The Hub: Detroit, Michigan

Last time I visited the motor city I more or less confined myself to the outskirts of the city far away from the...er interesting parts of the city.  Royal Oaks is kind of a cool area, I remember it being fairly well hopping when I went there, but it isn't Detroit.  Even the tag I put on that post rang a little hollow, and the title was just showing off.  That wasn't Detroit.

This...[cue soundtrack from 8 Mile].... is Detroit.

Detroit is built on a hub road system.   The main roads spread out from the center like the spokes of a giant wheel.  It's like a giant hat tip to the history of transportation that Detroit is famous for.  And right in the center of the wheel, right where the car companies would have stamped their logo... is the Detroit opera house.

Across from that is the Detroit Beer Company. 

There is something about craft beer that engenders urban renewal and I'm not sure why that is.  Call it a love of local color, a culture that turns old industrial centers into thriving entertainment districts or necessity because dilapidated, rat infested ruins are cheap, but many breweries around the country are bringing new life to formally dead urban areas.  And since no city probably needs it more, it's more than fitting that the Detroit Beer Company occupies the old Hartz Building downtown.  Whatever the reason for it, it seems to work.  The area around the hub is about the only section of the city that doesn't look slated for demolition.  Whether the brewery is a cause of, or a product of that is a debate that should happen among people much smarter then myself.  I'm talking about beer... which I haven't done yet.  So, yeah... beer.

I sat down with a grilled salmon sandwich (pretty awesome) and a taster flight of their beers.

Hef:  Banana and clove aroma.  Flavor features banana off the top with light malty flavors finishing dry and slightly spicy.  Fizzy and a light for the style.

Amber: Fruity aroma that pretty much stays the same in the flavor.  Some cherry and caramel in the palate.  Hops start off very light and build up leading to a herbal hop flavor that really lingers.

Baltic Porter: Fan of dark, malty beer?  You'll want one of these and by one I mean all of them.  The flavor is sweet, creamy with hints of light berry fruit with some herbal notes mixed in.  There is some bitterness in the back, but it's far from intrusive and helps balance the heavy malt bill.

Local 1529 IPA: Keep in mind I was still more or less fresh from the Pacific Northwest when I was in Detroit.  Keeping that in mind, the flavor of malt in an IPA... it was strange.    This IPA was sweet, malty with some citrus notes and some spicy hops towards the back.  More malt than I typically like, but a nice change.

Amarillo IPA: Remember when I talked about the One Hop Wonder at Block 15 in Corvallis, Oregon? That part where I thought that no other brewery was doing something like that.  Yeah... about that...
Whereas Block 15 featured the Centennial hop, Detroit Beer company did the Amarillo.  It strikes me as a strange choice, the Amarillo is basically the Cascade hop's bigger, badder and dumber brother leaving some of the subtle floral qualities aside for a massive dose of bitterness.  Still, they managed to coax a lot of citrus and grapefruit flavors in the beer but it will leave with a very bitter aftertaste.

That's all for Detroit for now. 
Cheers!