Up next on our brewery tour is Calumet, Michigan and Michigan House Cafe & Red Jacket Brewing Company. I researched the hell out of when they started brewing, I could not find a definitive answer. If Red Jacket sees this post and lets me know when they started brewing beer again, I will update the post to include the date.
The Michigan House Hotel and Buffet has occupied this space since 1895, the current iteration of the building was built in 1905, and the history is shown throughout the building. It also has quite a bit of brewing history behind it. It was originally owned by Bosch Brewing which was incorporated in the late 1800’s, and by 1911 it was the second largest corporation in all of Houghton County. Their annual capacity was 50,000 barrels of beer per year, which is equivalent to 100,000 kegs of beer. To put this is perspective based upon 2022 brewery production numbers, if they were still in operation, the only breweries that are currently operating in Michigan that produce more beer are Bells and Founders, that is it. They would be the third biggest brewing facility in Michigan if they were still operating at those numbers.
This is another place that is set up more like a restaurant than a brewery. There are a lot of tables set up for dining and drinking all over the brewery. The bar is a longer, old wooden bar with approximately 10 to 15 seats available for your drinking pleasure.
Since they are a cafe, they do have a full food menu which includes options such as appetizers, burgers, sandwiches, entrees, salads, and things that were previously swimming according to the website. We did not eat while we were here, but it was definitely busy for their dinner rush while we were there, and all the food smelled great.
Other options for drinks here include wine, draft beers from various other breweries, and a fully stocked liquor bar with homemade cocktails and beverages. For the non-drinker they do offer various sodas and other refreshments.
During our visit to Red Jacket they only had 3 beers on tap, we ended up trying two of the three options. The first beer that we tried was Our Brown Ale which was an English Style Brown Ale. The second beer that we tried was their Oatmeal Espress, which as the name implies is an Oatmeal Stout that is a medium-bodied, creamy, stout with notes of espresso, oatmeal and coffee. On the finish this stout is a little on the drier side. Clocking in at 6.5% ABV, this one can definitely sneak up on you after you have a couple, so enjoy responsibly.
On your trip through the breweries of the Upper Peninsula, if you want to check out a place with a ton of brewing history behind it, stop by Michigan House Cafe and Red Jacket Brewing Company. Estrovia!
#drinklocal #craftbeer #michiganbeer #yooperlife #UpperPeninsula #beer #BeerLovers
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