As we continue our magical ride on Beer Santa’s sleigh on the page, we have come to our Third Brewer of Christmas, Lee Streeter. Lee is the co-owner and head brewer of Looking Glass Brewing Company in Dewitt, Michigan.
Out of all the people I have interviewed for this segment, Lee is the one that has been brewing beer the longest amount of time. Lee has been brewing beer since 1994, that is 30 years of beer brewing experience that he has acquired. To put that in perspective, he has been brewing beer since I was in 5th grade and 11 years before I was even legally allowed to drink beer.
Lee was working for a drilling company in Williamston, Michigan when he walked into “Things Beer”, which was a homebrew supply shop in Downtown Williamston. A couple of years down the road Things Beer was bought out by Michigan Brewing Company and moved out to their current location in Webberville. At the time, Lee was drinking a lot of Honey Brown and Sam Adams Boston Lager, the proprietor of the shop informed him that he could make those beers at home if he wanted to. At this point he was very interested, so much so that his wife bought him his first homebrew kit and he got to work brewing his own beer.
The fact that he could brew anything that he wanted to drink is what pulled Lee into the homebrew scene. Back in the 1990s you couldn’t just walk into a store and see loads of craft beer options all over the place, you had domestic mass produced beer and that was about it at that time. Lee stated, “If I wanted to brew a Pub Ale, I could do it. I love to drink beer,I also love to cook, so that transferred over into my love of brewing beer”. At this point, he was hooked and began brewing at a steady pace.
Lee acquired his first experience in a production brewery around the year 2001, when he started volunteering his help at Harper’s Brewpub in East Lansing, Michigan (Ironically as an MSU student, this was the first brewery that I ever visited on my travels). Lee was slowly learning the ins and out of the brewing industry with the hopes of opening his own brewery one day.
Even after 30 years in the brewing world, you can still hear the passion in his voice when Lee speaks about brewing beer. The passion for the industry is what keeps him going, he still enjoys brewing. Lee especially likes brewing anything new and different, which is inspiring to see. After 30 years he could have just fallen into the pattern of brewing the same stuff all the time and not trying anything new. It is human nature to get comfortable with doing what is familiar to you, but Lee enjoys being creative and trying new things.
By the year 2015, it was time for Lee to realize his dream of opening a brewery and they began looking at their current location at the church in Dewitt at this time. By March of 2018, Looking Glass Brewing Company finally came to fruition. There were a lot of name options for the brewery so they put all the names out to the public to vote on. Since the Looking Glass River flows through Dewitt, the public voted for the name Looking Glass Brewing Company and the rest is history.
Dewitt was chosen for the location of the brewery because they knew they wanted to open in the Lansing area. According to Lee, “The Southside of Lansing had BAD. Downtown Lansing had Lansing Brewing Company and Ozone’s Brewhouse. The Westside of Lansing had Sanctuary and Brickhaven. The Eastside had Harper’s, Ellison and Old Nation. North of Lansing had nothing, so Dewitt was a perfect place for the brewery.”
Looking Glass Brewing Company is a brewery that has a beer for every palate. Lee’s claim that he likes brewing different and new things is on full display on his taplist at all times. There are 20 taps in the brewhouse and they are occupied by a wide variety of beers. You can usually find an English Style Ale, Stouts, Browns, Ambers, IPAs, Light Lager, Dark Beers and everything in between. For the upcoming holiday season, Looking Glass will be releasing their Christmas Ale, with the fitting name of Sleigh Ride, which will be a new addition to the taplist for this year.
Lee has even realized that people aren’t drinking as much beer as they did in the past and has changed his menu accordingly. The brewery offers such options as Cold Brew Coffee and Hop Water. The most interesting option that he has on the menu is a Hard Seltzer that clocks in at 17% ABV. At Looking Glass, they make various Seltzer cocktails with the Hard Seltzer including a Margarita Seltzer which tips the ABV scale at 12%.
If your stomach is rumbling on your visit to Looking Glass Brewing Company, they offer a kitchen with very delicious barbecue options. Everything is smoked in house and includes choices such as Brisket, Pork, Turkey, and Chicken Wings. Bring your appetite when you come, you can’t go wrong with any of the options on the menu.
On your Christmas travels through the heart of Michigan, take a break and have a few beers at Looking Glass Brewing Company with our Third Brewer of Christmas, Lee Streeter. His wealth of craft beer knowledge is on display at all times in every sip of beer that you will take during your visit. Na Zdrowie!
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