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Nov 28, 2023

Michigan microbreweries reign supreme at World Expo of Beer

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Included in the entry to the expo is a commemorative glass.

Crowds of people enjoy the variety of beers on tap at the World Expo of Beer.

Crowds of people enjoy the variety of beers on tap at the World Expo of Beer.

A group of people gather for a photo at the World Expo of Beer in Frankenmuth May 20, 2023.

Breweries have to submit their beers for judging by professional beer tasters.

A trifecta of fun made up of the Harvey Kern Pavilion, the Platz Tent, and the Jaycees Tent provided visitors with a bevy of beers, meads, ciders, and ready-to-drink cocktails May 20 at Frankenmuth's 26th Annual World Expo of Beer.

The festival ran both Friday and Saturday, but I opted for Saturday to get a full day of beer. For a $30 ticket, I got entry to one day of the expo, six drink tickets, and a commemorative 4-ounce mug. Extra drink tickets were 3-for-$5, making it a very affordable event.

The Frankenmuth Jaycees host the World Expo of Beer, and proceeds are given to charity. Since the expo's inception, the Jaycees have raised over $1 million for local charities. Prost to the Jaycees and the battalion of volunteers who make the expo a mug full of love.

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This event may be called the "World" Expo of Beer; however, the reality is that Michigan beer rules here, with 48 of the beverage creators in attendance coming from the Great Lake state. This makes sense, as Michigan is the home of mighty brews.

The World at the World Expo of Beer was represented by Canada, Germany, and Finland with White Claw, Hofbrau, Schofferhofer, Radeberger, Dortmunder Actien-Brauerei (DAB), and Long Drink. White Claw and Long Drink are okay, but they are woeful in the light of a mighty mug of beer. The German beers were excellent, with Hofbrau offering a fine Maibock. However, these offerings pale in comparison to the unbridled beauty of Michigan's brawny brews.

The World Expo of Beer is more than a beer festival — it is a clash of the titans for breweries. No one is maimed or killed, yet the competition is vicious. The competition is open to any commercial brewery and free to enter. Breweries have to submit their beers for judging by professional beer tasters. Some of them sport the fancy title of cicerone. It's a dangerous job, but somebody has to do it.

While talking with The Beer Ninja, Jay Green of Perrin Brewing, I learned that Jim Brown was instrumental in getting this Michigan beer competition going

"Jim Brown has been around a long time," Green said. "He used to own Frankenmuth Prost Pub just outside of Frankenmuth. When I was in my 20s, I was a cook maintenance guy for him, and he was one of the only guys around that had bottles of beer from England, from Germany, from anywhere."

Green said people from all over would visit to try the variety of beers Brown had around.

"He had a little home brew shop in the back, and he kind of fostered this little beer community in Frankenmuth outside of German beer," he said. "He also helped start the World Expo beer competition so more breweries would get more involved in this festival.

Every year, they (World Expo of Beer) have a competition a few weeks beforehand, and they bring in judges from all over the state to judge the beers. And then we get awards for them, depending on what style we have. And we (Perrin) won a gold medal for our "Call Me Hazy IPA" and a gold medal for our Perrin "Black" this year.

It's completely free to enter. You just have to register your beers with them and then send them off to whatever location they were picking up from that year. It's all commercial competition. They have nationally ranked judges, so it's a very legit competition."

I set my sights on sampling the suds masters from the beer competition. Best of Show as well as gold in the German Wheat category, went to "B.F. heFe" by Saucy Brew Works out of Detroit. While Saucy isn't a Pure Michigan brewery, they have a pub a few blocks north of Comerica Park. Their hefeweizen was superb—a wonderful beer for hot summer days in the city.

Tri-City was a heavy hitter taking home a bounty of medals, including gold for their "Nor’Eastern Troubles" Vienna lager. This gem is silky smooth with a malty finish. I’d give this enchanting splendor a gold medal any day of the week.

Archival Brewing laid siege to the fortress of the Historical category to seize the gold with the "Duke Says Nein." Their Kottbusser, a German beer made with wheat, oats, honey, and molasses, is a wily renegade of the Reinheitsgebot German purity law. It tastes great, it's less filling, and now you can get this mythical creature in cans. Prost!

The good people at Redwood Lodge must be doing something right. They medaled in just about every category at the World Expo of Beer. Fixing to get the party started at the expo, they brought a flight of strong Belgians to fire things up.

Steampunk magicians of Innovators Brewing from Richville pulled the rabbit from the hat with their Black lager to grab the gold in the Dark European Lager category. This beer is dark, luscious, and delicious.

Kuhnhenn Brewing was on fire with six gold medals at the World Expo of Beer. Their brewtal assault included "White Devil" This imperial wheat beer has the divine taste of a Belgian with notes of citrus. Go ahead, indulge this devil; you can thank me later.

Emerging from the wilderness of western Michigan, Big Hart Brewing came loaded for bear. They took down the gold in the Strong American category with "Collin's Full Size." This double IPA is powerful and passionate. Drink one of these, and you’ll be showing off your bushy beard in no time.

The gold was elusive in the NA (non-alcoholic category. However, the mavericks at FÜL threw a one-two punch with their booze-free IPA and Blonde to snare the silver and bronze. Jeff Robinson, owner/brewer at Third Monk Brewing in South Lyon, shared that FÜL comes to us thanks to Mark Rieth. Mark nurtured Atwater Brewing into a giant before selling it off. Now he is fueling epic adventures with energy drinks, CBD-infused recovery beverages, and NA beers.

I gave the FÜL IPA a spin. It is an excellent NA beer—plenty of hops in the nose and on the finish. I see this one making the starting lineup for summer evenings on the deck.

For the complete list of World Expo of Beer competition medalists, see their competition results page.

While far from a novice to a beer rodeo, this was my first time at the World Expo of Beer. On top of the bounty of beers, the expo includes music, karaoke, and, wait for it…Masskrugstemmen. The karaoke is certainly brutal, but what in the wild world of sports is Masskrugstemmen?

I quickly learned that Masskrugstemmen is stein-holding. Evidently, the Germans love to hoist steins of beer and challenge each other to a contest to see who can hold their beer the longest. The rules are simple:

I decided to join in the "fun" and entered the first round with eight other strapping young lads (me being the exception to both strapping and young). The first 15 seconds were a breeze. I thought, "Hell, I’m in great shape," then my inner voice said in my best Conan the Barbarian, "Crush the enemies, see them driven before you!".

One minute in, and the inner voice switched to Stimpy saying, "Relax, Cap'n," as my arm started shaking like a nervous chihuahua. I’m holding as the voice in my head switches to Star Wars "Stay on target!" Ten seconds more, I think. You’ve got this. Don't be the first one out! Inside my head, Howard Cosell shouts, "Down goes Frazier!" and my stein tips sideways.

The men's winner ended up holding his stein for over 3 minutes. The women's winner for nearly 2 minutes. While I clearly have some training to do, Masskrugstemmen was quite fun. Prost to all the participants and the crowd for cheering us all on.