Grizzly Peak celebrates 20 years of beer and influence

ANN ARBOR – When Grizzly Peak Brewing Co. opened in August 1995, it was just one of seven breweries in Michigan (including nearby Arbor Brewing Co., which opened one month earlier). Two decades later, as Michigan prepares to exceed 200 breweries, the state’s top-selling brewpub is celebrating its 20th anniversary with a hopped-up new beer, XX Pale Ale, brewed on June 25.

“We used the same amount of grain and hops as we use for a normal 14-barrel batch of our house pale ale, but we’re brewing only seven barrels, effectively creating a concentrated version,” explained Duncan Williams, head brewer. “It will be an extra strength pale ale, really malty and hoppy, coming out at around 7.5% ABV.”

Williams was joined in brewing the beer by a number of notable former Grizzly Peak brewers, including Sean Brennan of Original Gravity Brewing in Milan; Nathan Hukill, founder of Bitter Old Fecker Rustic Ales in Chelsea; Tim Schmidt, co-founder of Tecumseh Brewing Co. in Tecumseh; and Oliver Roberts,

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