HOMES Brewpub
Owner and Co-Founder Tommy Kennedy
Ann Arbor has one of Michigan's most vibrant craft beer scenes, where hopheads, lager lovers, and curious newcomers all find a seat at the bar. Each brewery tells a different story about this town: its creativity, its community, and its insistence on doing things well. Pull up a stool and get to know the brewers at the heart of this dynamic scene.
What does the Ann Arbor community mean to your operation?
HOMES exists because of Ann Arbor. This community values creativity, quality, and authenticity — and it shows up for the people and places that reflect that. There’s a rare mix here of intellectual curiosity, entrepreneurial energy, and a real appreciation for craft. It’s a place where you can push boundaries, and people are excited to go on the journey with you.
How would you describe your brewing philosophy — what principles guide every batch you make?
Our head brewer since day one, Nick Panchame, has led this. At its core, it’s a progression of culinary expression intended to surprise our guests. The goal is to constantly raise the bar while staying grounded in drinkability.
What's one beer on your current menu that you're especially proud of, and what's the story behind it?
It has to be Same Same Different IPA. It was the first beer we ever brewed and is still our most popular. We’ve used it as a platform to evolve our processes and ingredients over time, while always keeping the same three hops — Citra, Simcoe, and Mosaic. After nine years of serving it exclusively in-house, we’re finally launching distribution across Michigan this spring. We’re excited to get it into more people’s hands.
What do you think sets your brewery apart?
We think about the experience holistically. The beer matters, but so does the food, the service, the design, the energy of the space, and how people feel when they’re there. We want it to feel like a place you can come for anything — a casual drink, a celebration, a creative meeting, or just a reset after a long day. It’s less about being a brewery and more about being a place to gather in community.
What do you hope a first-time visitor walks away feeling after their visit?
Seen, welcomed, and pleasantly surprised. If someone leaves excited to come back and recommend us to others, we’ve done our job.
Mothfire Brewing Co.
Head Brewer Alexis Jorgensen
Are there any local or regional ingredients that make their way into your beers? How does the place show up in the pint?
Being a part of the Michigan beer scene is something special. Michigan has so much to offer. We grow some of the best hops and we have excellent grain. One of the special parts of Mothfire is that we want to create a social bonfire. We want to be part of the community, give back, and draw the community to us. That encompasses using local ingredients. We get malt from Great Lakes Malting based out of Traverse City, and we get hops from Top Hops Farm in Goodrich. It’s amazing to curate relationships with these businesses. In the last year, I was able to visit and check out both facilities and see the hard work that goes into producing the top-notch ingredients that we use in our beers.
What does the Ann Arbor community mean to your operation?
I am truly fortunate to be a part of Mothfire, and Mothfire is truly fortunate to be part of Ann Arbor. To have a brewery here, that can give back to the community, is amazing.
Bløm Mead + Cider
Co-owner Lauren Bloom
What principles guide every batch you make?
The seasons, the soil, the farmers. Rather than coming up with recipes and then going out to order those ingredients, we flip the process. We reach out to farmers and find out what's growing well this year and build our recipes from that information. We focus on dry, carbonated, refreshing ciders and meads, where the fruit and other ingredients really shine through.
What's one brew that you're especially proud of?
Our small batch Paw Paw Sour Mead. The Paw Paw is a native fruit that has an incredibly tropical flavor — almost like a cross between a mango and a banana. That mead is a great segue to talk about the Michigan ingredients we use to achieve some unique flavors.
Arbor Brewing Company
Head Brewer Chris Davies
What first drew you to brewing?
It’s a pretty classic answer, but after a rookie season of homebrewing I was hooked. Taking beer's raw ingredients and turning them into something delicious, refreshing, and new — it was very exciting.
What's the one beer you always recommend to someone who walks in and says they "don't usually like beer"?
Our Strawberry Blonde often works for that customer. It has a rich malt character, not a lot of bitterness; it has fruit, but we don’t let it steal the show. To top it off, the beer is 7 percent ABV, so it has a little more oomph, too.
Grizzly Peak
Head Brewer Duncan Williams
How would you describe your brewing philosophy?
My personal philosophy is simple: very traditional. English style beers on hand pull, traditional European lagers — I make what I like to call “beer-flavored beer.”
What's one beer on your current menu that you're especially proud of?
We just opened a new concept called The Ranch. Sort of a country bar honky-tonk. The owners wanted to make a light beer that we could sell. It was kind of fun coming up with the recipe for Blue Collar and getting it just right. A little challenging brewing something with a very light flavor, which is kind of the opposite of what we do here.