Tastemakers; FEAST MARKET & CAFE/ BUDWEISER AMERICAN ALE

Feast Market & Café

These next 30 days in Northern Michigan are my favorite. As the colors change and harvest happens at the wineries, apple orchards and pumpkin patches, this is a great time to tour around our wonderful region. My itinerary always includes a stop in downtown Petoskey. The array of locally-owned shops and eateries and the stunning views of Lake Michigan as a backdrop make Petoskey one of the most sought-after destinations in Michigan year round.
Last year while exploring what was new in Petoskey, I came across Feast Market & Café and immediately fell in love with this contemporary version of the old school deli. Owned by Sarah and Scott Schomak, Feast offers an eclectic menu that may be enjoyed at the café or for take out to the office or home. Petoskey has a nice waterfront park and on a fall afternoon, enjoy a picnic with sandwiches from Feast while over looking Little Traverse Bay and fall colors along the Harbor Springs shoreline.
Feast opened about 18 months ago and has quickly earned a reputation for its quality of service and product. I enjoyed the Thai Beef Wrap with the spicy peanut sauce and my wife had the Latin Salad. One of the secrets to Feast’s success is their use of bread from Crooked Tree Breadworks, also in Petoskey.
Feast also offers all sorts of gourmet goods to create gift baskets for the coming holiday season. Be sure to include Feast Market & Café in your itinerary during your color tour this fall.


Budweiser American Ale


Anheuser-Busch (AB), with their flagship brand, has entered the craftbrew world with the launching of their Budweiser American Ale this week. Okay, there is going to be some cynicism out there with this one. Craftbrew purists are going to ask: is Budweiser using their popular brand and industry clout to lure those new to craftbeers into some sort of “macro” version of a handcrafted style ale? Or is the company concerned that with its recent sale to a foreign company, that its loyalists will abandon ship? Will launching the American Ale reinforce itself with that all-American beer drinker Bud has enjoyed as a customer for years?
The answer on all accounts is no. American Ale is not some sort of marketing gimmick – it is a damn good beer that is going to help this iconic macro-brewer pour some life into stagnate beer sales. American Ale has been in the works for years, long before AB sold to Belgium based In-Bev a couple of months ago. AB has bought microbreweries in the past and even made a few craftbrew style beers (not under their flagship brand) as well.
Look, you don’t have 50% of the beer sales in America if you don’t know how to make beer. The brewmasters at AB are among the best in the world, and those of us who write about beer have been afforded opportunities to taste some of their experiments; there isn’t a craftbrewery in his or her right mind who would turn their back on having an AB brewmaster work in their brewhouse.
I was sent a bottle of American Ale in early June after I missed a private tasting in May at their St. Louis brewery. American Ale was still in the experimental stages, but I was impressed with the flavor and drinkability. A few weeks back I was afforded the opportunity of a pre-tasting of the final version of American Ale and believe that AB has hit a home run.
While the beer is lighter in style then the benchmark for an American amber, it is a balanced craftbrew (not over hopped) with a nutty malt, forward mouth-feel and a light hop finish. AB took a gamble by attaching a craftbrew to its flagship Budweiser brand, but this will be a gamble that will pay off as both loyal Bud drinkers looking to explore the craftbrew world will venture over, and those of us already in the craftbrew world will certainly raise up a few bottles of American Ale and toast Budweiser for remaining the “King of Beers.” View On Our Website