Homebrew Beer Blog

Second stop on the recent Detroit trip was Great Baraboo BC in Clinton Township. It's a nice looking building and the insides resemble a typical sports bar. Lots of TVs on the walls, keno, and Golden Tee. The actual brewery sits glassed off in the corner, and the fermenters and serving tanks are a part of the decor throughout the restaurant/bar. As odd as it sounds, the most memorable part of the trip will be the bathroom. The hand dryer is the craziest thing I've seen. It's like a super jet charged blower that doesn't dry as much as blasts water off your hands. It was pretty cool.

Anyway... the beer. I just had time for the sampler, which was $6 for 6 different beers on tap and came on a cool little flight boat. I tried the Caribou Wheat, Snake Eye Red Ale, Shark Tooth Golden Ale, Blackstone Porter, Hoppy Heartland Pale, and their monthly special, and old ale.

The Wheat came with a lemon, which got tossed to the side. This was kind of a strange beer. It had a good wheat presence, but some weird tastes and smells, plus of course lemon. Moving on...

The Golden Ale was a pretty easy drinking ale. I remember it being fairly clean, medium bodied, a little hops. Nothing to really write home about, the sample was enough.

The Red ale seemed geared towards an Irish Red/Killians style. A little roast with caramel. Some hops. Top two of the lot. I would have enjoyed a pint of this.

The Pale ale was my other favorite there. The sample boat listed it as the other monthly special, and it took a bit to figure out what it was, which doesn't say much for the hop aroma. Not an exceptional pale ale, copper colored, with modest hops, perhaps more balanced to the malt. Still a decent beer that would go well with a pepperoni pizza.

The specialty beer was listed as an old ale. I didn't really care for this one. I got heavy black liquorish, pretty cloying sweet. Trying to be special by being special, perhaps... Not my thing.

And last, the porter. Deep brown, some coffee. I wasn't really in the mood for a porter, so I kind of swigged it going out the door. It seemed respectable enough.

All, in all, a nice atmosphere, and moderately busy in the mid to late Saturday afternoon. Looks like a nice enough place to grab a pint, sandwich, and ball game. Be sure to check out the hand dryers. ;)