Michigan's Great Beer State Podcast

In Episode twelve we talk in the here and now with the bearded half of Beards Brewery, and member of the Michigan Brewers Guild Board of Directors, Peter Manthei. Peter is a Petoskey local who always dreamt big and who says he also knew he wanted to be an entrepreneur growing up. www.beardsbrewery.com

Episode eleven takes us to the Upper Peninsula to talk to Derek "Chumly" Anderson, the original brewer at The Vierling Restaurant & Marquette Harbor Brewery, who's been brewing there since 1995. Chumly chatted us up on the patio of Blackrocks in 2018, about the early breweries of the U.P. and beer culture before and after the first U.P. Fall Beer Festival.

We talk with Rene and Matt Greff, co-founders of Arbor Brewing Company in Ann Arbor and Corner Brewery in Ypsilanti, while enjoying beers at the original Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales in Dexter, Michigan in the fall of 2018 as part of the Rising Tide project.

Matt & Rene are happily semi-retired and continue to follow their passions. Rene has become a certified personal trainer and yoga instructor and Matt continues to consult on the Arbor Brewing Company businesses in India. The Greffs reside half the year in the beautiful beachside state of Goa, India and spend the other half of the year living in a motorhome in the US visiting friends and family.

Episode 6 features an archived interview from "A Rising Tide" with Larry J. Bell, Founder of Bell's Brewery, which took place in Bell's Eccentric Cafe in Fall of 2018. Larry Bell opened Kalamazoo Brewing Company in 1985 after incorporating in 1983 as a homebrewing supply shop in Kalamazoo, Michigan. The company produced 135 barrels in its first year. In 1993, after actively pursuing legislative change to create the microbrewer and brewpub licenses, which allowed brewery tasting rooms to sell beer to consumers, the company opened the Eccentric Cafe. The company eventually transitioned from Kalamazoo Brewing Company to Bell's Brewery, and their beers are widely distributed and internationally recognized.

Scott and Fred kick off an episode that features Motor City Brewing Works founder, John Linardos. John's home brewing roots fostered his interest in brewing which was quickly put to work while he worked with his mentor, the late Tom Burns of Detroit& Mackinac in the early nineties. He continued on to start Motor City Brewing Works in Case Corridor, and also serve as an inaugural board member for the Michigan Brewers Guild as Vice President of Festivals. John is an artist in every sense of the word, and shares his thoughts on artistry, business and our beer community during an interview at his brewery in Fall of 2018.

We virtually connected for an interview with Kim Collins for this week's episode. Kim Collins is the owner and Head Brewer of Guardian Brewing Company, and currently serves as member of the Board of Directors for the Michigan Brewers Guild.

Kim is a certified Cicerone and has been brewing professionally since 2012, including five breweries before opening Guardian. She is passionate about recipe research, the art of barrel aging, kettle sours, and session beers. Before and after Kim became a brewer, she taught a variety of university-level courses for 13 years at Indiana University, Metropolitan State University of Denver, and most recently Kalamazoo Valley Community College's Sustainable Brewing Program. No matter how much Kim professes her love for craft beer, teaching is her life's true passion.