LAKE ORION >> 51 North Brewery has only been open in Lake Orion for 15 months, but the business just won a gold medal in the World Beer Cup for its English brown ale.
Describing it as the “Olympics for the brewing industry,” the company at 51 N. Broadway entered four beers in the biennial contest, said Don Gindhart, owner and manger of the brewery.
Fourth thousand breweries worldwide participated and judging took place earlier this month in Denver.
“For a little tiny brewery winning the World Cup is like the Jamaican bobsled team,” he said, referring to the underdog 1988 Winter Olympic squad chronicled in the film “Cool Runnings.”
51 North, a 4,700-square-foot microbrewery, serves six core beers as well as seasonal beers crafted throughout the year by brewer Adam Beratta, 38, of Davison. The English brown ale known as Wind Walker Brown was one of the brewery’s original items when it opened in January 2013.
“We beat a number of English breweries with our English-style brown ale,” said Gindhart, 52, of Troy. “Our brown beer isn’t sexy, it’s just perfect.”
Beratta, who has been in the industry for six years, started brewing beer in his home in the late 1990s as a hobby. When he was laid off from his factory job, he stepped into his first assistant brewer position at Redwood Lodge in Flint and then became the head brewer at Great Baraboo in Clinton Township.
The brewmaster since 51 North Brewery opened downtown, he was at the Denver convention, when his winning beer was announced. But it took a few minutes to register, he said.
“The excitement of not only getting a medal but taking gold in front of my peers was unbelievable,” he said. “It’s my passion. I really love what I do.”
Beratta develops all the beers for the business. His trick to crafting a good brew is having the right balance between bitter and sweet flavors and adding the hops at just the right time, he said.
51 North Brewery has won awards in state events, but this is its first World Beer Cup medal. Two other Michigan breweries won gold: Saugatuck Brewing Co. in Douglas, which won in the American brown ale category for its Bonfire Brown and Founders Brewing Co. in Grand Rapids, which won in the herb and spice beer category for its Mango Magnifico con Calor.
Besides beer, the local brewery makes wine and mead, which is wine made with honey, on the premises and has a lunch and dinner menu.
For more information, go to www.51northbrewing.com.
