So this weekend my girlfriend Jo and I went out to Detroit. We needed some time away from Lansing, and decided that a beer trip would be in order. We were looking into a tour at New Holland, but their brewery is closed for upgrades, so we started looking at the other side of the state.

We decided to go to the Detroit Institute of Arts, and stop by some breweries on the way. Awesomeness ensued.

We chose to hit up Warren, Michigan, for both Dragonmead and Kuhnhenn, since they are in such close proximity to one another.

If you didn’t know already, Brian and I have been on Twitter a lot lately, and you can follow us @BeerandComics. You can also see our latest tweets over on the right side of the website. See? –>

So, I Tweeted the hell out of our trip. Check out details after the jump:

We started our day at the DIA, and saw some awesome art. Not much of it directly comic-related, some pieces that you see the influences:

A collection of busts by J. Michallon the Younger. Top center is titled “Bust of a Man (Hans Christian Andersen?), 1830-1840″.

Wharhol.

“Alphabet – Good Humor” by Claes Oldenburg.

Then, it was on to the beer!

First, Dragonmead. Jo and I both love Final Absolution, so we wanted to try their other belgian-style ales.

The nicest thing about Dragonmead is that they let you build a custom flight of beers. Five half-pints of whatever beers you choose. Its really nice.

We drank them (and thus reviewed them) in order, from left to right. Check the (rather poor) picture for some indication of color.

My reviews went like this – forgive the format, it was Twitter, so short blurbs is about all you can get out:
“Dead Monk Abbey Ale: 7%. pleasent mouthfeel. Surprising amount of bittering hops. Subtle notes of banana, maybe a little citrus. Delicious.”

“Dubbel Dragon: 6.1% sweet nose. Somewhat esthery. Tasty but tough to pin down.”

“Breath of the Dragon Bitter: 4.2% smells kind of musty, with a bit of berries, strangely. Interesting sweetness, kind of nutty.”

“Broken Paddle IPA: 5.8% nothing great going on in the nose. But tastey. A lot of bitter, not a lot of hop flavor. Malt is pleasant though.”

“Copper Shield Bitter Harvest Barleywine: 8% isn’t really a barleywine is it? poured w a ton of head. Maple nose. Syrupy like you might expect. But hoppy. Sweet but very bitter finish. A nice surprise.”

“All in all, I have to say that Dragonmead’s pub is as awesome as their beer. ”

Then it was on to Kuhnhenn.

Kuhnhenn made our favorite beer of the day at last year’s MBG Winter Beer Festival, so my hopes were high.

The pub itself is weird in that its well-lit, open, and basically unlike any other brewpub I’ve ever been in. This isn’t a bad thing, just kind of unusual.

The night started with some drunk a-hole getting kicked out, but after that, it was nothing but awesome.

Personally, I started light, with the Classic American Pale Ale. May have been a bad choice.

I tweeted thusly:
“Classic American: 4.8% nothing remarkable here. Highly drinkable, light, but probably wouldn’t get it again. Good training wheel beer.”

The girlfriend, however, dove in head-first, and got an amazing wheat beer called White Devil.

“White Devil: 8% wheat beer. Michigan wheat. Grapefruit, Ginger. Amazing beer. Girlfriend may be getting a growler.”

As you can see on the left, Jo gives it a thumbs-up.

After that, she got herself one of her new favorite beers, Winter Wonder Lager.

“WinterWonder Lager 13.5% small nose. Big flavor. Fruity and deceptive alcohol content. Awesome.”

Jo ended up not with a growler of this, but a six-pack. Better deal, and easier to cellar. They are now hiding in the dark beneath her basement stairs.

I had the American IPA. While not as good as their Firkin of Dry-Hopped American Extreme IPA from the MBG Winter Beer Fest, it was really, really good.

“American IPA 6.5% floral aroma and – get this – FLAVOR. Weird but amazing. Great dry hopping, really well balanced. A+”

Yeah, it was kind of strange to actually have an IPA taste as floral as it smells, but this one did. Great beer, obviously.

I finished my night off with loads of water as I had to drive. But while Jo finished her Winter Wonder Lager, I had time to drink a rootbeer. It is amazing. Probably the best in Michigan, and that’s saying something, since that’s going up against MBC‘s Miner’s Brew.

All in all, Kuhnhenn was wonderful. The beer, the staff… I can’t say enough. I bought the t-shirt, and I will be going back.

Thanks, Detroit, for the wonderful time, wonderful art, and wonderful beer.

Ian! (and Jo)