Just outside of Downtown Alpena is another great brewery in Michigan that is making a whole lot of noise in the brewing industry, Austin Brothers Beer Company. Austin Brothers was established in 2015 and wasted no time becoming one of the more recognizable names in the Michigan Brewing scene.
Austin Brothers Beer Company is a family owned business. The owners had no ties to the Michigan area, they were originally from Southern California, and on a cross country road trip stumbled upon Alpena, Michigan and decided it was the perfect location to pursue their dream of operating a microbrewery. So they moved the family all the way out here and got to work.
They are located just North of Lake Besser and Downtown Alpena. They have an absolutely massive location with plenty of parking and lots of room to produce delicious beers. There is a ton of seating at their bar area, with plenty of tables throughout the place as well. There is also an area for outdoor seating just in case you like a little sun with your beer.
Austin Brothers Beer Company also offers a full menu of delicious pub fare. They offer options for lunch, dinner, and late night snacks. Their food menu, like the beer menu, is constantly changing. I did not have food on my most recent trip, but a few years ago we had food on a visit here, and it was very delicious. They did not have a food menu posted while I typed this, so check with them before you head up to see what is on the menu.
Now what we all came here for, the beer. Austin Brothers has really made a solid name for themselves in the beer world. They offer all different kinds of styles of beers, NRTHRN LTS- Light Ale, Woody Wheat- Wheat Ale, and a very delicious Brown Ale are examples of some of their year round offerings at the brewery.
But what has really put Austin Brothers on the map is their top-notch Hazy IPA series, which is called the Murkin Series, and their Sour series which is referred to as the Sourbet Series.
The Murkin Series is exactly that, they are very murky, hazy IPAs, you aren’t going to be seeing through these beers anytime soon. Almost all of the names of the beers have some sort of play on the word Murkin in the title. Examples of the names in the series are Punctuation Murk, Murkel Myers, Murcules. My personal favorite from this series both in name and taste, has got to go to Shooter Murkgavin. All of the beers in this series are hoppy, with different tropical fruit notes throughout. I have not had one beer I did not like off of this series, or from Austin Brothers in general.
The Sourbet Series is a series of Sours that usually have the flavor and the word Sourbet after it. Examples include Blackberry Sourbet, Pineapple Mango Sourbet, etc. But my personal favorite of the series is the Triple Berry Sourbet, which is a sour that has raspberry, blueberry and blackberry in it. All of these are also murky like their Hazy series, they look like a fruit smoothie when you pour them, but they all are very tasty.
In good news, if a trip to Alpena isn’t in the cards for you anytime soon. They do distribute most of their products statewide, and you can pick it up at a majority of your local beer shops if you want to give their beer a try. But I do recommend stopping by the taproom in Alpena next time you are in the area, they will usually have a few on tap that they aren’t packaging for distribution. If you love beer, you will have no problem finding a beer that you will like on tap at Austin Brothers Beer Company. Cheers!
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