Everything’s better with beer! From fall dinners to summer weekends with friends, beer really makes the world go ’round — especially for West Michigan folk. Fortunately, craft beer lovers across the state are finding new ways to incorporate our favorite beverage into non-alcoholic products. Local makers are utilizing the intense and creative flavors in Michigan’s craft brews to inspire a whole new world of beer-based beauty products and edible delights.
Start your day off right with eggs and a slice of Shorts’ Soft Parade Artisan Bread from Stonehouse Brewery. This light and chewy, slightly sweet loaf smells of fresh fruit. Great by itself or paired with a charcuterie board and sandwich meats. Short’s Soft Parade Bread can be found at Kroger, Spartan locations and Meijer.
A quick trip to the meat aisle at your grocer of choice will get you one step closer to a true Michigan beer brat. Meijer carries a variety of beer brats that rotate seasonally — just like craft beer. Check out flavors like Arcadia Whitsun brats, which are a great late summer/early fall grilling option. D&W’s Open Acres line offers a variety of Founders brats with flavors like Dirty Bastard, PC Pils and All Day IPA. Kingma’s Market in Grand Rapids sells Perrin brats, and Dublin Jerky in Grandville makes Beer and Bacon Breakfast Brats with Founders’ KBS.
Nothing pairs better with a brat than top-notch stone ground mustard. Founders’ Dirty Bastard mustard is crafted with a combination of yellow and brown mustard seeds and a good kick of Dirty Bastard Scotch Ale. Or try the Centennial IPA Honey Mustard, which is packed with aromatic hop flavors; this sweet and spicy mustard is made with 100-percent Michigan honey!
And you can always spice life up with BLiS Blast Pepper Sauce, which is rich, complex and not too hot. It’s been aged in barrels that once contained Kentucky bourbon, BLiS famous maple syrup and Founders KBS.
Top off your savory meal with a delicious, malty treat from Mokaya chocolates in Grand Rapids for their Beer Flight. Flavors include Elk Coffee Porter dark chocolate, Grand Rapids Brewing Co. Rosalynn Bliss white chocolate, The Mitten Stretch dark chocolate, Founders Porter dark chocolate, Harmony Black Squirrel burnt caramel and Brewery Vivant Farm Hand butter caramel. For more crunch, Mel’s Toffee sells Right Brain CEO Toffee with a chocolate-y, espresso-y, toffee flavor. Available in resealable packages online.
When it comes time to treat yo’self, consider basking in a bath filled with beer … products. Grand Rapids-based Herb & Soap created a line inspired by some of your favorite beers. The Bell’s Beer Robust Porter is made with fresh macadamia milk, whole oats, colloidal oatmeal, dark Dutch cocoa, organic milk chocolate, Ferris sugar cookie coffee grounds, a coffee/chocolate fragrance oil, titanium dioxide and Bells’ Robust Porter reduction.
Meanwhile, Founder’s Breakfast Stout is used in Joshua Tree Skincare lip balm and Brickyard Farms oatmeal-honey soap. Finish up your routine with Wicked Soaps Dragon’s Milk Beard Balm, which conditions and softens while taming pesky beard flyaways.
