#596 and #597

Friday night. The day after payday. Ohhh, what to do!

Sure I could have hustled out to the Ypsilanti for the Michigan Brewers Guild 12th Annual Summer Beer Festival. But, truth be told, I was not really up for it. I would have gotten there late, rain was possible and thousands of people on a Friday night was not really something I was up for.

So, looking for a change a pace, we shot out to Ferndale for a night at the Woodward Avenue Brewers (WAB for short). (They don't appear to have their own website(!), but you can read a bit here.)

All in all, the place is quite...well, different. Near 9 Mile and Woodward in Ferndale, there are two levels in the same building, but it might as well be two different planets in the same universe. It is hard to believe they belong to the same establishment. Imagine an old style garage on a corner. Those roll-up doors? Yup. They have them. So, when they are up you are eating outside. What a great way to spend a nice Friday night - outside for the feel, but under cover in the event of rain. The overall feel of the place was light and lively. By the way, the menu sandwiched between license plates. Really.

The upstairs? TOTALLY different. Beat-up wood floors. Ancient bricks on the wall. Dim lighting. Very cool. Much more the "ancient pub" sort of look. The modern 1950's barstools were a bit odd given everything else, but not too crazy.

I had two beers with my dinner. The Custom Blonde (#596) was certainly a beginner's ale. Pale yellow in color a white foamy one-finger head, it was pretty blah. Nothing tasted bad, because there wasn't much taste to it. In the nose, on the palate, down the hatch. - it didn't matter. Just not much to work with. 2 out 5.

The Green Bullet Organic IPA (#597) was very different and, simply put, much better. They claim it as "...a celebration of earth, water, malt and hops." Okay. Whatever. Beautiful copper color with a crazy foamy head is a great place to start. A sharp carbonated bite gives way to the hops on the tongue and finish. A few seconds later, the dryness really kicked in. A pretty good beer, I think. 4 out of 5.

According to the menu, they have a few other beers I will need to try. I will certainly get back there in the coming days. I'll sit upstairs for sure.