MLive’s Beer of the Year is a tribute to Mackinac history

Brewed for a very special birthday celebration, Biere de Mac’s Fleur de Mac is a bit of local history in a glass. A delicious, traditional blonde French and Belgium-inspired ale, it is Michigan’s Best pick for Beer of the Year for 2020.

“It’s a real honor, I’m shocked,” said Biere de Mac’s manager Danny Ranville when we called to tell him the news. “There’s a lot of really good beer out there. We are really honored.”

The brewery collaborated with Mackinac State Historic Parks to create this beer to help celebrate the park’s 125 anniversary. Biére de Mac is located right in Mackinaw City, and is well versed in the history of the area. When approached by Craig Wilson, Mackinac State Parks curator of history and a mug club member at the brewery, with the idea of collaborating on a beer to celebrate the 125th birthday of the parks, owner George Ranville was all in.

We surprised Danny Ranville and Dominick Miller, chief of marketing for the parks, with a video call letting them know of our selection. You can watch our reveal below.

“That is awesome,” Miller said upon hearing the news. “We’re not in the beer-making business here at MSHP, so just to be a little part of that. ... We are so lucky to have right here in Mackinaw City a place as cool as Biere de Mac.”

It was a year like no other, but one thing that didn’t change was our love for Michigan craft beers. Although we didn’t belly up to many brewery’s bars, we did still taste a lot of beers, sharing our finds with each other by doing porch drops throughout the shutdowns. We each came up with a list of our Top 10 Michigan beers from 2020 on our own, and then compared notes. Fleur de Mac was our one match, and after some discussion, we decided it was a natural fit for Beer of the Year.

Amy’s Top 10 Michigan Beers

Gonzo’s Top 10 Michigan Beers

We love that Fleur de Mac came about as a collaboration between two places that might not normally work together. We thought it was a unique, yet totally fitting way, to honor a special event for the parks. We loved the historical aspect behind the beer, and how it honors the history of the Mackinac Straits area while being a modern craft brew. And we just love how it tastes.

The Fleur de Mac beer is a classic French style called a Biére de Garde. Not a style you’ll find at most breweries, but one that speaks specifically to the history of the area.

“Beer and alcohol have roots historically in the fort, especially here in Mackinaw City,” Miller said, referencing Fort Michilimackinac “It’s always been here, it’s always been part of the daily life. The French style beer, and this was built as a French fort. (The collaboration) just came together so, so well. And then when we went to try it, holy smokes, not only is this just a cool thing, it’s a really good beer.”

“It’s a pretty well-thought-out beer,” Danny Ranville said. “We knew that we wanted it to be complex and interesting, and hold the stamp of our French Belgium roots, which the history coincides very well with the fort.”

Brewer Matt Peters did a lot of research to come up with this beer. “French Belgium styles are kind of what we do here,” Peters said earlier this past summer. “We researched many historical styles and felt like that was something where we could really do it justice, something where we were really good enough at where we were going to give the parks something of the quality that we thought that this type of event deserved.”

Fleur de Mac is a complex, golden-colored flavor bomb that drinks like a traditional Belgium style. It’s delicious, with distinct notes from that yeast. Yes, it’s got notes of banana, but they are nicely balanced with the malt and the hint of hops going on in your glass.

“It’s a really interesting blonde Biére de Garde,” Peters said. “It’s composed of European grains, and a French Belgian yeast, and a lovely bouquet of Americanized versions of traditional European hops that provide the floral and fruity aromas.”

“In a blonde Biére de Garde you’re looking for a little bit of bready, maybe toast or cracker,” said Peters. “But then the real array of flavors come from the yeast, and it’s esters, that banana, and the phenols, that pepper and clove-y spice to it.”

Amy's top 10 beers of 2020 — Biere De Mac's Fleur De Mac was an inspired collaboration between the brewery and Mackinac State Historic Parks.

In addition to our subjective selection of beer of the year, we also wanted to see what you, our readers would select as your choice. So after coming up with our Top 10 lists, we asked readers to vote for their favorite beers on our list, or to write in the beers that they loved in 2021.

Rising to the top of that list was Rake Beer Project’s Grave Hop, a dark wild saison brewed with blackberries and raspberries. Excellent choice, MLive readers. This ale is bright, yet complex, and fruity without losing the beer. It has a lovely sour note and was probably the craziest beer I had all year, and I loved it. Grave Hop can claim the title of Reader’s Choice for 2020.

MLive Beer of the Year 2020 — A flight of beer from Biere de Mac.

Fleur de Mac was the only beer that we both had on our lists. Here’s what Gonzo had to say about Fleur de Mac from his Top 10 list:

“On our first road trip after the first shutdown, Amy Sherman and I selected Fleur de Mac as our Beer of the Week in late July. A beer from Biere de Mac Brew Works to celebrate the 125th anniversary of Mackinac State Historic Parks, we loved the concept of collaboration between a brewery and a state park. On first sip we realized it was more than a gimmick. Known for their Belgium beers, the brewers made a traditional blonde Biére de Garde by using European grains and a French Belgian yeast. The result? Floral, fruity aromas and subtle spice on taste with a dry finish. (8.8% ABV). Let’s hope they make it again.”

Michigan's Best Burger — The Biére de Mac Mushroom Lovers burger is a complete umami bomb, and that is a good thing.

In addition to beer, food is a focus at the brewery, with a diverse menu that features gourmet burgers. Biére de Mac uses a special proprietary blend of beef for the burgers, a mix that the staff blind taste tests against other blends every single summer. This current version has been the winner for four years now. The beef comes out juicy, with a great beefy flavor. Not a meat eater? Any burger can be subbed out with the vegan Impossible Burger if you’d like.

The burgers are pretty incredible, two-handers that feature a plethora of toppings. The Jalapeno Popper burger comes totally loaded with thick cut deep fried onion rings, fried jalapeno chips, and green chile cream cheese for a spicy offering that is quite a sight to behold.

The Mushroom Lovers is a totally delicious umami bomb, and one of the best mushroom burgers we’ve ever tried. Topped with seared cremini and shitake mushrooms, and smothered in a rich Gruyere cheese, its flavor is incredible.

Other options on the menu include some tasty nachos that feature green chiles and slow roasted pork, house made dirty potato chips topped with roast chicken, bacon, green onions and blue cheese, salads, sandwiches and a top notch macaroni and cheese.

The brewery recently opened up their outdoor patio with some winterized additions, and they are ready to welcome you. “If you want to come hang out up here in the wintertime, you can, we’re up here,” Ranville said. “We’ve got 150 full excuses in the cooler for you to come up and drink sometime” referencing all the kegs they have right now due to the current restaurant shut down. “You can grab a red solo cup, and sit outside by the bonfire.”

“Overall it’s been a really, really fun experience,” Ranville said of the collaboration. “I think I speak for everybody when I say it was a really fun project to do, and we really enjoyed it. We are over the moon with how the beer came out.”

Although the plan was originally to just brew it in 2020 for the anniversary, it’s proved so popular that even prior to us naming it Beer of the Year, the Biere de Mac crew decided that they would continue making it. So if you missed it this summer, you now have plenty of time to head to the Straits and get this delicious bit of history.

“We’ll try like hell to not run out of it,” Ranville said. “It’s on tap right now, and I’ve got a full batch in the brite tanks. I’ve got enough to keep everybody satisfied.”