/

On this podcast with John Gonzalez of MLive and the Behind the Mitten radio show we go behind the scenes of "Beautiful – The Carole King Musical." It tells the inspiring true story of King’s remarkable rise to stardom.

In this interview, John talks to Julia Knitel who plays Carole King. They talk about her story -- from teenage songwriter to being part of a hit songwriting team with her first husband, Gerry Goffin to becoming one of the most successful solo acts in popular music history.

Some of the hits she wrote or co-wrote: “Some Kind of Wonderful,” “Will You Love Me Tomorrow,” “Take Good Care of My Baby,” “The Loco-Motion,” “On Broadway,” and more.

"Anyone who has a chance to come and see it should not miss it," she says. "You'll be so happy you did. It's a wonderful night of theater for all ages and all backgrounds. You're really going to love it."

More on the tour: https://www.whartoncenter.com/events/detail/beautiful

John Gonzalez and Amy Sherman of the radio show Behind the Mitten and MLive.com spent the day in Traverse City for this weekend's show. Here are the show notes:

Segment 1:
John and Amy talk to Trevor Tkach of the Traverse City Tourism Bureau. They talk about his transition from leading the National Cherry Festival to his new position at the Bureau. More info at https://www.traversecity.com/

Segment 2:
Dave Lorenz of Pure Michigan talks about why he loved Traverse City and more about the success of the campaign that always says "Your trip begins at Michigan.org." http://www.michigan.org/

Segment 3:
Amy Sherman and Chris Hale of Shanty Creek Resorts try to convince Gonzo to learn how to ski. Shanty caters to families, beginners and experienced skiers. More on Shanty at http://www.shantycreek.com/

Segment 4:
Peter Kirkwood of The Workshop Brewing Company talks about his vision for the brewery, and the Warehouse District in Traverse City. Of course they do Beer of the Week ("Friday Shaker," a beer brewed with cherries and aged in oak barrels). More on The Workshop: https://www.facebook.com/traversecityworkshop/?fref=ts

This show aired Jan. 7-8, 2017.

More on BTM: https://www.facebook.com/behindthemitten/