Happy Birthday to Waypost Brewing Co.!
My public declaration may be a few weeks late, but I gave my congratulatory message to Waypost Brewing Co.’s owners, Hannah Lee and Chuck Steinhardt, over their brewery’s birthday weekend in mid-September. I stopped by on Friday the 13th to try their beers and returned on Sunday to see the birthday party aftermath (all cleaned up) and purchase a bottle of their one year beer, Foeder Lager.
Waypost Brewing Co. is located directly off 196 on Blue Star Highway south of Fennville. It is located in and on a former blueberry market and farm. During both visits, I was impressed with all the beers that I tried. Each was crisp, bright, and complex.
Before I get to what was inside the bottle of the Foeder Lager, I have to comment on the bottle’s label. The label design was top notch. Most breweries celebrating anything within their first year would be lucky to have a design like this. I have purchased a ton of smeared, handwritten labels and, even, beers without any labels at all. Bravo to Waypost for having a classy label for their first birthday beer! The hand dipped wax on to was a nice touch, too!
This birthday beer is a variant of the House Lager, which was clean and crisp. The birthday beer was fermented and aged in a foeder (pronounced FOOD-er). A foeder is a giant wooden vessel that is used to age wine. This makes sense because Chuck’s background is in wine and Hannah’s background is in brewing. What a great way to continue to combine the passions of both owners into one celebratory brew! According to Waypost, this batch of beer was the first batch to touch the foeder, so the beer took in a ton of oak.
Photo Credit – Waypost Brewing Co.
The Foeder Lager had a nice balance between crisp and smooth. The lager profile was still there, but the oak barrel it was aged in mellowed it out. The beer picked up a ton of oak, which I was a huge fan of. It was noted that there would be a taste of vanilla, but that was lost on me. I got a balanced and light oak aged lager. I would have loved having those sweet vanilla notes in the lager, so that is why I’m going to dock it a star.
Overall, Hannah and Chuck at Waypost Brewing Co in Fennville are doing an excellent job combining their interests and crafts. Together they are making delicious, fresh, and artsy craft beers that you should check out the next time you are in West Michigan or at the next Michigan Brewers Guild festival.
Cheers!
Disclaimer: Ed purchased this beer for this review.
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