People keep asking us what we thought of it…. Star Wars The Force Awakens – No Spoilers

Anyone who steps foot into Eternity Brewing is welcomed with a warm, inviting environment, but some sitting at the bar may get this strange vibe that the place is a little nerdy. It isn’t the giant decorations on the walls nor the music playing, but the subtle collection of things behind the bar. A Captain America poster, a Darth Vader mask, and recently, a “The Force Awakens” poster. Yes, Mike and Dayna (that’s me!), the owners here are nerds. But that is an understatement when it comes to Star Wars.

Star Wars Obsessed? Star Wars Freaks? Whatever word creates the most emphasis, that is the one you should pick. We took the employees and some mug club members out to see the movie the night it came out. Since we considered this an employee outing, we bought tickets for the employees that were crazy enough to go with us.

People keep asking us what we thought of it….

We LOVED it!

We saw it 4 times already if that says anything.

We can’t stop talking about it, reading about it, and chatting with those “in the know” about theories and what is going to happen next!

Someone just asked me if I really like Star Wars that much or if it is just something fun to do. I am not sure how to explain it, but Star Wars is an emotional connection for me. It means so much to me in fact that when someone talks bad about it, I am all torn up inside. It is a child-like feeling I get every time I see new Star Wars toys and T-Shirts. The first Star Wars Convention I went to literally felt like I died and went to heaven (thus I had to attend more after that of course). It is definitely more than just something fun to do. I guess you just have to be as big of a Star Wars Fanatic to understand what I am talking about.

Mike and I would like to remind everyone to focus on what really matters this holiday season.

Faith, Family, Friends, and Star Wars.

Merry Christmas, my friends! And may the Force be with you. Always.

Fantasy of Lights Parade Wrap Up

We had a great time at our first Fantasy of Lights Parade on Friday thanks to family and friends who helped design and build the float over the past couple months. You know who you are, and we want to give you our sincere THANK YOU for your help and support! We won the First Timers Award!

Did anyone see the marriage proposal we helped with in front of the library? Tim made the “Becky, Will you marry me” sign, and we kept it hidden on our float until we were stopped by the announcer at the library. All of this was planned ahead of time between Tim, the Howell Chamber of Commerce, and the Eternity Brewing float team! Becky said “yes”! We are so happy for the couple! (Dayna got a little teary eyed.)

We are looking forward to the Fowlerville Christmas in the Ville Parade this Saturday!

Happy Holidays everyone! Cheers!

More links to articles about this year’s Fantasy of Lights Parade can be found HERE and HERE!

Gillis Benedict/Livingston Daily

Lots of drilling, lots of lights...

 Getting ready to head out to the parade route

A Journey Awaits Howell, MI

Black Friday! A day to shop local?! (And maybe have a local brew too?!)

So apparently Black Friday is not the biggest shopping day of the year. Who knew!? It just happens to be the most crowded. The biggest shopping day(s) of the year? The weekend before Christmas. (You know who you are! We don’t judge you, everyone has been there. Well, most everyone.)

What can you do instead of frantically running through stores on Black Friday and waiting til the last weekend to find that perfect gift? Come over to Eternity Brewing on Black Friday, that’s what you do! We will have 11 tables with local businesses represented for you to shop through and find a unique gift that can’t be found anywhere else!

Who is going to be here?

•        ArtFullBeads by Barb and Alyssa

•        Beer & Wine Crates

•        Candles by Courtney

•        doTERRA Essential Oils

•        E & L Crafts

•        Little Diablo Salsa

•        Mary Kay Cosmetics

•        Mesiree Ceramics

•        Rodan & Fields

•        Rouge Studio

•        Scentsy

What do you think about that? If all else fails, just come have a beer to window shop. What else are you going to do at noon on Black Friday? Yeah, that’s what we thought. Come hang out with us! (There has been word from the brewery that a certain IPA could be released this day too! How can you lose?)

The tables will be set up from Noon – 4pm November 27^th, Black Friday.

Some of them will take credit card, but bring cash for the other tables that can’t.

Thank you for supporting local beer and local businesses. We appreciate you!

Want to read more about Black Friday? Check out this article:

http://www.details.com/story/9-reasons-why-black-friday-and-cyber-monday-are-overrated

Ceramic mugs and more?! Mesiree Ceramics will be here!

Laser cut maps and more? E & L Crafts will be here!

Looking for a unique photo art piece? Rouge Studio will be here!

Local beer, local shopping. We can't wait to see you on Black Friday!

Detroit Fall Beer Fest Re-Cap

The Detroit Fall Beer Fest is a bit smaller than the summer beer fest, but it still was a busy weekend for us! We had some great help from team members and customers pouring our beers and spreading the good word!

We had a lot of great reviews on our Imperial Caribbean Coffee Stout and Red Currant Order 66. These are unique beers that we made for beer fest. We also had some great reviews on our Pumpkin Muffin and Execute Order 66, some beers that we had on tap here already. So all in all, we feel like we had a good weekend!

Look for the small amount of Pumpkin Muffin we have left to be on tap for our Halloween party this Friday. We will also have Vintage 2014 Pumpkin Pie Porter on tap for the Halloween party! Come dressed up because the winning costume gets an annual mug club membership or free renewal! 

From one weekend to the next, let's taste some beer!

Just before pouring on Friday - As ready as we will ever be!

This is #beerfest!

This is part of Dayna's costume for Friday. Any guesses on who she is going to be?

The Week I Drank Cider Instead of Beer

An FYI blog by: Dayna Tran (COO & Brewery Captain of Eternity)

Your taste palate is affected by so many things. It can be affected by the food or drink you had up to 24 hours ahead of time! I knew this, but found out again the hard way last week.

Fall is a great time in Michigan for apple picking, corn mazes, and cider and donuts. It seems like most Michiganders like to have the excuse to enjoy cider and donuts in the fall because, well, it’s just that time of year!

For our family, the first sign of fall is Mom making spiced cider in the kitchen. And this year I got a special delivery of it to the bar! I used to dread fall because it meant “Back to School” (Ugh!). But now, I am finally starting to appreciate the colors, the smells, the tastes of fall and was enjoying a lot of hot cider throughout the day (Thanks, Mom!).

Here’s the thing though, last week I just wasn't in the mood for beer. At first I thought I was in a weird mood, but Mike and I started talking about it and realized it was because of my excessive cider consumption! The sweet, tart flavors of the cider were sticking around on my palate and it didn’t matter what beer I tried, hoppy, sweet, Belgian, English, it all tasted “off”. The only thing that sounded good was an Oktoberfest with a splash of spiced cider in it! (I know it sounds crazy, but it is amazing!)

The moral of the story is to be aware that sometimes you may taste a beer and it will seem “off”. Most people will think it just isn’t a good beer and not want to try it again. Don’t be like most people. Think about it and maybe you had some cider earlier that day, maybe you had spicy Indian food for lunch, maybe you have been eating donuts because your co-worker brought a bunch in to celebrate Friday. Your palate isn’t the same as mine, and you may be affected by different foods, so I am curious, am I the only one who has had this change of palate before? Let me know in the comments!

I am totally going to stand up from my computer to get some hot cider. I’m so cold…

Hello fall in Michigan!

Cider and beer. Sometimes a good combination. Seriously. Depends on your palate!

1 Year Anniversary Party Recap

We had a great time last Saturday! So many barrel aged beers to try, so little time. Great food from Hickory BBQ, and great music from Otter River, The Two Hearted, and Watson Street Loft! We will be bringing Bourbon Barrel Aged Barley Rancher Scotch Ale to the Michigan Beer Festival in Detroit this October. Look for it there!

We have a few bits of barrel aged beer left, so watch for it on tap here and at other events! We are so thankful to all of our family and staff that worked so hard to make this party a huge success. We are also excited to have such awesome customers and friends to attend our party!

Our next big party we are looking forward to is our Back to the Future party October 21, 2015. This is no joke; that is the actual date Marty and Doc went to in the future! If you wear Western, 50s, 80s, or a “futuristic” costume to the party you will get a mini “re-hydrated” pizza bite (while supplies last)! Wearing your jeans inside-out is fashionable in the "future"! We will be using this party as a fundraiser for the Howell Opera House, so we encourage you to come “Save the Opera House”! By dressing up, 10% of your bill will go to Save the Opera House! You can also look for Doc Brown's Lightning Smoked Brown on tap that night too! 

More details will pop up on our Facebook event page! Tell us you are “going” with this link: 

https://www.facebook.com/events/1644315505824116/

In the mean time, check out these awesome pictures of the 1 year anniversary party!

Getting ready!

The doors are open!

Hickory BBQ is ready!

Sarah is ready in the tent!

And so is Mike...

1 Year!

#1YearOfEternity

Bands getting ready!

For 1 year I was stranded at Eternity Brewing with only one goal, survive...

And all I got was this lousy t-shirt

Party!

Jenga!

Beautiful day to be outside!

Otter River with The Two Hearted!

Red Eternity shirts behind the bar!

The Two Hearted

Watson Street Loft closed out the night!

1 Year Of Eternity

For 1 year I was stranded at Eternity Brewing with only one goal, survive.

We are coming up one our 1 year anniversary party this Saturday, but today is our actual 1 year anniversary. Some of you may remember the day we opened. (And you probably remember it better than we do because it was quite a whirlwind for us.) We were reminiscing last night about that day. Laughing about it and trying to prepare ourselves for Saturday!

The time has blown by. I think we have been running on adrenalin this whole time.

They say the first year is the hardest. It has been full of late nights, early mornings, and more emails, more phone calls, and more paperwork than we could have ever prepared for. We are still standing though. And we are looking forward to the future. We have a lot of hard work still ahead as we start our distribution program and work on ideas and suggestions that have been generated by us, our team, or our lovely customers.  

All of this would not be possible without you. We love being a part of this community and we have many new friends because of it. We have almost 400 mug club members, and we still meet new smiling faces every day! You are a blessing to us, and we hope, in some small way, to be a blessing to you.

1 year of Eternity. Cheers to many more!

https://youtu.be/2m8JIH_ctIs

(This is our awesome You Tube video created by Troy Hinds for our 1 year celebration party!)

Saturday Sept. 26

5 Barrel Aged Beer Releases!

Bourbon Barrel Aged Snake Staff Stout 6%

Bourbon Barrel Aged Teeko Coffee Stout 6%

Bourbon Barrel Aged Barley Rancher Scotch Ale 8%

Bourbon Barrel Aged Noble Throne 10%

Bourbon Barrel Aged Imperial Complication 11%

First 100 people through the door get a FREE goodie bag!
3 different bands playing through the night! Otter River, The Two Hearted, and Watson Street Loft!
Food catered by Hickory BBQ 4-8pm!

Melon Ale Name Change: A Letter of Explanation

Dear Friends,

Every year in August, downtown Howell is filled with 20,000 people enjoying the all sorts of different festivities all because of a large round fruit. Years ago through careful trial and error August P Schmitt perfected a new hybrid muskmelon that soon became known country wide as our beloved Howell Melon. To honor the 55th year of this festival we have made a brand new melon beer.

We received a call from another brewery’s attorney the other day requesting that we change the name of our Melon FestivAle to avoid receiving a Cease and Desist Order. The name we chose for the melon ale we made in celebration of Howell’s Melon Festival was very close to this other brewery’s name for their melon beer. We did not do this on purpose, nor did we even realize this other beer name existed at the time of naming our product.

We always take a lot of time and consideration with all of our beer names. They all have some kind of meaning behind them and we are always very careful to make sure we don’t step on anybody’s toes. We understand that they need to protect their trademark, and thus, we will change the name of Melon FestivAle to… (drumroll please…)

Howell’s Hoopla Melon Ale!

We are excited to celebrate Howell’s Melon Festival with many activities at the brewery and by adding Howell’s Hoopla Melon Ale to our list! We will release Howell’s Hoopla Melon Ale the day before the melon fest on Thursday August 13^th. 

In celebration of Howell's Melon Festival, we have a Band and BBQ Festival planned for Friday August 14^th! Hickory BBQ will be here from 4-8pm and The Two Hearted are playing from 7:30-10:30! 

We have a Euchre Tournament scheduled for Saturday August 15^th 7-9pm! There is no cost to play, just come have fun being a Michigander! 

Awesome picture of merchandise from the Melon Festival website:

 http://www.howellmelonfestival.com/merchandise-1/

Summer Beer Fest Re-Cap

As members of the Michigan Brewers Guild, we get to participate in their festivals. The Summer Beer Fest in Ypsilanti is very popular and gaining attendance to the point of selling out on BOTH Friday and Saturday this year!

This was our first Summer Beer Fest and we had a lot of fun working on fun beers to bring and getting creative. It was great to hear that our beer was enjoyed by many people. We made a top 20 list, a top 5 list, and we got an "Experimental Beer" award for our Deep Fried Twinkie Ale!

We had a lot of fun making our "Arrow" beer - For 5 Years I was Stranded on an Island with Only One Goal - Survive, an imperial IPA with tropical fruits. We even got an award from the Michigan Brewers Guild for the longest name at Summer Beer Fest 2015 (and possibly ever)! The name of the beer is a quote from Arrow, the TV show on the CW about the comic book hero. We love the show, and the tropical characteristics of the IPA made us think of the island where Green Arrow learns how to survive!

We just wanted to share all of the coverage we got over the weekend at the festival. Enjoy!

Howell Microbrewery Quotes ‘Arrow’ In Name Of Limited Edition Festival Beer 

(For 5 Years...IPA with Tropical Fruit)

http://cwdetroit.cbslocal.com/…/howell-microbrewery-quotes…/

Eternity made this blogger's list + Picture in blog 

(For 5 Years... IPA with Tropical Fruit)

http://www.lifeinmichigan.com/michigan-2015-summer-beer-fe…/

Top 5 from the Michigan Summer Beer Festival (Divas in a Pom Tree - Belgian Tripel with Pomegranate)
http://www.detroitnews.com/story/entertainment/dining/first-draft/2015/07/25/top-5-michigan-summer-beer-festival/30657233/

Michigan Beer Dude Top 10 Beers to try at Summer Beerfest (Deep Fried Twinkie Ale wins Experimental Award)
Radio Show (end of show): https://www.spreaker.com/…/michigan-summer-beer-fest-2015-t…
Blog Post: http://imabeerhound.com/…/summer-beerfest-is-here-and-mi-be…
Slideshow: http://www.mlive.com/…/top_10_beers_you_must_try_at_m.html#0

20 Beers You Should Try At Michigan Brewer's Guild Summer Beerfest (For 5 Years... IPA with Tropical Fruit @ #8)
http://www.imabeerhound.com/…/20-beers-you-should-try-at-su…

33 BEERS TO SAMPLE AT THE 2015 MBG SUMMER BEER FESTIVAL (Deep Fried Twinkie Ale)
http://www.michiganbeerguy.com/ypsi2015/

21 Funny Michigan Beer Names From The 2015 Summer Beer Festival In Ypsilanti (For 5 Years... IPA with Tropical Fruit)
http://cwdetroit.cbslocal.com/…/funny-michigan-beer-names-…/

If anyone wants to try For 5 Years I Was Stranded on an Island with Only One Goal - Survive or have more, we will be releasing it on August 8th for our Superhero Fun-raiser for LACASA! Wear a superhero shirt or costume and 10% of your bill will be donated to support LACASA! Nerd out with us, it's OK, we get it!

Bourbon Barrel Aged Barley Rancher Scotch Ale - (Say that three times fast!)

Once bourbon has finished aging and has been emptied out of its previous home, the barrels themselves need a new home since distilleries only use new barrels to age their bourbon. Breweries age all kinds of beers in these once used bourbon barrels.

Last November at Eternity we began our adventure down this avenue. Five different beers: Imperial Complication, Teeko Coffee Stout, Snake Staff Stout, Barley Rancher Scotch Ale, and Noble Throne Imperial Stout were put into our first barrels. We are releasing our first one to the public for our Christmas Eve in July party: Bourbon Barrel Barley Rancher Scotch Ale. The smooth, malty flavors of our Barley Rancher Scotch Ale have transformed into a warming bourbon, smooth vanilla, and slight oak flavor profile leaving you with the impression it must be Christmas.

Don’t miss your chance to try this delicious treat this Friday, July 24^th! We will also have Barlow’s BBQ in from 5-9 and The Two Hearted playing 7:30-10:30! Merry Christmas in July!

Night Glow Black Lager - A Toast to The Michigan Challenge Balloonfest

The last weekend in June brings around a 32 year old annual tradition in Howell. The Michigan Challenge Balloonfest was founded in 1984 as a competition for hot air balloonists. They try to drop a marker onto a target from the air, aiming for as close to center as possible. This year air shows are being incorporated into the event, adding to the traditional carnival, craft show, and kite stunt shows! This is accompanied by a balloon glow at night in which the balloons fill the whole launch field and get lit up from the propane’s flame. 

To celebrate our town’s tradition we made a new special brew: Night Glow Black Lager! Black Lagers get their dark color from dark malts and other grains used in the brewing process. It isn’t a heavy drink like its color might suggest, but rather a light, crisp flavor. With a touch of sweetness and caramel flavors it’s a great addition to our summer line up of beers!

Michigan Challenge Balloonfest is in One Month!

Howell is famous for the Michigan Challenge Balloonfest, an event put on every year with the Howell Chamber. This year’s event is June 26-28 and we are excited to be a part of it! You see, we are sponsoring the balloon Sunrise! This is a local favorite and we couldn’t be happier!

Throughout the week of balloonfest we are going to have some fun things planned! First of all, we made a special beer for the event, Night Glow Black Lager. It is lagering right now as I type. (Definition of Lagering: Cold storage, effectively for a beer to clear up and provide time for the flavors to meld together appropriately.) Night Glow will be released the Thursday before the balloonfest (Mug Club members will probably get a taste of it before then even!).

We are going to have two different Beer ‘n Brushes sessions to paint the Sunrise balloon (or whatever other balloon your heart desires) on canvas. The Ceramic Studio etc  has been coming down to help us paint wonderful things ever since we opened and now we get to paint this beautiful balloon! The two sign ups are Thursday, June 25 and Sunday, June 28.

Oh, and did we mention Barlow’s BBQ will be coming in Saturday? BBQ sold in house! Their meat is tender and smoky how it should be, and the sauces kick! We are also particularly fond of their coleslaw, which is so very different than any other.

Howell has a few professional balloonists right in town and thus we had the opportunity to meet the balloonists of Marti. Dayna got to go on a hot air balloon ride with them! Check out the footage!

We are excited for the Balloonfest! Are you?! What are you looking forward to the most?! 

Video Upload:  Automatic Video Creation from my Phone!

Dayna Selfie in the Basket

Mike helping get Marti off the ground

You can’t stop the change any more than you can stop the suns from setting.

(The first person to reply with what the title quote is from gets a gold star!)

It is interesting to me that people taste a beer once and decide they don’t like it and will never try it again. As brewers, we are constantly tasting our own offerings and tweaking recipes to make it the best beer possible. As a new business, we are settling into our new equipment and adjusting things like hop and malt additions to even our mainstay beers to balance characteristics to make the best beer we know how.

Not only are most brewers (I know we are not the only ones tweaking our recipes) changing things up over time, but the beer tasters themselves are changing as well. I have noticed that I used to love fresh onions as a kid, and now I can’t stand them.  I used to hate grapefruit and now I eat it all the time! (I even used to hate broccoli and now… well, no, I still hate broccoli…)

I guess this little lecture is trying to encourage you to try a beer you decided you didn’t like last year again this year and the year after that. Your tastes buds are changing and so is that beer. You might be pleasantly surprised! It is also to encourage you to not look at beer reviews from 5 years ago and assume the beer is still going to taste that way. For good or for bad, the beer will have changed over time and that person that did the review might taste things differently than you too! Beer flavor depends on so many factors, the cleanliness of the glass, of the lines, the age of the keg/can/bottle, and even if you ate spicey or acidic food 5 hours prior to drinking that beer! 

People change over time, so it seems reasonable that your beer can too. Don’t be shy, give it another try!

Covenant Wheat - You asked for it and It's back!

Michigan has finally hit one of my favorite times of year: the thaw after months of frozen air and frost covered cars. Heat has returned and with it comes the time to switch to the classic spring beer styles. We are heading away from the dark and heavy comfort of porters and stouts into the lighter drinks, and one my personal favorites. Wheat beer has a few different variations ranging from the German origin Hefeweizen to the Dutch Witbier. Many common wheat beer varieties have hints of fruit flavor to them, a nod to the season.

Here at Eternity our take on the wheat beer style is called ‘Covenant Wheat’. It’s a crisp beer with banana and clove flavors shining through. It was a crowd (and staff) favorite the first time around so we just had to bring it back. Smells like spring.

Euchre Tournament Re-Cap! (Sat. Mar. 28 is our next one...)

If you grew up in Michigan you know how to play Euchre, or may have been chided for not knowing how to play. This 150 year old card game is a staple in this state and we have now brought this past time to Eternity! Last month we hosted a Euchre tournament one Saturday afternoon bringing in whole families, couples and people off on their own to join in. We had full tables and everyone had so much fun with the 10 minute timed rounds and random play that makes you meet everyone there in a hurry! It rounded out with a couple lucky winners (individual play means there can be ties!) and it went over so well we had people asking us when the next one would be while they were walking out the door! 

Don’t miss out this month on the 28th from 3-5p or next month on April 18th from 3-5pm.

6 months. {:-O

We opened our doors September 23, 2014. It has been almost 6 months now! (and even longer since my last blog.) I was inspired by a mug club member to start writing again. I hope I can keep up with it now…

People come in they ask how business is going. I can’t count how many times we have answered that question. The truth is most people still don’t know we exist. We are tucked away in the corner of this shopping center and even with the giant sign a lot of people don’t see us. That being said, we already have a lot of mug club members (over 260 now!) and regulars who we love seeing every time they come in. We worked on the business for 3.5 years, so we are really doing just about what we predicted we would be doing at this point (which is comforting since we are engineers and like to plan with no surprises!).

Then after we answer the question of how is business doing, we also get people asking if we are happy we opened. No doubt, we are tired a lot the time, but it is all worth it. We love what we are doing. We love brewing, planning events, enjoying time with everyone coming in. It is exactly what we pictured and life is good.

Other business owners told us to prepare for little sleep. There isn’t really a way to prepare for that. It just kind of happens. To pay the bills, Mike still has his engineering job for probably a few years. He goes to work in the morning, comes home to the brewery and continues on with whatever work needs to be done here. I (Dayna) am full time here. I am generally the one doing the brewing starting in the morning or taking care of planning and inventory.

We are proud of our entire staff for sticking with us and helping us adjust each day to new processes to keep this place running as smooth as possible. Our staff gets to have a lot of input into the operations here and that makes the brewery fun and ensures we are constantly improving.  

I remember telling my parents when I was a kid that I wanted a job where I didn't have to do the same thing every day. Well, I finally found it, where I belong. 

 Mug Club Mug - A common sighting around here these days!

Us

Our first day - Hop Bine Cutting (instead of a ribbon)