Here’s my top 10 Michigan Beers of 2018 – These are the 10 best Michigan Beers that I had this year! 2018 has been a great year for Michigan Craft Beer, and a really great year for Draft Therapy too. I surpassed 700 subscribers thanks to you guys, and I’m hoping to keep it going well into the new year and beyond! Let’s see if we can hit 1000 Subs soon, and in the meantime watch what I consider to be the 10 best beers I tried this year – some new breweries, some old ones, and some surprises I hope. Let me know your top 3, 5 or 10, and if I missed any or you think I’m waaay off base, let me know that too!
To see all the individual reviews in one playlist, check this out:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLp_uvh4aMwQlUjqLqOhC4yYlpKxa05CRp
I love Draft Therapy and watch whenever a new one is posted. I live in the greater Cincinnati area and have family that lives in the metro Detroit area, so I’m always visiting since it’s only a 4 hour drive. What are some of your favorite stores to purchase beer that you review?
Hey Les,
First off, thanks so much for watching! I’m not sure if this comment is going to send you a follow up (I’ll email you to this email address too), but I wrote this up a couple months ago (on reddit) but they are definitely still relevant:
Ann Arbor–
A&L Wine Castle – just down West Stadium from HOMES, literally about a quarter mile down the street. Post regularly on Instagram.
Down the street a little further on West Stadium is Arbor Farms Market – not sure of their Instagram presence.
Blue Front – On Packard near downtown Ann Arbor, parking isn’t great here, but they have loads of beer from all over the state, with a great singles selection. They are a little higher priced than places I usually go, but again they have great selection.
Livonia–
ABC Tobacco Liquor Outlet – on Plymouth Road between Farmington and Levan, great prices, lots of selection – post sporadically on Instagram with new shipments
Beer Baron – on Merriman, north of 7 Mile. Again, great selection, they have at least 15 taps as well for growler/howler fills – post regularly on Instagram with incoming shipments
Canton–
Super Fine Liquor and Wine – Haggerty just south of Ford Rd. Huge selection of craft beer as well as liquor. Post their new arrivals on Facebook, will hold some stuff for you if you ask.
Holiday Market – no, not that one… This one is in Canton on Lilley and Cherry Hill. Usually when I race all around town to find a specific beer, I come here and they have loads of it. I don’t believe they have much of an online social media presence so it’s somewhat of a crapshoot.
I’ll add a couple that I have to drive a little bit more for:
Royal Oak
Holiday Market – On Main street, just north of 696 (Woodward Avenue Exit) – Just like the Canton store I mentioned earlier, they have a great beer department manager that gets a lot of great beer, Michigan and otherwise. They also have 4 taps that fill 12-16oz crowlers, and 32 and 64 oz growlers. For example, they had an exclusive Old Nation Bourbon Barrel Aged Electron Brown tap, which I was able to get a couple 16oz crowlers of. They also have a pretty good selection of single beers, but you can’t break up everything.
Detroit
8 Degrees Plato – Almost a Detroit area craft beer Mecca – they have partnerships with breweries all over the state and they carry stuff that you won’t find anywhere else on the east side (specifically Transient Artisan Ales, and I don’t think I’ve seen Watermark Brewery anywhere else around here either). They have easily 20 taps too, so this is another place to get some exclusive tap only releases.
Good luck and good beer hunting!