Arcadia Brewing Company in Battle Creek, MI

Our first "scheduled brewer" was Arcadia Brewing Company in Battle Creek, Michigan. However after our surprise stop at Mad Anthony Brewing it ended up being our second brewery and pub to visit on our "2012 Michigan Brewcation".

First impression: We parked across the street from the building, which gave us plenty of time to start peeking in the windows of the brewing side of their current location. It was fun to be able to see workers cleaning and preparing the brewing space while we were drinking one of their fine crafted beers (as you can see the brewing area from the bar as well). I was excited to learn that they are expanding and will soon be brewing in a bigger Michigan location (around Spring 2013). It was evident they needed more space as we had noticed that they are cramming a lot of work/equipment in their brewery in order to supply the demands of their customers (because the beer was tasty and people like a good thing). 

Service: Prompt and attentive. The bartender checked on us often and had descriptions and explanations for us about various beers. She also refilled the water of our designated driver often, which was much appreciated!

Food: We were only tasting a few brews at this location and did not order from the kitchen. However, they had wood fire pizza and several people ordering food when we sat down. We were there in the late afternoon and not during any sort of dinner rush which made us believe the food must be good. There were lots of options of fresh foods and interesting appetizers on the menu. If we ever go back I am definitely trying something!

Prices & Other Notes: 

We were actually there during their happy hour, so we enjoyed very affordable brews ($1 off each brew)! 

I loved the packaging at Arcadia! Their images and designs were awesome. I could look at the labels for each brew all day!

Something else we noticed in the menu was the pride of serving local food. They are using locally grown products whenever they can. Whether it is in the brew or the food. 

This is something I love about breweries. The idea of local. Drinking local and eating local. Makes so much sense and for such fresh tastes.

As for the beer:

The great thing about having a brewcation at the beginning of September is that many places still had summer beers and were just starting to have fall beers. Some of my favorite brews are pumpkin beers and fall harvest ales. 

Jaw-Jacker (spiced amber wheat ale) was one of those fall beers that we thought was truly AMAZING!

Lochdown was a sweet and malty scotch ale.

Whitsun was a pale wheat ale, reminiscent of Blue Moon with a citrus and coriander taste... so good!

Sky High Rye was a rye beer that reminded me of sweet rye bread.








We left with more gifts for friends (and a few beers to take home)... a six pack of Sky High Rye in cans as a gift, and two six packs of bottles (one Jaw Jacker and one Nut Brown). 












It has been so chilly the past few days, drinking a  Jaw-Jacker after dinner just feels like fall to me... well, maybe its all the butternut squash bread I've been baking(find my favorite recipe here). But either way, I want to take a drive and pick up a bit more of that fall spiced brew.