Grizzly Peak Brewing Company, Ann Arbor MI

2 October 2024

I believe this was my third visit to Grizzly Peak, but it’s definitely my first time writing about them. Grizzly Peak opened in August 1995 in a historical downtown building and has been a staple in the community. Since my last visit, the street they’re on has been turned into a pedestrian mall so they have a huge outdoor space with tables now, and you can actually get $5 beers in plastic cups “to go” as long as you consume them within the confines of the mall.

Inside, there are several rooms and seemingly at least two bars; I was in a booth at the bar that was “active” (although because I do these visits at odd times, there were only a half dozen patrons at best). The server (also the bartender) seemed surprised that I would ask for a flight, but said he could do a flight of five so here it is. The order of beers left-to-right was in the order of the beer list, which didn’t really make sense from a tasting point of view, but for the sake of simplicity, I’ll describe them in the order they’re presented here (and apologies for the distortion in the photo, but this was a WIDE flight board!):

SteelHead Red – Amber Ale, 5.5% – Wow, this was tasty! I don’t always like red ales but decided to try this one because it was tough to find five choices on the small beer list that sounded good. I don’t regret this one for a minute.

Shearwater “Burton” India Pale Ale – IPA, 5.6% – This claims to be a British-classic style IPA with a dry, hoppy finish. I can’t speak to the accuracy of the first part of that statement, but it was definitely a dry and hoppy finish. Not my favorite.

Annie’s “Export” Lager – Dortmunder-style Lager, 5.8% – Now this was another great beer! It was difficult to decide whether I liked this or the Red better, but I think the Red had a slight edge today.

Edelhopfen Pilsner – Pilsner, 5.2% – I won’t claim this was the best Pilsner I’ve had on this trip, but it was darned good and would be a great session beer for a hot summer’s day.

Turgutreis IPA – Turkish-inspired IPA, 6.5% – Don’t even think of asking me how to pronounce this one! Here’s what they say about it: “… Amarillo, Mosaic, and Michigan-grown Chinook hops plus sumac for a savory, citrusy exotic twist.” I liked it more than the other IPA, but I picked up a strong piney flavor from the sumac that didn’t satisfy me today.

I decided on the Turkey Club on this toasted multigrain bread, and it was excellent! Not only were there interesting flavors in it that blended together perfectly, but these fries were crispier than I would have believed possible. There was barely a crumb left on that plate when I was done.

I had gone into this assuming there would be one final pint that would probably be a repeat of something in the flight, and I was very close to ordering the Steelhead Red. At the last second, I switched to their Anniversary Ale. This is their 29th year in business and to celebrate, they’ve created this Double IPA made with Cascade, Amarillo, Citra, and Mosaic Hops. The surprise to me was that they were pouring this 8.4% DIPA in pint glasses! But alas, even though it was far from the strongest DIPA or TIPA I’ve had, the alcohol was much too pronounced for my taste, and this was consequently my least favorite of the six.

In my final analysis, Grizzly Peak is a solid brewpub with good beer and good food, but there are better options. If I had to choose just one place here to visit on a future trip, it would have to be Salt Springs, hands down.