Lake Charlevoix Brewing Company Opens In Time for Summer Season

Downtown Charlevoix is adding to its ever growing craft beer scene with the opening June 1 of the Lake Charlevoix Brewing Company.

Located at 111 Bridge Park Drive (in the south end of the building which houses the Keweenaw Star and Beaver Island Boat Company), the 1200-square-foot pub overlooks Round Lake and offers 60 inside seats and an additional 50 in the outside Beer Garden.

Lake Charlevoix Brewing Company is owned by Rich Bergmann, Adam Engelman, Aaron Hagen and Phil Parr – collectively known as The Round Lake Group LLC and is a sister property of the Bridge Street Tap Room, which opened in the adjacent building last summer.

The brewery’s 5-barrel system, purchased from Psycho Brew in Greenville, was fabricated entirely in Michigan from all American stainless steel.

“It was extremely important for us to make our investment in a company that is rooted in Michigan and utilizes American made stainless steel,” says Bergmann. “Equipment of this caliber helps us to brew beer of the utmost quality.”

The brewing team of Hagen, Parr, Evan Keller and Tanner DePriest regularly craft a variety of beer styles currently including Michigan Beach Blondie (5.1% ABV | 15 IBU) – a light bodied, easy drinking blonde with slight malty taste and aspects of a lager on the end; and Up North Pale Ale (5.8% ABV | 60 IBUs) – an IPA with citrus notes on the nose with a sweet hoppy backing.

The team will also work closely with breweries around the state for a series of collaboration beers. The first, Lake Charlevoix Sunrise, is a Grapefruit Saison made in collaboration with Our Brewing in Holland.

“We feel that collaboration beers are a fantastic way to build relationships between ourselves and other breweries,” says Engelman. “It also allows our brewing team to learn from some of the best in the industry.”

DePriest, who received a degree from the University of Michigan in Environmental Studies, manages the brewery’s environmental sustainability practices.

“The brewing process is very water intensive and we aim to offset this hurdle by repurposing and recycling all of our greywater” says DePriest, “Being as sustainable as possible isn’t just our passion; we feel it is our responsibility.”

The brewery also donates their spent grain to local farmers for use as feed and compost.

In addition to beer, a selection of wine and spirits is also served. The pub food menu features everything from shrimp cocktail, grilled panini sandwiches, and wraps to the area’s best tacos, quesadillas, and the unique Liquor Store Nachos.

Live entertainment will be hosted on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, from 4 to 7pm in the Beer Garden and will feature some of the area’s top musicians.

“We couldn’t be happier to be opening our doors in such a beautiful community,” says Bergmann, “Much like our sister property, the Bridge Street Tap Room, we’re very proud to add another year round destination to downtown Charlevoix.”

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