Sticking with the theme from yesterday’s post, we are going to cross Lake Besser into Downtown Alpena and review HopSide Brewery. They opened their doors in 2021 and have wasted no time in offering a unique brewing experience in that span.
Hopside is a wide open space, with a circle bar in the middle of the brewery, possibly seats about 10 to 15.. Around the bar there are plenty of tables and chairs for bigger groups or people looking to enjoy some food while they drink. There is also a back patio where you can gather with friends and enjoy a beverage or two.
As mentioned before they do offer food, I personally did not order any food on my visit. I had eaten lunch at a previous stop. But the food smelled delicious while I was there. They offer a bunch of different appetizers, burgers, pizza, sandwiches and wraps, in addition to quite a few other things on the menu.
In addition to beer and food they also offer cocktails and other drinks containing liquor. All of their liquor is distilled in house, so if you have someone in your group that doesn’t drink beer then this might be the place for you to visit on your trip.
Now when it comes to their beer, they have a lot on tap at all times. According to their website they offer 24 taps of beer at all times. I didn’t count while I was there, but can confirm that they had a lot of beer on tap during my visit.
I got a flight of beer, like usual. The flight consisted of Cream Brew La- Cream Ale, Margarita Gose- Gose, Thunder Bay IPA- Session IPA, DeRayLer- Doppelbock. But my personal favorite on the menu was the Norway Ridge Brown. It is an English Brown Ale, so it was very light, clocked in at 4.8% ABV. There was a subtle smokiness from the malt in the beer, but a smoothness to compliment the smoky flavor of the beer.
In addition they also have a lineup of beers that are named after dogs and cats. They have the Rex, Always There Bear, Lexi, Greg, Sir, and Kahei. 10% of the proceeds from all these beers are donated to local animal shelters. So if you are looking to help out our furry friends in need, order one of the beers that has a pet named attached to it. I’m not sure if the beers that correspond to the pet names are always the same, or if they rotate them based upon the needs of the brewery.
A visit to beautiful Alpena, Michigan is always a great idea. But the fact that you can hit two really good breweries less than a mile apart, really puts Alpena as a desired destination on the Michigan beer map. So next time you are there a visit to Hopside Brewing should definitely be a priority. You can even do the Alpena two-step and hit Hopside and Austin Brothers on the same day. If you really want, you could even walk between the two if you are looking to take a nice stroll through Alpena. Cheers!
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