About the Book
Follow Yooper Ale Trails to visit the 29 unique craft breweries and brewpubs of Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Choose from among eight different Ale Trails for your personal journey. Explore the backstories of the breweries, brewers and owners, along with tasting notes on each brewery's most popular beers. Mikel B. Classen and Jon C. Stott, award-winning authors of travel books, provide expert guidance for both craft beer aficionados and tourists to enjoy one of 170 locally-brewed lagers or ales after visiting the many scenic wonders of the U.P.:
Tours are arranged geographically from the shores of Lake Huron, across the north of the peninsula close to Lake Superior and then east from the Wisconsin border to the shores of Lake Michigan.
Short essays on each brewery introduce you to the brewer's, the places their beers are served and the flavors of the beers themselves.
Complete contact details about each brewery and their available services (food, off-sales, accessibility, etc.), descriptions of beer styles with examples from UP breweries and a glossary of brewing terms.
Road maps for each ale trail and photographs of each establishment, making the breweries easy to find
"Cheers to the Yooper Ale Trail! Jon's book is a fun and easy way to get a close and detailed offering from each brewery. The beer tastings are the heart of the book, and you will readily see how much Jon enjoyed each and every visit. After reading this book, you will want to make your own journey!" -- Lark Carlyle Ludlow, Owner and Brewster Tahquamenon Falls Brewery & Pub
"Jon C. Stott's Yooper Ale Trails breaks down trips across the peninsula into easily traveled trails so that readers can take their time and enjoy the offerings of each one. Many of these breweries are outstanding restaurants with varied and interesting menus. It seems that in the U.P., all roads lead to beer, and Jon Stott hits these places on all cylinders, providing backgrounds, histories and recommendations for a complete and in-depth guide to U.P. beer. Whether you are a hophead, foodie or sightseer, this is an essential book for your travel library." -Mikel B. Classen, author of Points North: Discover Hidden Campgrounds, Natural Wonders and Waterways of the Upper Peninsula and recipient of the Charles Follo U.P. History Award
"One of the distinct charms of Jon Stott's writing is his refusal to fall into the formulaic molds of beer tourism books. If you'd like to check out the superb local ales and breweries that have sprung up in the vast expanse of Michigan's Upper Peninsula, this fine book is an absolute necessity." --Michael Carrier, MA NYU and author of 15 U.P. Jack Handler mysteries
From Modern History Press www.ModernHistoryPress.com
About the Author :
Jon C. Stott (Professor Emeritus of English, University of Alberta) has spent extended summers in the Upper Peninsula for over half a century. He is the author of five beer travel guides, including the award-winning Island Craft: Your Guide to the Breweries of Vancouver Island, as well as two other books about Michigan's Upper Peninsula: Paul Bunyan in Michigan: Yooper Logging, Lore, & Legends and Summers at the Lake: Upper Michigan Moments and Memories. He spends the cold, snowy months in Albuquerque, New Mexico. His beer blog www.beerquestwest.com includes frequent updates on the breweries he has visited. Mikel B. Classen has been writing and photographing northern Michigan in newspapers and magazines for over thirty-five years, creating feature articles about the life and culture of Michigan's north country. A journalist, historian, photographer and author with a fascination of the world around him, he enjoys researching and writing about lost stories from the past. He is the founder of the U.P. Reader and is a member of the Board of Directors for the Upper Peninsula Publishers and Authors Association. In 2020, Mikel won the Historical Society of Michigan's, George Follo Award for Upper Peninsula History. Classen makes his home in the oldest city in Michigan, historic Sault Ste. Marie. He is also a collector of out-of-print history books, and historical photographs and prints of Upper Michigan. At Northern Michigan University, he studied English, history, journalism and photography. He spent several years living in Grand Marais, MI. While there, he worked at the Lake Superior Brewing Company where he became acquainted with the brewing process of beer. The LSBC was in its early stages and Mikel was able to witness not only its growing process, but that of the beginning of the revival of Upper Peninsula brewing. Learning the ins and outs of stouts, browns, ambers, ESBs, pale ales, and wheats has made Classen perfect for a book like Yooper Ale Trails. He enjoys drinking the stuff too.Mikel's other books include a short story fiction called Lake Superior Tales, which won the 2020 U.P. Notable Book Award. Points North is a non-fiction travel book published in 2019 that received the Historical Society of Michigan's, "Outstanding Michigan History Publication," along with the 2021 U.P. Notable Book Award. Since then, he has released, True Tales, the Forgotten History of Michigan's Upper Peninsula, and the newest release is Faces, Places, & Days Gone By, a Pictorial History of Michigan's Upper Peninsula, published by Modern History Press. To learn more about Mikel B. Classen and to see more of his work, go to his website at mikelbclassen.com
Review :
"Cheers to the Yooper Ale Trail! Jon's book is a fun and easy way to get a close and detailed offering from each brewery-its beers, brewers, owners and history. The tasting of the beers is the heart of the book, and you will readily see how much Jon enjoyed each and every visit. After reading Yooper Ale Trails, you will want to make your own journey. Remember, you will be passing through one of the most beautiful regions of our country as you experience the many fresh brews we offer to our visitors. Cheers!" -Lark Carlyle Ludlow, Owner and Brewster Tahquamenon Falls Brewery & Pub
"Jon C. Stott's Yooper Ale Trails could easily be retitled Fun with Beer! This compendium of U.P. breweries breaks down trips across the peninsula into easily travelled trails so that readers can take their time and enjoy the offerings of each one. Many of these breweries are outstanding restaurants with varied and interesting menus - I know, I've tried many of them. It seems that in the U.P., all roads lead to beer, and Jon Stott hits these places on all cylinders, providing backgrounds, histories and recommendations for a complete and in-depth guide to U.P. beer. Whether you are a hophead, foodie or sightseer, this is an essential book for your travel library." -Mikel B. Classen, author of Points North: Discover Hidden Campgrounds, Natural Wonders and Waterways of the Upper Peninsula and recipient of the Charles Follo U.P. History Award
"In this charming book, Jon C. Stott not only provides his readers with a very readable history of the 29 independent brew-eries that are scattered throughout Michigan's Upper Peninsula, but he also presents these stories in such an engaging fashion that I predict it will serve U.P. visitors as a guidebook for a new 'Summer Game.' It would not surprise me, in fact, if hundreds (perhaps thousands?) of ale lovers from all over the country were to begin retracing Stott's steps. Great job, Jon!" -Michael Carrier, MA NYU and author of 15 U.P. Jack Handler mysteries
"Jon C. Stott has done a meticulous job of supplying the craft beer lover with everything they would want to know about U.P. craft breweries and brewpubs. As of the writing of this book, there are 29 such breweries north of the Straits. The author presents each brewery with a 2 or 3-page essay that includes a short history, a conversation with the owner, presents a feel of the bar, and describes the brewery's signature beers. Each entry includes a photograph, address, phone number, and both the website and Facebook addresses. What makes the book totally unique are the appendices. There is a list of breweries and brewpubs by location. Following that is a listing of each brewery with its production by number of barrels, its flagship beers are named, followed by a core list of all beers produced, and its distribution area. Next is a several-page essay on how beer is brewed. There is yet another appendix on a guide to beer styles and which U.P. breweries offer which styles. There is also a glossary of brewing terms and an annotated list of books about beer. It made me thirsty reading the book." -- Tom Powers, Michigan In Books
