Time flies doesn’t it? We are two days away from Santa coming to visit, which means that we have come to our Eleventh Brewer of Christmas. I am going to cheat a little bit, I sat down with a good friend of mine, Tim Deglopper and enjoyed a few beverages while chatting about beer and breweries. Tim is currently the Assistant General Manager at the Arbor Brewing Company Plymouth, Michigan taproom.
It would be considered cheating since he is not technically a brewer at the moment, but I met Tim approximately three years ago when he was the Assistant Brewer at Bearded Lamb Brewing Company. So he has brewed in the past and has a wealth of knowledge about the beer industry. Actually I wish I had the recorder rolling after our interview session was over, he had so much to talk about as it pertains to Michigan brewing history that occurred long before I ever stepped foot in a brewery and began my lifelong journey of finding the perfect beer. I learned so much from him in the hour and a half that we chatted. Thank you again Tim for taking the time to meet with me.
Tim started his professional brewing experience by enrolling and graduating from the Schoolcraft College Brewing program. He mentioned that he thinks that he might be unique in the fact that he did not start home brewing before enrolling in the program at Schoolcraft and has only brewed commercially in his brewing career. The thing that Tim pointed out as his inspiration to start brewing was the camaraderie that exists in the brewing and service industry among its fellow members.
He has worked in the service industry for almost his entire life with the exception of a few years that he spent away from the industry as a graphic designer. As a matter of fact, you can see Tim’s graphic design work to this day, he was the creator of the Bearded Lamb Brewing Company logo that we all know and love during his time working at the brewery.
Tim started his journey in the industry by working at Arbor Brewing Company at the original location in Ann Arbor back when they opened in 1995. He worked at his first stint at Arbor for approximately 5 years before he bounced around to various different places, as people in the industry tend to do from time to time. Some of the other breweries that Tim has worked at over the years include Jolly Pumpkin, and Nain Rouge Brewing Company.
As I mentioned earlier, Tim is a big fan of breweries and travels all over the place just like myself. I ended up asking him to name a couple of his favorites in the State of Michigan. He mentioned a couple of really good breweries. The first one he shouted out was Brickhaven Brewing Company out in Grand Ledge. Tim mentioned that he stops by anytime that he is driving through the area, and will even just take day trips to Grand Ledge just to enjoy their beer.
Another brewery that he mentioned was a brewery that was included in this segment, Dog and Pony Show out of Oak Park, Michigan. I can’t help but agree with him on both of these selections. Both places make absolutely fantastic beer and are places that any beer lover should stop at as they travel across our great beer state.
We kept talking about breweries for a minute, and I asked him which beer scene outside the State of Michigan is underrated and people should be checking out. His response was Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (He is not the first person I have heard say this either, I guess another trip to Pittsburgh is in my future). He specifically mentioned a brewery by the name of Dancing Gnome Brewery. Tim mentioned the brewery is a really cool place with fantastic beer. He also mentioned Leatherback Brewery in the U.S. Virgin Islands as another great brewery to visit if you get the chance.
During our chat Tim did mention that at the Plymouth taproom that they brew beers on site that are specifically for the Plymouth taproom only. This is kind of a cool feature, they also do the same at Corner Brewery over in Ypsilanti. So check in regularly with Tim and the Plymouth taproom to see if they have any Plymouth exclusive releases on their menu. There are usually about 4 to 5 beers on the list that are Plymouth only beers, and they rotate pretty regularly.
Now when it comes to the Plymouth taproom for Arbor Brewing Company, they do have quite a few beers that will be coming during the holiday season. According to Tim, they recently released their Holiday Bake Sale which is a holiday Double Milk Stout. Other options that will be coming in the winter months will be their Cold Excursion which is a Winter IPA, so they have something on tap for all you hopheads out there. One of my favorites was recently released in the taproom on my most recent visits, and that is the Table Talk, which is a delicious Dark Czech Lager.
The next time you are looking for a delicious beer in the Plymouth, Michigan area, stop by Arbor Brewing Company and pay my friend, our Eleventh Brewer of Christmas, Tim Deglopper a visit. Prost!
#brewery #beer #beerlovers #craftbeer #drinklocal #Cheers #holidaybeer #michiganbeer
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