Noah Smith of the Lansing-based lobbying firm
Capitol Services can’t help but shill on behalf of
New Holland Brewery’s Golden Cap Saison, which is a regionally produced farmhouse ale.
“That,” says Smith, emphatically planting his spent pint jar on the table, “was a nice beer.”
Smith is the ringleader of an informal group of beer connoisseurs known as the Brewer's Caucus. The group is gathered a
Crunchy's in East Lansing where, to celebrate the state's emerging beer industry, Manager Paul Stewart has banished all non-Michigan draft varieties on its 27 taps in favor of locally-crafted brews.
Changing of Crunchy's taps commenced at 12:01 a.m. July 1 to usher in
Michigan Craft Beer Month, an auspicious occasion the members of the informal beer caucus felt compelled to commemorate.
The Brewer's CaucusSmith's leadership status on all things involving hops, yeast malt and barley is confirmed by the number of those in his Crunchy's purview quaffing pints of a similar golden hue during the June 30/July1 session.
The caucus itself — about 20 to 30 various Lansing lobbyists, legislative aides and anyone in between — is his idea. The group gathers semi-monthly or when schedules permit to sample brews of various origins in a never-ending quest to expand their palettes beyond the mass-produced liquid commodities of the Budweiser, Miller and Coor's troika.
Smith launched the Brewer's Caucus a year ago as a congregation spot for homebrew hobbyists and general imbibers of the alcoholic beverage that ranks only behind water and tea in popularity.
Since the Crunchy's gathering took place on a weeknight while the Capitol was mired in a budget battle, Smith wasn't optimistic about a strong turnout. However, the ranks of the caucus quickly swelled from the original handful to a group of 20, spilling across two tables.
Mark Polsdofer,
Michigan Department of Transportation legislative liaison; and Jim Curran, a partner in
Karoub Associates; join Smith where table talk soon turns frothy.
The topic of discussion turns to the Michigan Brew Month T-shirts on sale (Smith buys one) and the caucus's fledgling attempts to design their own clothing wares. The marketing effort included the state mitten grasping a beer mug with suds on top resembling the Upper Peninsula.
“I think it needs more of a graphic artist's touch,” Smith says.
An appearance by a pair of Kalamazoo-based
Bell's Brewery staff quickly heightens caucus member spirits. “We're releasing two beers tonight,” says David Munro. “It's easy drinking stuff.”
From K-zoo, discussion shifts to a Grand Rapids brew place named
HopCat.
“That should be our next road trip,” says Polsdofer, 38, former chief of staff for state Senator Glenn Anderson, D-Westland.
That prompts reminiscing about previous caucus-sponsored forays, including one to the
Michigan Brewers Guild's Michigan Summer Beer Festival in Ypsilanti last summer. Curran recalls how the ride back home was punctuated by a cooler-clearing stop at a party store.
For the party story owners, “It was like having Santa coming in,” Curran says. “We were saying, 'We'll have six of these and 12 of those. . . .'”
As standard practice, the group bussed there. Polsdofer and Smith also sing the praises of a designated driver service, where not only are pie-eyed celebrants ferried home, but so are their vehicles.
“We don't want any drinking and driving,” Smith says. “We're trying to promote good beer but responsibly.”
The founder is adamant that the Brewer's Caucus is “not a drunk fest.” Emphasis is on quality opposed to quantity. Members don't delicately sip beer from a thimble and debrief for an hour on what traversed their taste buds either.
Pints are the preferred quantity since they satisfy thirsts, but don't linger long enough to get warm, Smith says.
After a farmhouse ale warm-up, Curran decides to be adventurous and partake in
New Holland Brewery's barrel-aged stout “Dragon's Milk,” a high-octane vanilla- and oak-bathed concoction.
Curran's verdict?
“I would call it a project,” says Curran, who joined Karoub Associates in 2000. “It is closer to a meal than a beer.” (A sample makes the author think the alcohol-heavy brew could be rechristened the “Dragon Slayer”).
Making it MichiganCaucus members are bullish on American-made beers, especially those conceived in the mitten state. The number of Michigan brewers is on the rise, with more 70 around the state according to the
Michigan Beer Guide. 47 different brewers offered their concoctions at this year's 12th annual
Michigan Summer Beer Festival held on July 7, again in Ypsilanti.
Michigan-made brews are now starting to transcend international borders, too. For instance, Webberville-based
Michigan Brewing Company's wares are now sold in Sweden.
The main reason, Smith says, is Yanks have been able to put a creative spin on centuries-old recipes from Germany, Belgium and England.
“What American breweries have done is taken all these different countries' traditional beers and then blown them out of the water,” says Smith, a homebrewer for eight years. “That's America: 'I see your beer and I will raise it.'”
Beer's abilities to cross political party lines as well as international borders cannot be overlooked. The Brewer's Caucus is both bicameral and bipartisan, says Smith, reiterating that beer remains the drink of democracy.
“It's just one more of those kind of things where barriers are broken down because all are sort of communing over beer,” he says. “It creates a fellowship where people are not so guarded to talk to somebody on the other side of the aisle.”
While largely male get-together, a handful of women members were hoisting pints at the Crunchy's caucus session.
“There are some women who only drink light beer because they are worried about their weight,” says Vicki Baron, 33, a
Michigan Credit Union League legislative coordinator who prefers lagers and brown ales. "They still can drink good beer, but just less of it.”
John Rauchman, 28, attending his second caucus session, is trying to breakout from a self-imposed light-beer caste. Beer's unifying force is undeniable, says Rauchman, a legislative aide to state Rep. Fred Miller, D-Mount Clemens.
“People from all walks of life seem to like it,” Rauchman says.
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Larry O'Connor is a mid-Michigan freelance writer who, upon reading that drinking beer was bad for you, quit reading.
Dave Trumpie is the managing photographer for Capital Gains. He is a freelance photographer and owner of Trumpie Photography.
Photos:A cold draft at the Brewer's Caucus “meeting”
Noah Smith
The draft list
Part of the group enjoy beer and food
Jim Curran (right) talks with Bell's David Munro
Crunchy's manager Paul Stewart
All Photographs © Dave Trumpie