Up in tiny little Kaleva, Michigan sits Northern Natural Cider House & Winery. They opened in 2007 serving Cider and Wine, they just recently started serving beer, hence why I decided to stop in. But they are serving some really delicious beers out of their taproom especially for being newer to the beer brewing side of things.
They are located on an expansive property, the parking lot was bigger than most of the breweries that I go to. They are a farm where they produce the apples that they use to make the cider with. They are actually one of a handful of USDA certified organic cider producers in all of North America. Two of their ciders The Northern Star Hard Cider and The Lavender Apple Hard Cider have recently earned gold medals at the World Cider Championships and their Traditional Apple Cider won bronze. They make amazing ciders, I even sampled a few while I was there. They even distribute their Ciders in bottles throughout Michigan, so check your local retailer to see if they have any.
After starting with making Cider they moved on to making Wine in addition to the Cider. I am not a wine drinker, so I did not try the wine. But it is only available in the taproom, and it was very popular while I was there. I can imagine with how many people were purchasing Wine that it was just as good as the CIder and the Beer.
They do have a little bit of seating inside at the bar, and a couple of tables in case you want to sit inside. But since it is on a farm, a good majority of their seating is outside. They have picnic tables and games all over their lawn for your enjoyment while you are there. The area also has an outdoor venue for live musical acts. They are also pet friendly. They offer a few permanent food trucks outside that serve organic pizza and tacos.
Since they are a big outdoor area surrounded by nature, for the future plans on the property they are working on putting in a cross country walking/ ski-trail and a disc golf course. If the beer and cider wasn’t enough to get me back there, a disc golf course will definitely get me to come back.
Now when it comes to the beer, I ended up getting a flight and it consisted of Portage Peanut Butter Porter, Chief Lake IPA, and Dudley’s Delight Cream Ale. My favorite of the flight was the Pine River Pilsner, which was a very light, smooth, easy-drinking Pilsner with a refreshing crispness on the end of it. Checking in at 4.2%, this is one that could easily be described as a great lawnmower beer, you can literally drink this all day.
The bartender that was working the place was very knowledgeable about all of their products. She was a walking encyclopedia about every product they served. I really wish I remembered her name, but it escapes me at this point. I do remember that she was a retired teacher from the New Boston area and she was familiar with Plymouth, Michigan as we spent quite a bit of time talking about the area. But even though I can’t remember her name, she was absolutely awesome the entire time that I was there.
If you are looking to escape city life and enjoy a couple of adult beverages out in the wonderful scenery that only Northern Michigan can provide. I highly recommend stopping by Kaleva and visiting Northern Natural Cider House and Winery. Prost!
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