Today marks the seventieth anniversary of the beer can. As it turns out, I've written a thing or two about the subject, including a short piece recently for Lake Magazine. I don't know why they keep asking me to write about beer...
This is about the winner of their reader poll about best microbrew in the area. It's a short piece, only 300 words. They paid me a beer per word.
I drive a hard bargain.
"BEST MICROBREW"
by Rick Kaempfer
From the Best of 2005 issue
Best Microbrewery: Mishawaka Brewing Company
3703 North Main Street
Mishawaka, Indiana
574-256-9993
The Mishawaka Brewing Company is truly a family affair. Tom Schmidt opened the brewpub after leaving corporate America in 1992. His wife Barbara designed the hunter green walls and dark stained high-back wood booths that give it such a homey atmosphere. His son Rick brews the award winning beer and Rick’s wife Tami runs the restaurant, which features cuisine they describe as “Americanized International.”We called to let them know they were a finalist, and got to speak with one of the Schmidt’s; Brew Master Rick. We asked him what it was like to work so closely with your family.
“It’s either the greatest thing in the world or horrible,” he said with a laugh, “depending on the day.”
The biggest draw to Mishawaka Brewing Company is obviously the beer. The most popular brew is a tribute to the Four Horsemen from Notre Dame (“Four Horseman Irish Ale”). The ND crew is currently featured on the label of the bottle, although Rick told me they are planning on slightly altering the logo soon.
“We’re thinking of changing it to the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse,” he told us.
Whichever Four Horsemen end up on the bottle, the beer’s popularity has been growing by word of mouth. The capacity of their current location is maxed out trying to keep up with increasing demand. With an eye toward expanding, they purchased the equipment from the Duneland Brewhouse in Michigan City, and hope to be up and running with a stand-alone brewery by early August.
In the meantime, Lake Magazine reader’s choice for best microbrewery is open seven days a week. Sun & Mon: 3 p.m.—Midnight, Tue—Thurs: 11:30 a.m.—2:00 a.m., and Friday and Saturday’s from 11:30 a.m.—3:00 a.m.
Rick's notes: The defunct Duneland Brewhouse he talks about in this piece was previously featured in an earlier article I wrote called "Indiana Beer Tour". Beer expert John O'Malley and I visited three different breweries in the area, and Duneland was the only one that got a bad write up. That's power right there.
Click: http://rickkaempfer.blogspot.com/2005_12_01_rickkaempfer_archive.html
and scroll to the bottom of that archive if you want to read it too. It's the last article there. We leave no beer stone unturned in our tour of Microbrews.
Bonus Beer Fact: How is my father like the Pope? Stuttgarter Hofbrau, my father's all-time favorite beer (when we lived in Germany) has become the first beer to be endorsed by a Pope. Pope Benedict has agreed to let the makers of his favorite beer use his likeness on their bottles. I feel duty bound as a Catholic to seek out this beer now. If anyone knows where I can get it in this country, please let me know.
