Microbrew Minute

Redwood Lodge

After the plentiful and varied, but ultimately dull sampling at the Frankenmuth Brewery, I had started to become concerned that the Microbrews of the Midwest may have been a bust. After all, Flint was our next stop and, while I have been to a microbrew in Ann Arbor, we really didn't have a promising pub until Detroit, which we thought was about a week away.

Flint

So, Katie posted on her Facebook "what's there to do in Flint?". Our favorite response was "apply for unemployment." After all, Flint is actually a small city that has a history that has seen rosier days. Flint founded America's car industry just as much as America's car industry founded Flint. For a brief period, all Chevy's and Buick's were made in Flint. 

But the story of the founder of GM is similar to Flint's story (from an amateur's perspective). In 1908, William Durant founded GM after first making Buick the largest manufacture of cars. GM was created by merging 13 car manufacturers and 1o auto part suppliers together. He moved the headquarters from Flint to Detroit in the 1920's. He lost GM twice. The first time, he would go on to find Chevrolet, just to make enough money to buy GM back. Then he went bankrupt after the 1929 market crash. After that, Durant ran a bowling alley until he died in 1947. How do you tell someone that you went from one of the most influential men in America to disinfecting rented two-toned shoes? Who would believe you?   

This story just sounds like Flint, that had a peak population in the 1960's just under 200 thousand. Flint has lost half that population since. 

Redwood Lodge

And yet there is an oasis in Flint. Don't let the snowcapped alpine mountains and evergreen trees in their logo fool you, this microbrew is in Flint. The Redwood Lodge was an absolutely perfect bar. It is the winner of two gold's from the World Beer Cup and three gold medals from the Great American Beer Festival (suck it Sam Adams). In 2008, the Great American Beer Fest named Redwood Lodge the Small Brewpub of the year. This place knows how to brew great beer. 

Not only that, but this place serves great food. Fantastic, though expensive, food. I say expensive, but in perspective, it was properly priced because of the quantity and quality. Katie had the bruschetta with huge chucks of mozzarella. I had the wild game sausage with potato pancakes (apparently, it's boar season). The log cabin motif sets the right atmosphere. They have a cigar club (with a cigar bar), beer tasting club, mug club, wine tasting, and all sorts of awesomeness. Simply among the best bars I've ever been to (in the none dive bar category).

Essentially, here's what happened. Katie and I went there for lunch while working in Flint. It was just fantastic. The hostess was sweet and the waiter was engaging and helpful without constantly pestering you. Essentially, he was the classic definition of a good waiter, there when you need him, not there when you don't. So, we enjoyed lunch so much that after we dipped our toes in Lake Huron (which we got paid to do), we came back for some growlers. That's how good this place was. 

To get there:

Alright, it's basically on North Bound 23. It's the last exit before 23 merges with 75 (Hill). Then it's in the complex, behind a hotel and office building. How do I know this? Because of our job, we pass it 9 times. Highly encourage you to go there.