Just a few more breweries to hit before our trip through the Upper Peninsula comes to an end. For our next brewery to visit, we are going to head North and East to Escanaba, and we are going to visit Upper Hand Brewery. They opened their doors in 2014 and have been pumping out quality beers from the beginning,
Upper Hand was founded by Larry Bell of Bell’s Brewing Company with the idea being that every beer that was brewed here would be like a love letter to the Upper Peninsula. Now to be fair, our only visit to Upper Hand was during COVID, so they were only serving beer on the outside of the brewery. We were not able to go inside and enjoy a beer due to COVID restrictions.
I will still try to do my best describing the inside of the brewery to you, but this will be all piecemealed together from the pictures on their website unfortunately. So I apologize if any of the information is inaccurate. The bar area is relatively small with only a few seats at it, maybe 6 to 8 seats tops. There are quite a few tables scattered amongst the floor space that the brewery occupies for your drinking needs. Of course there is an outdoor seating area, which has quite a few tables for you to enjoy a few drinks.
The brewery does not offer a kitchen onsite, but they will have food trucks from time to time. Also, they do host quite a few random events throughout the year including but not limited to Halloween Candy and beer pairings, Battle of the Beards, and many more. Check their website or their socials to see if anything interesting is going on during your trip to Upper Hand.
When it comes to beer, Upper Hand used to not distribute outside of the Upper Peninsula. I remember having to visit the U.P. just to be able to buy their beer long before I visited the taproom. Since my visit though, they started distributing statewide and you can now get their products pretty much everywhere. Some of their core beers include 906 Ale- Red Ale, Upper Hand Lager, Upper Peninsula Ale- Pale Ale, Yooper Ale- Pale Ale, Escanaba Black Beer- Dark Ale, and Laughing Fish- Wheat Beer.
My favorite beer from our visit to Upper Hand Brewing Company was their Sun Light, which is a clean, crisp, light lager that contains real pineapple and passion fruit. Generally, I am not huge on fruit beers, but this was a perfect beer for a nice hot summer day or a beer that will get you looking forward to summer on a cold winter night. SInce it is a very low ABV, 4.2%, this is a beer that you can enjoy all day and all night long if that idea tickles your fancy.
If you are looking to get the upper hand on your drinking experience in the Upper Peninsula, stop by Upper Hand Brewery and grab yourself something delicious to drink. This is one decision that you most likely will not regret. Cin Cin!
P.S. Since I typed this article, New Belgium has sold Upper Hand to a firm out of California called Seven Beverages. This just happened 5 days ago.
#upperpeninsula #yooperlife #michiganbeer #drinklocal #beer #beerlovers #craftbeer
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