With the harvest now upon us, Frankenmuth Brewery has gotten into the act once again, offering up our 2012 batch of Harvest Ale.

After a summer spent cultivating hops grown in the fertile soil of the Leelanau Peninsula, our Michigan farming friends have given us a season’s worth of product that will greet your taste buds with the seductive earthy bitterness that only a Michigan hop can offer.

In order to best lock the flavor of the hops into our Michigan beer, Frankenmuth Brewery brewmaster Jeff Coon began brewing with the ingredients a mere four hours after the crop was harvested in Northern Michigan. Throughout the brewing process, over 750 pounds of American hops were used to produce the beer (not counting another 150 pounds that were used in the dry hopping process). Known as the perfect way to add a beautiful aroma to a brew, Frankenmuth Brewery adds hops to the Harvest Ale during the final fermentation process for the perfect Michigan beer.

With a delightful flavor that gives off pine and grassy flavor notes, the Frankenmuth Brewery Harvest Ale acts as the perfect session beer for a day spent raking up leaves and nights filled watching the Detroit Tigers playoff run.

Come to Frankenmuth to secure a growler full of Harvest Ale or head to the Michigan Brewers Guild Detroit Fall Beer Festival in Detroit’s Eastern Market on October 26 and 27 for your chance to taste this new brew. Be prepared to experience the perfect combination of Michigan’s farming and brewing worlds when the impactful hop flavor of the Harvest Ale hits your taste buds.

As Frankenmuth Brewery celebrates our 150-year anniversary throughout 2012, we’ve been trying to think of the best way to honor our Michigan brewery. We decided a specially brewed Michigan beer with a look towards the past, present and future would be the best birthday present ever. And so, say hello to the 150th anniversary Frankenmuth Dark Lager!

Limited to 1862 bottles, in honor of the year the brewery was founding, Frankenmuth Brewery has created a unique Michigan beer that will come in individually numbered bottles, each signed by brewmaster Jeff Coon. With a price tag of $24.99, this specialty beer will be available in Michigan beer stores as of December 1, though Frankenmmuth Brewery will be hanging onto 150 bottles to sell at the brewery just before Thanksgiving. Click here to reserve one of these bottles today! Pick up begins November 15.

And now, the important part: inside of these special commemorative bottles is a unique Michigan beer that was first created at Frankenmuth Brewery in the 1940s. The Frankenmuth Dark was an area favorite and will be revitalized using the original brew recipe for this classic. Additionally, a portion of a 50-year-old batch of Frankenmuth Dark Lager will be included in each bottle of this brew, which will make for an extremely special Michigan beer.

After 150 years of up and downs – from brewing fantastic Michigan beers to tears when the brewery was destroyed by a toronado in 1996 – Frankenmuth Brewery has been a constant in Michigan’s brewing scene. Celebrate with us and purchase one of the limited edition Frankenmuth Dark Lagers as a reminder of your love for Michigan’s oldest brewery. Frankenmuth Brewery thanks everyone for all the support over the past 150 years and we hope that we’re around to serve our Michigan beer for another 150.

This week, Frankenmuth Brewery will be celebrating the sale of our Michigan beer in 32 Ohio counties by doing several in-state tastings and participating in Cleveland Beer Week.

After a wildly successful visit to the invite-only Cleveland Oktoberfest back in September, Frankenmuth Brewery is happy be making our way back to Cleveland with our Michigan beer in tow. On Thursday, October 25, Frankenmuth Brewery will be showing off both the Batch 69 IPA and our new seasonal Winter Bock Lager at the Giant Eagle grocery store in Rocky River from 4 to 7 PM. The Frankenmuth Ohio tour continues on through Cleveland Beer Week on Friday, October 26 with another taste testing visit to Giant Eagle’s Media location.

Ending Cleveland Beer Week with a monster bang, Frankenmuth Brewery will be taking part in BREWzilla: A Monster of a Beer Tasting on Saturday, October 27. Featuring over 70 breweries, Frankenmuth Brewery will be showcasing three of our Michigan beers (Frankenmuth Pilsener, Batch 69 IPA and Oktoberfest), amongst the cream of the craft brewery crop from around the United States. For the general admission price of $50, Ohio craft brew lovers will gain access to a free tasting glass, 25 drink sample tickets and a commemorative t-shirt. By purchasing the Brewer’s Circle upgrade, a ticket price of $75, Cleveland Beer Week fanatics will be able to enjoy rare brews and delicious food pairings prepared by local chefs.

Frankenmuth Brewery has certainly felt the love from Ohio and we are happy to be making our way back down for a visit. We are very excited to be doling out our Michigan beer as a part of Cleveland Beer Week. Thank you for the tremendous support, Ohio.

‘Tis the season to be haunting and Frankenmuth Brewery is getting into the spirit by throwing a Frankenmuth Halloween party that will celebrate All Hallows Eve like never before. Our Michigan brewery won’t be handing out the usual tricks like witch eyes, hair and brains, but instead will be offering treats like special deals on our spooky suds and frightening food fare.

Taking place on Thursday, October 25, this Frankenmuth Halloween bash will be the highlight of your ghoul-filled season, as we will be offering both frights and delights. With new beers on tap like the hauntingly refreshing Harvest Ale and the witchy Winter Bock, Frankenmuth will be giving brewery patrons a chance to try seasonal delights that are only stocked in the brewery. Fear not friends, all of our other kinds of Michigan beer will beckon you to taste them too.

The frightening fun doesn’t just stop at our Michigan beer though. This is a Frankenmuth Halloween party after all and that means an excuse for elaborate dress. Dress in your best costume, be it ghoul, goblin or grim reaper, for your chance to walk away with the night’s big honor of the best costume and a prize. Maybe walk away isn’t the best way to put it, as our Frankenmuth Halloween DJ will be playing all the hits that will make you monster mash your boogeyman booty all across the dance floor.

Join Frankenmuth “Booery”… er, we mean, join Frankenmuth Brewery as we put Halloween on the map in Christmas town this Thursday, October 25. With frighteningly fantastic beer specials and food deals (including $2 off all appetizers), this night at our Michigan brewery is sure to provide Halloween fun that you’ll never forget!

Beer history was made this week when Disney World’s Magic Kingdom decided it would be ending its 41-year-old alcohol ban. With the opening of a new Beauty and the Beast themed French restaurant, Disney realized that many patrons purchasing a top-notch French meal would probably appreciate an elite selection of wines and beers. We couldn’t agree more.

While Frankenmuth Brewery is just breaking into the Florida market (hopefully we can get our Michigan beer past Cinderella’s Castle), we are just as excited to see another bygone law regarding beer being thrown to the wayside. With that same spirit, here is a list of some of the greatest successes in beer history. From the invention of the sudsy stuff to the fall of prohibition in America, all of these significant moments throughout history have led us to where we are today with our Michigan brewery.

5 Decisive Moments in Beer History

Year: 1000
Event: Hops are used in the brewing process for the first time.
Significance: The Michigan beer that you’ve come to love would be nothing without hops. The magical ingredient has now been adding flavor and aromas to brews for over 1000 years.

Year: 1516
Event: Bavarian brewing guidelines and purity laws are put in place.
Significance: Frankenmuth Brewery is steeped in beer history and perhaps one of the most important events to affect our brewery is the invention of Bavarian brewing guidelines. To this day, Frankenmuth Brewery follows strict purity laws.

Year: 1850-1860
Event: The creation of refrigeration.
Significance: Whether allowing for alternative brewing methods that produced new types of brew or the ability to chill Michigan beer in our own homes, the invention of refrigeration forever changed the outlook of beer’s future.

Year: 1862
Event: Frankenmuth Brewery opens.
Significance: Call us partial to our own digs, but when Frankenmuth Brewery opened its doors in 1862, it set a precedent of Michigan beer being some of the best in the country. The fact is still true to this day and we are proud to be leading the charge of nearly 100 breweries that now populate the Mitten State.

Year: 1933
Event: The end of prohibition.
Significance: If you’re a fan of Boardwalk Empire, you know how much hell a person had to go through just to have the pleasure of drinking a beer in the early twentieth century. Thankfully, in what could be considered one of the best moments in beer history, politicians came to their senses finally and repealed the amendment in 1933.

Now that you’ve brushed up on all your Michigan beer history and beyond, relish in a delicious Frankenmuth Brewery beer. It may have taken Disney World a long time to see the error of its ways, but this advancement marks one small step for mousekind and one giant leap for beer lovers all over the world.

The process of brewing has long been considered an art form and this week Frankenmuth Brewery will be traveling to an actual art museum to show off our brewing works. Taking part in the Grand Rapids Public Museum’s Brewers’ Challenge on October 19 and 20, this competition will pit Frankenmuth Brewery against 17 other Michigan breweries as a part of the museum’s Thank You Beer! exhibit. Who tastes the beers and decides on a winner? You do!

Grand Rapids Public Museum is giving visitors over the age of 21 the chance to try several different Michigan beers including Frankenmuth Brewery’s new Harvest Ale via its exciting Brewers Challenge. For a $30 ticket price, you will receive entrance to the museum, ten tasting tokens, a voucher for food and the ability to vote for your favorite beers. The winners will be announced at the end of the event on Saturday, October 20 and the prized beers will receive prime placement at a gourmet pairing dinner at the museum, and of course, bragging rights.

In addition to getting to taste all of the fine beers on tap, patrons of the event will also have the ability to check out the museum’s Thank You Beer! exhibit. Looking at the world in a way you never might have before, this exciting lesson in history will take you from the first brewers in ancient Egypt to the modern times of Michigan beer. Offering insight into the science behind brewing, the promotions and marketing of the industry and social contributions that beer has made, the Thank You Beer! exhibit leaves no brew stone unturned.

This event will also mark one of the rare times that Western Michigan Frankenmuth Brewery fans will be able to taste our Harvest Ale, as the Michigan beer is only available at our Frankenmuth brewhouse. Come out for a Harvest Ale taste test and walk away with more beer knowledge than you’ll know what to do with. It’s a simple win-win situation.

PURCHASE TICKETS TO THE BREWERS’ CHALLENGE BY CLICKING HERE.

While it seems as though the fall season has only just gotten under way, the leaves are coming down fast, and Frankenmuth Brewery is looking forward to preparing our new batch of winter beer. It might seem premature to some to be releasing our 2012 Winter Bock in October, but we know there are many brew lovers will who be bypassing blankets for the warming embrace of our Michigan beer.

As one of Frankenmuth Brewery’s hallmark seasonal beers, the Winter Bock Lager has been a favorite as it delivers great taste, a beautiful aroma and a noteworthy mahogany color. Inspired by our brewery’s Bavarian heritage, this winter beer includes many of the staple German ingredients including German Noble Hops and a blend of three malts including Munich. This particular malt gives the Winter Bock its signature malty sweet flavor, while the remaining ingredients give off flavor notes of chocolate and caramel.

Looking for the perfect tailgate brew for a Detroit Lions tailgate? Search no more. The 2012 batch of Winter Bock will continue to pack the same punch as years previous with a impressive alcohol content of 7.00 % ABV. So skip the hot cocoa!

The 2012 Winter Bock will make its debut on store shelves the last week of October and the first week of November, while those that visit from Frankenmuth Brewery can get a sneak peak of the winter beer before hand. You might not be looking forward to pulling out your hat and gloves, but with relief from Frankenmuth Brewery’s Winter Bock, this might be the best Michigan winter yet.

No one takes Michigan beer more seriously than Frankenmuth Brewery, but with a blustery October weekend ahead of us, we hit the internet to find a whole new batch of funny beer videos for all of our brew faithful.

Spurred on by a funny beer video of a nun robbing a beer store, we’ve delved deep into the internet’s treasure trove of videos to find the latest and greatest on the brew tube. From cute babies and beer bottle music to fake German pop stars and a Super Mario spoof, these videos hit all cylinders of hilarity. No more set up needed, crack open a Frankenmuth Brewery beer, sit back and enjoy the show.

Nun Steals Beer

The video that sent us down the rabbit hole of beer videos features a seemingly sweet nun stealing a bottle of brew from the party store. We can’t speak to how legit this video is, but we can say that the beer was probably NUNalcoholic. A-YO!

Beer Bottle Theme Music

Not much of an intro needed for this funny beer video. A street performer goes to town playing the Inspector Gadget theme song on a bunch of brew bottles. They say the line between genius and insanity is pretty thin, and this is one Michigan beer away from tipping over the edge.

Super Beerio

We get that beer, especially the kind from our Michigan brewery, can make people happy and feel invincible, but this video sure is an odd way to portray that concept. Don’t get us wrong, we like the Super Mario angle, but something just seems a little off about it.

Beer Crazed Monster

No, it’s not a disturbing creature or even a college frat boy. It’s just a baby who surely loves beer. We knew they got them started early in Europe, but sheesh… We hope when that baby is of legal age, they come to America and get that excited about our Michigan beer.

Das Boot Das More Like It

The marketers at Vat19, an online purveyor of unusual gifts, have opted to market a glass beer boot with an unusually funny beer video. In the case of their clip, “Das Boot,” things get more than a little freaky and we question their use of our German heritage. Is it scary? Is it funny? We’re still on the fence. You decide!

As long as there has been good food, man has long searched for the item that will perfectly quench his thirst. Many believe the perfect combination to answer this quandary is pizza and beer. So what happens when you want to actually combine the two? Well, that’s easy: beer pizza dough that will rock your world and alter the way you look at beer-flavored fare forever.

This new recipe for beer pizza dough won’t get you buzzed or leave you tasting our more hoppy Michigan beer. The idea is not to overpower you with brew flavor. Instead, this recipe for beer pizza dough will give the crust the vague scent of beer and offer a spicy bite that might not have been in your last slice of pizza. For this recipe, we’ve used some of our fresh Harvest Ale to add a note of pine and hop to our beer pizza dough.

Beer Pizza Dough Recipe

2 1/2 cups Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1 ½ cups Semolina Flour
2 teaspoons instant yeast
1 ½ teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 ½ cups Frankenmuth Brewery Harvest Ale

1. Mix all of the ingredients together, either by mixer, hand or bread machine, and stop when you have beer pizza dough that is soft and smooth in texture.
2. Cover with a towel and allow to rise for up to 2 hours.
3. Put a pizza stone in the oven and preheat to 450 degrees. Once preheated, split the dough in half, put one piece on parchment paper and spread the beer pizza dough into the classic round shape.
4. Put the pizza on your stone or lightly greased baking sheet and bake for around five minutes.
5. Take out your pizza and use any toppings that you may desire. Allow your beer pizza to bake for another 15 minutes once the toppings have been added.
6. Take out your pizza, allow to cool briefly, and enjoy!

This recipe for beer pizza will give you enough dough to make two entire pizzas, so get a few friends together. Pick up some of the new batch of Frankenmuth Brewery Harvest Ale, including hops from Traverse City, and put a little bit of Michigan into your own homemade pizza. Look at it this way: if you buy a growler of our Michigan beer and you only need a cup and a half for completing the recipe, that leaves a lot of Harvest Ale for you to enjoy with your pizza.

Frankenmuth Brewery loves everything Halloween and one of our favorite things that comes with the season is carving jack o’ lanterns. While we admire all kinds of pumpkin carvings, from the extremely intricate witch face to the classic triangle eyes-nose and jagged smile, Frankenmuth Brewery is ready to throw our beer pumpkin hat into the ring. Head out to the pumpkin patch, pick up a few gourds and crack open some Michigan beer as you prepare to make your own Frankenmuth Beer pumpkin.

The first carved pumpkin associated with Halloween was made in Europe in 1866, a mere four years after the birth of Frankenmuth Brewery in America. In 2012, the debut of our beer pumpkin takes shape in two different forms for different levels of pumpkin carving experience and skill. The first stencil we’re featuring is the signature “F” from the Frankenmuth Brewery logo that you’ll recognize from the cap of every single Michigan beer from our brewery. Simple, but stately, this stencil is perfect for any pumpkin-carving beginner. The second stencil, our “Das Good Bier!” logo, will be a little bit tougher of carve, but we think you’re up to the challenge.

Using our beer pumpkin carving stencils as guides for your fresh gourd is super simple. Start by cleaning out your pumpkin with a spoon and save the seeds for roasting in the oven. Once you are finished cleaning up all the guts of the pumpkin, print off the stencil you will be using, cut off the excess paper around the design and attach it to the pumpkin with tape all around the border. Next, use the tip of a pen to puncture a hole every 1/8 inch all the way around each black piece of the design, this will be the part of the pumpkin you will be carving out.

With the stencil now outlined on the face of your beer pumpkin, remove the paper stencil and began to carve the pattern out with a small carving saw. From here on out, it’s as simple as taking time to carefully connect the little dots and cutting off the excess from the inside to allow more light to come out from the inside of the pumpkin. Once done with all of the cuts, remove any pieces of pumpkin that have fallen inside and then rub the carved area with petroleum jelly. This will help to preserve your Frankenmuth Beer pumpkin long past Halloween.

With your porch now aglow from your Frankenmuth Beer pumpkin, you’re ready for all the trick-or-treaters that will be coming to your door on October 31. Remember, kids want candy (not apples or something nutritious), and if their parents look like they need a pick me up, maybe slip them a sample of our Michigan beer. It’s the best treat that Frankenmuth Brewery can think to offer the 21+ crowd.

CLICK TO DOWNLOAD & PRINT THE FRANKENMUTH BEER PUMPKIN STENCILS