Muskegon, MI was a busy place last Saturday, March 23. MuskeCon 2019, a comic book and toy convention, was going on at the Holiday Inn; Rake Beer Project hosted their sneak peak open house in Northtown 794; and Pigeon Hill Brewing Company was celebrating their fifth anniversary!
Western Avenue was closed down due to a large, white party tend protruding from the taproom of Pigeon Hill. The beers and the people were flowing to check out the party!
Live music started around 3:00 pm with Jason Bryant and Derek Dile taking the stage for an acoustic set of favorites spanning the decades and genres. Bryant, better known as A Northern Song, was one of the first performers at Pigeon Hill when they first opened, so it was fitting that he was playing at the fifth anniversary party.
The evening/night set was Flexadecibel, a seven piece funk/soul/rock band from West Michigan that is known for “bringin’ the heat!” The faithful of the band and Pigeon Hill packed the tent and spilled into the taproom for the all night party!
One of the ways Pigeon Hill celebrated their anniversary was to have a handful of special beers released on Friday and Saturday. I tried a few and all of them were amazing, including Pigeon Mittens (collab with The Mitten Brewing Company), Transcendent Paradigm (collab with Rake Beer Project), and Batch 1,000, a rye barrel aged barleywine with a strong caramel presence.
When I covered Pigeon Hill’s Black Friday release of S’More Beast in My Cup and Cinna-Gram on French Toast, the anniversary party was a thought in Michael Brower’s mind, one of the co-owners of the brewery. I caught up with him at the party and picked his brain about what’s in store in the future at Pigeon Hill.
Before we got to the future ideas, Michael was quick to thank EVERYONE who has supported Pigeon Hill from the get go, including those in Muskegon and around the state, who have tried, loved, and spread the word about their beer. He said that the past five years have “blown by!”
Pigeon Hill’s new production facility is almost completed and employees are moving into their offices in April. The first brew date at the facility is May 2.
As for future plans and ideas, Michael hinted at a couple of things, including more beer, craft cocktails for the summer months, and looking into activities and events the brewery can add to provide people a fun time in downtown Muskegon.
I cannot wait to see what the next five years and beyond look like for Pigeon Hill, so in the mean time, cheers to them!
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