Category Archives: Michigan

From Paper to Beer: The Mill At Vicksburg

“Sooner or later, everything old is new again” wrote Stephen King, in his novel The Colorado Kid in 2005. He might have well said it as he gazed upon the restoration of the Mill at Vicksburg in 2021.

Lee Paper Mill, circa 1915

Mill at Vicksburg 2020

From a leading producer of fine paper in the early 20th century, originally built by Lee Paper Company, eventually being abandoned at the beginning of the 21st century this massive building will soon be home to a world class destination for craft beer lovers. It’s taken many years of hard work, vision, community relationships, and cooperation from a vast number of stakeholders to restore a 420,000 square foot building and transform it into a multi-faceted facility, set to open in 2025. In addition to housing a brewery, the Mill will house a boutique hotel, conference/event space, and a museum housing beer memorabilia.  The Mill is located in the village of Vicksburg (population 2,906) which is located in Kalamazoo County, MI, and sits nicely equidistant between Chicago, IL and Detroit, MI – it is about 150 miles from both.

It all started with a phone call. Chris Moore, the visionary and now owner for the Mill at Vicksburg, received from his mother Sue back in 2014. The Mill had been part of the fabric of Vicksburg for nearly a century and after paper making had left the region, it had fallen into disrepair and talk of its demolition was becoming common. The Mill had been such an important part of Chris’s life, both his father and grandfather made careers there, along with some stints for him as a young man. It was the economic engine of the community and the thought of losing this giant seemed tragic, akin to losing a part of the community identity.

Chris Moore – the visionary behind the Mill at Vicksburg

After many meetings at the local, state, and federal level Chris managed to save the Mill while also preserving its integrity indefinitely, getting it added to the Federal Historic Registry. He also began forming what the future would hold for the Mill and how it could be an economic engine once again. Beer would be a big part of the Mill’s future.

Chris has a long-held passion for beer and brewing. It began in the 80s, influenced in part by the early efforts of Larry Bell in his first foray with Kalamazoo Brewing in the mid 1980s (eventually becoming the nationally renowned Bell’s Brewery and then working at Widmer Brothers Brewing in 1989, another early pioneer in America’s brewing renaissance.

In 2016 Chris and co-founder Brian Stan opened Old Stove Brewing Co. in Pike Place Market in Seattle, WA. Old Stove has since expanded to the MarketFront of Pike Place. Their brews have won awards and the connection between the legendary gastronomic offerings of Pike Place and their beer will continue at the Mill. The importance of pairing food and beer adds to a rich layer of offerings that are being developed for the project in Vicksburg. In opening Old Stove Brewing , Chris said he felt like he was ‘standing on the shoulder of giants’ referencing all the hard work, including the tough legislative efforts pioneers like Kurt Widmer made, paving the way for thousands of breweries. It didn’t stop there. Many of these early trailblazers even had to build their own brewery equipment to see their vision through. These early influences helped shape the opportunity Chris saw to leverage his passion for beer, brewing, and history while turning the Mill into something very special once again.

Old Stove Brewing Co., Seattle, WA

Chris’s deep fascination with the beer industry also includes unique and rare brewery memorabilia which he began collecting many years ago. With so much history behind the Mill at Vicksburg it was only logical that these artifacts of American brewing history would be preserved and celebrated; ideally, while enjoying a delicious brew. Leaning on reputable collectors and historians, the breweriana collection has grown substantially and will have its own museum in Vicksburg called the Cone Top Brewery Museum. The Mill is working closely with the National Association of Breweriana Advertising to collaborate on the museum.

The Mill at Vicksburg has a growing breweriana collection

Something as monumental as revitalizing the Mill cannot be done in a vacuum, and the Village of Vicksburg is a big part of what will make the Mill successful. Chris has wryly stated that ‘all roads lead to Vicksburg’, leaning on the broad infrastructure of transportation that allowed the vast papermaking industry in SW Michigan to thrive for nearly a century. Road and rail are abundant, but massive economic inputs of a project this size are significant. Vicksburg is a very charming and historic town, but like many downtowns across the Midwest, efforts need to be made to preserve and celebrate the architecture, commerce, and vibrancy to support future growth. Chris has assembled a team to help him support the Village’s efforts to not only preserve the history and vitality but also help prepare it for a significant economic lift the Mill will once again bring.

As chronicled elsewhere in this blog, the resurgence of brewing across America started with homebrewing. Homebrewing and craft brewing are intertwined in countless ways across the country. Larry Bell started as a homebrewer before opening his own homebrew equipment shop. On the other side of the country, the legendary Ken Grossman started Sierra Nevada Brewing Co., after finding his passion in homebrewing. The Mill will have features that celebrate homebrewing history and its future, the final scope of which will be finalized in the coming years. Homebrewers are perhaps the greatest advocates for craft brewing and a vital part of its identity. The Mill wants to recognize the grassroots history, entrepreneurialism and passion that has built, not only a national industry but a global one.

History will be part of the fabric that weaves through the ecosystem of the Mill, including of course, brewing. Over the last three decades innovative American craft brewers have created new styles and processes, while continuing to search for resources to create even more distinct brews. Going back over a century, rural brewers across the country and abroad had to utilize resources that were available locally, from grains to yeast. Chris has long felt the need to support American farming, sponsoring Cascadia Grains since 2016 and the Great Lakes Hop and Barley Conference since 2017. Vitality and diversity are critical for healthy agriculture and in turn, brewing. Further, it supports brewing innovation, a pillar of craft brewing enterprise. Brewing at the Mill will embrace brewing history, its rural roots, innovation and support the local farming community.

There is much, much more to share and celebrate about the future of the Mill at Vicksburg, particularly on the brewing side. With the Mill slated to open in a few years, stay tuned for more details about how the Mill will be a compelling destination for all those that love history, music, and of course, delicious brews.

Guest Blogger

This blog entry was written by guest blogger, Brian Bastien.

Brian Bastien

A passionate advocate of the craft beer industry, Brian’s brewery career began as a homebrewer before completing a BA at University of Western Ontario, in Economics. His 20-plus years of experience leading teams and building markets across North America includes senior roles with Moosehead, Carlsberg, and most recently as a VP with Newlands Systems, a custom brewery equipment manufacturer. While studying an International MBA at the University of Wales, he wrote a dissertation on strategic brewery brand growth across global markets. Brian is leading the brewery and distillery strategy, planning and design for The Mill’s multi-brewery facility, a vital economic driver for the redevelopment. The beverage operations will concurrently accomplish the goals of tenant attraction, job creation, and destination tourism for The Mill. Active in community roles, Brian has over ten years of leadership experience serving local non-profits, most recently serving as president and chair for the Women in Need Society in Calgary, Canada. In 2018 he finished brewery studies in Chicago at the World Brewing Academy and completed distillery studies at Siebel in 2019.

Drinking Local Beer

This is the fourth blog entry I have written that has been inspired by the Covid-19 pandemic. For me and many Ohioans, we really started to feel the impact of Covid-19 on Sunday March 15. That was the first day that bars and restaurants in the state were closed (starting at 9.00pm) for regular business. They would be closed for a full two months, reopening for outdoor seating only on May 15 and capacity-restricted indoor dining on May 22. During that time most bars and restaurants (including craft breweries) survived by selling food and beer for delivery and/or curbside pick-up. Denied taproom sales, many breweries experienced a significant drop in their revenues; surviving Covid-19 quickly became the primary objective.

Once craft brewery taprooms in Ohio were closed for business, and I realized that they were going to face a significant drop in revenues, I made the decision to drink beer from local breweries only. Before going any further, I should note that I am not a “Buy Local” zealot. I understand Ricardo’s Theory of Comparative Advantage, and the reasons why we purchase and consume products that are made in other places (be they other cities in the United States or other countries). However, for a couple of months at least, I thought it would be fun and interesting to drink only beers made by local breweries. That, of course, begs the question as to what constitutes a local brewery? Does the brewery have to be located in the city of Toledo to be considered local? Or could that be broadened to include the entire county (Lucas County)? What about defining local as any beer produced in the state of Ohio? An alternative to using political jurisdictions (City, County, or State boundaries) to define local, is delimiting breweries within a certain radius of where I live. But what radius should I use – 10 miles, 20 miles, 50 miles?

The question of what constitutes “local” is one that has been debated by both academics and policy makers. According to the 2008 Farm Bill any food produced within a 400 mile radius is considered locally or regionally produced. In Canada, food is considered local if it is produced in the province or territory in which it is sold or (if sold across provincial borders) is purchased within is 50 km (31 miles) of its originating province or territory.

After giving it some thought I decided to restrict my beer drinking from breweries located in the states of Ohio and Michigan. I live in Ohio, of course, but am very close to Michigan. From my house I can be in Michigan in approximately twelve minutes. I have visited a good number of breweries in Ohio and Michigan and feel a strong affinity to the craft beer movement in both states. Of course, some of the breweries in both states are pretty far from my home. For example, Jackie O’s Pub & Brewery in Athens, OH is 219 miles from my home, while Ore Dock Brewing Company in Marquette Michigan’s Upper Peninsula is 490 miles away – not exactly local.

Ore Dock Brewing Company in Marquette, MI is 490 miles from my home

Not surprisingly, I am not the first person to commit to consuming local food and drink. In 2005, Alisa Smith and James MacKinnon pledged to eat only dishes made from ingredients harvested within a 100 mile radius of their Vancouver, BC home. In 2007, Barbara Kingsolver moved her family from Tucson, AZ to rural Virginia, where they spent the year eating food grown/reared by themselves or by someone in their neighborhood.

Restricting myself to Ohio and Michigan beers has not exactly been a penance. According to the Brewers Association, there are 400 craft breweries in Michigan and 311 in Ohio. Of course, not all 711 sell their beer in the Toledo market, but enough do that I never lacked choice or got bored with the beers I was drinking. In fact, if I had to, I could probably drink Ohio and Michigan beers for an entire year and not feel hard done by. I did sneak in a few non Ohio and Michigan beers in over the last couple of months – but these were beers that were already sitting in my basement refrigerator and whose “consume by” date already here or rapidly approaching. Most of these beers were consumed on my back deck, while enjoying the warm rays of the spring sunshine. I have created a two galleries highlighting some of the Ohio and Michigan beers that I consumed.