Alpha Michigan Brewing Company

The Alpha Michigan Brewing Company (AMBC) is a nanobrewery in the village of Alpha in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

Alpha Michigan Brewing Company's logo

History

The Alpha Michigan Brewing Company opened in May 2018.[1][2][3] The business was started by Stu and Julie Creel. When it first opened, the brewery was owned by Mike and Mary Bjork, both from Alpha, and Stu and Julie Creel from nearby Crystal Falls.[4] The establishment describes Alpha as "the smallest village in America with a brewery".[5] In 2019, the brewery ran out of beer after above-normal sales during the US Independence Day holiday.[3]

The brewery's beer names are all related to Alpha, its former Porter school, nearby Mastodon Township, or Iron County, the county of Alpha and Mastodon Township.[1] Its business is also heavily locally focused. Its barley, oats, and some of its hops come from local farms, at least one of which is less than 1 mile (1.6 km) away, and as of 2018, it donates a portion of its net sales to charitable organizations during fundraisers. .[4] For example, during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, the brewery donated US$200 plus 20% of their Saturday beer sales to three nearby St. Vincent de Paul locations.[6] In early 2021, the brewery added outdoor heated tents to expand its COVID-appropriate seating. The funds to purchase them came from a Michigan weatherization grant program.[7] In the following year, the company hosted an "Ice Bowl" winter disc golf competition to benefit a local food bank,[8] and brewed a pilsner beer to support Ukraine during the Russian invasion of that country.[9]

Location

The brewery is at 303 E. Center St. in a former bus garage that is attached to Alpha's long-closed George F. Porter Public School.[4] The school building is listed on the US National Register of Historic Places as part of the Alpha Public Buildings Historic Complex, all on a single block.[10] The Porter School was last used as a school in 1967 and sold by the village in 2005.[11]

The interior of the taproom was partially constructed from secondhand materials gathered from around the village. Its bar was previously used for a buffet at the Alpha Inn and at the Alpha Veterans of Foreign Wars, changing hands when the locations closed, and a pew from the shuttered St. Edwards Catholic Church in Alpha is part of the brewery's available seats.[4]

See also

Endnotes
  1. Naspretto, Alicia (June 4, 2018). "Alpha Brewing Company now open". Upper Michigan's Source. Negaunee, Michigan: WLUC-TV.
  2. Callahan, Dan (May 25, 2018). "Grand opening of a small town brewery in Iron County". ABC10UP. Ishpeming, Michigan: WBUP-TV.
  3. Jawor, Alyssa (July 9, 2019). "Alpha Michigan Brewing Company runs out of beer". Upper Michigan's Source. Negaunee, Michigan: WLUC-TV.
  4. Proudfit, Theresa (August 27, 2018). "'We brew with a purpose': Alpha Michigan Brewing Company keeps the community in its beers". The Daily News. Iron Mountain, Michigan. Archived from the original on November 28, 2021.
  5. "Alpha Michigan Brewing Company". Alpha Michigan Brewing Company. Retrieved May 17, 2020.
  6. Jawor, Alyssa (May 13, 2020). "Alpha Michigan Brewing Co. to donate some beer proceeds to area St. Vincent de Paul pantries". Upper Michigan's Source. Negaunee, Michigan: WLUC-TV.
  7. Jawor, Alyssa (January 6, 2021). "Alpha Michigan Brewing Company adds igloo tents for outdoor seating". Upper Michigan's Source. Negaunee, Michigan: WLUC-TV.
  8. Price, Matt (March 11, 2022). "Alpha holds its first-ever Ice Bowl disc golf tournament". Upper Michigan's Source. Negaunee, Michigan: WLUC-TV.
  9. Giachino, Annette (March 11, 2022). "Iron County brewery taking a stand against Russia". Upper Michigan's Source. Negaunee, Michigan: WLUC-TV.
  10. "Alpha Public Buildings Historic Complex". Historic Sites Online. Michigan State Housing Development Authority. Archived from the original on December 26, 2013. Retrieved January 21, 2012.
  11. "History". Mastodon Township. Archived from the original on January 29, 2013. Retrieved January 31, 2012.

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