For brewing license number 465 visited in the State of Michigan, I abandoned my plans of disc golf at Kensington on Labor Day, and Crystal and I headed down to Hamtramck, Michigan to check out the new kid on the block, Florian East Lagers and Ales. Labor Day weekend was their grand opening, so they had been open a total of 3 days before we paid them a visit.
Florian East is located right in Downtown Hamtramck on the corner of Jos Campau and Holbrook Street. They are a decent sized brewery with multiple seating options throughout their area. There is a smaller bar that can seat approximately 6 to 10 people at the most. Then there are quite a few tables throughout to enjoy your beers at approximately 15 to 20 tables scattered around the building.
Florian East does not offer a kitchen on-site, they do allow you to bring in outside food though. The day we visited they had a food stand set-up right outside their front door so check their socials before you head down to see if they will be offering any food options during your visit. They offer a few very light snack options in the taproom. Also, after being open for Labor Day they will be closed on Mondays and Tuesdays from here on out.
As their name suggests they will be offering Ales and Lagers, which means if you are looking for a Bourbon-Barrel Aged Stout, or heavier style beers, this might not be your pint of ale. But if you love light, sessionable Ales and Lagers, then visiting this operation is an absolute must.
In addition to their beer they offer things like seltzers for the non-beer drinker. Actually their Hibiscus Seltzer is the highest ABV beverage that they have on their menu, and it clocks in at 6.5%. For non-alcoholic options they offer sparkling water, Coke, and a few other beverages for the non-drinker.
Since they are newer they had 4 beer options on tap during our visit, all were absolutely delicious and you can easily crush a few of each option they offer with no problem at all.
Florian East also offers various options on a hand-pull cask system, and any place that offers beer on a cask system immediately makes my ears perk up.
The first three beers that we tried were Some Kind Of American- Keller Lager, Soft & All to Myself- DH Golden Ale, Believe Me Now- NE Style Pale Ale. Believe Me Now was their highest ABV option on the board clocking in at 5.3% ABV, like I said their Ales and Lagers are very sessionable.
My favorite option that they offered though was the Daft, which is described as a Midwest Pub Ale. This option came off of their hand-pull system, and this beer alone is worth the price of admission and then some. It was light, malty, and very sessionable, it clocked in at 4.5% ABV so I had about 3 of them. Something about the temperature of cask ale just makes them go down so fast and so smooth. I could drink this beer all day everyday if given the chance.
While we were visiting we noticed a bunch of tents set-up down the street, so we headed down to see what was going on. It was the 44th annual Labor Day festival in Hamtramck, so we strolled around to see what the festival was all about. It is a free festival that includes various food options, live music, beer tents, and carnival rides for the young ones. We stopped and listened to a few of the bands and just casually walked around checking out the various vendors and taking it all in.
If you are looking for a brewery that serves light, sessionable Ales and Lagers then I highly recommend going to Hamtramck and pulling up a seat at the bar of Florian East Ales and Lagers. It might be the best beer decision that you have made in a long time. Na Zdrowie!
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