The Fort at Ponshewaing - Up North Beer Paradise

Finding a truly great beer store can be a difficult process. After moving to Cleveland last spring, I heavily relied on Beer Advocate to guide me to the most hidden and well-stocked beer stores in Northeast Ohio. But Cleveland is also a large city, so even its specialty groceries like Heinen’s are deliciously stockpiled. That is not the case in Northern Michigan, where many towns are so small that they don’t have a grocery store. So imagine my concern when, on my drive through Indian River, Michigan (population 2000), I received a text from the friend I was on my way to visit: bring more beer.

I thought for certain I’d be stuck snagging a case of PBR or comparable. With no instruction as to where to pick up this additional beer, I was flying blind. My co-pilot also had limited knowledge of the area. As we cruised down M-86, things looked desperate. But I was so wrong.

“DRAGON’S MILK” a sign proclaimed, just under a larger sign, calling out “The Fort at Ponshewaing”. The place looked quaint, and I was surprised to see it still open right around 10 P.M. I pulled a hard left to enter the parking lot, nearly giving my driving companion whiplash. I had to see what this place had to offer.

Upon entering, it was Up North paradise embodied. The store was clean but very homely, and a friendly woman was behind the counter. Their wine and liquor selection lined most of the shelves, while a majority of their beer was in the back, refrigerated. Considering we were only 10 minutes from our final destination and a bonfire, I appreciated that almost everything I wanted came pre-chilled. While the store boasted 275+ varieties of beer, I don’t think they had that much in stock. Regardless, they did have some treasures. Being less than an hour away from Short’s Brewery, I was excited to see a nice selection of their beer, sold in Michigan only. A lot of Michigan favorites were there, including Bell’s, Arcadia, Dark Horse, Mt. Pleasant, and many more. The store offers mixed six packs, so I was able to bring a larger selection to the bonfire.

I should note that they had a pretty nice “big bottle” selection, and these come both chilled or straight off the shelves. I didn’t snag anything from there, but I would recommend taking a look at what they offer – you’d find some real gems.

Once I finally narrowed it down to a few different brews, I had a nice chat with the salesperson. She was incredibly friendly and pretty knowledgeable about what I was purchasing. I find this is always nice, because I often will buy a few random beers I’ve never heard of. It was nice to get a second opinion before dropping about $2 a bottle.

While I know that not all of my readership will be heading to the northernmost regions of the Lower Peninsula, I felt that it was my duty to spread the word about this diamond in the rough of a beer store. I highly recommend you plan it into another northern Michigan vacations you have planned this summer. Cheers!