Hello all!
And happy May to y’all as well! We were happy to close out the month with such an amazing turnout for our 2nd annual Erste Mai festival! The bands… amazing. The fans… second-to-none. The taco truck… a savior of tasty sustenance.
“I don’t think it could’ve gone any better,” said Tasha Klockow. “Everyone seemed to have a really good time!”
We want to thank Mitch McCarroll of Underground Til Sundown and Angie Erickson for helping organize the show, Dan-o & the rest of the staff at Rapids Radio and Malachy Koons & the rest of the staff at KAXE for help in promoting the show, Itasca Light & Sound, Singing Chihuahua Taco Truck, Borealis Creamery, Amanda Lussier who was behind the bar all day, the huge crowd of fans that showed up, and especially the bands: Modern Day Wasteland, Smalltown Sindrome, Southpaw, Loss Leader, Battery Eyes, and Underground til Sundown. And we can’t wait to do it again, so mark it down now; Der Erste Mai at Klockow on April 26, 2025.
But it is May now, so that can only mean one thing: Maibocks! “Unofficially” tapped last week to be on in time for the festival, today marks the official start of our The Pits and The Pitless Maibock beers. The cherry and non-fruited styles, respectively, have been annual hits here at the brewery. And what’s more, we listened to the requests from guests last year and made sure to can both of them for off sale! Far too many people asked if they could buy cans of our Maibock to go, and we sadly had to turn them down. Not this year, though! So c’mon down for a pint and take a 4-pack home.
Also by popular demand, we have a new Shrubbery flavor! Last week we released our Cherry Hop 10mg seltzer to little fanfare, but still great delight. Similar to the Lemon Hop, the Cherry Hop Shrubbery operates with subtle flavors but with a softer acidity and nice tartness thanks to the cherries. Find it at a grocer near you, or of course just at the brewery.
Upcoming this weekend will be Andy Klockow sightings outside of the brewery. Friday is the monthly First Friday Art Walk in downtown Grand Rapids, and Andy will be pouring beer alongside the Free Range Food Co-op folks at the parking lot kitty-corner from Old Central School for their site announcement party. And on Saturday, Andy will be representing at Rapids Brewing Company for their annual Lager Fest. We’ll be bringing Stranger Ranger American Light Lager (classic), Betrunkener Onkel Dunkel Lager (hilarious), and The Pitless and The Pits Maibock and Cherry Maibock (yes, they are in fact lagers, too). So by all means, hit up our friends at RBC this Saturday… just so long as you have a KBC beer! And, of course, be sure to take a selfie with Andy to prove you found him.
We Barley Know You, But We Hop to Change That. It’s the Yeast We Can Do: Max Chamberlain
Question: How long have you worked here?
Max Chamberlain: A little over six and a half years now. October 2nd, I believe was my first day, 2017. So 25 days before the actual opening is when I started.
Q: In all that time, what is your favorite Klockow beer?
MC: I would have to break it down into two categories, because it’s hard to compare a regular beer that we make weekly, monthly, or even seasonally to something that is barrel-aged. So my favorite beer, and I might be a little biased, would be the Magic Roundabout (bourbon barrel-aged imperial vanilla stout. Full disclosure: Max wrote the recipe for the Roundabout Vanilla Stout).
But if I had to pick something that is not barrel-aged, it might be the Münchkin Oktoberfest.
Q: When you’re not drinking Klockow beer, what do you like to drink?
MC: I’m a very simple person. I don’t actually drink that much in general… so most commonly, if you see me sipping on something, it’ll be just plain ol’ water! But, you know, I have a couple cups of coffee every morning. Otherwise something in the evening… Diet Pepsi has always been big in my family. My parents drink it all the time, so if I want something sweet and carbonated, I’ll reach in the fridge for one of them.
But if I had to pick one thing, I’d say water is it.
Q: Sticking with the theme of things we like to ingest, what are some of your favorite foods?
MC: It’s a basic answer, but I’ll almost never turn down pizza, if offered. And I’ll often go out of my way to find it! Besides that, I dunno… lots of stuff with steak. Like I like it a grilled steak just by itself, but also steak that’s been seasoned, grilled up, and put in something, like a burrito, or beef and broccoli, or stir fried. Or sliced up on a sandwich. Or beef curry!
Q: So what do you do at the brewery?
MC: I make the beer. I was an assistant brewer for about a year or two before my promotion and update to my business cards that I hand out to nobody.
Every day there’s something to clean: the fermenters that we brew into, the bright tanks where the beer gets carbonated before it gets canned, the canning line itself, the floors and walls in general so that we’re cooking in a sanitary place. Then on average, twice a week we actually brew beer. And that’s as simple as get some hot water, add some grain to it, pull out the sugar, boil the sugar, add hops, throw it into a fermenter and add yeast, let it do its thing for a couple of weeks, carbonate it, can it, keg it, and drink it!
Q: What do you like to do for fun?
MC: If I’m not at work, I’m right next door at the gym. It’s my de-load space, I suppose. Stressed out? I’m gonna go to the gym. I’m bored? I’m gonna go to the gym. I’m tired, but I don’t wanna be? Gonna go to the gym.
Q: What’s a fun/interesting fact about yourself?
MC: Oh man, let’s see, what do people consider interesting? Just something I like to do? I mean, I’m pretty quiet, so you wouldn’t guess, but I really enjoy arguing about nonsensical things! You wanna have a debate about how useful bread is in a diet? What’s your favorite type of egg? I’ll tell you why you’re wrong if you say scrambled eggs!
Q: Last question, if you could have dinner with one famous person, living or dead, who would you pick and why?
MC: That really is a tough question. Like you hear that question every now and then, but I’ve never really given it much thought.
The only one who comes to mind for me is the author of “One Piece,” Eiichiro Oda. It would be interesting to see what I could get out of him, because it’s been 27 years he’s been writing this story! And still, he’s the only one who actually knows how it’s supposed to end. And in my head, it’s like, do I actually want to know how it ends, or do I want to keep enjoying it? Even in the story, there’s a part where the main character meets someone who essentially did his job in the past; he knows all the answers, you could ask him right now and he could tell you what the treasure is that they’re looking for; but he said no, if I don’t find it out on my own, I don’t want to find out at all.
So would it be fun to know how the story ends? Would I keep reading if I knew? I don’t know if I would. So my question to him might be more like where did all his influences come from? There’re some that are well-known, like previous authors before him. Some of the illustrations that he uses are basically ripped from mythologies all across the globe. And his inspiration to start the story came from an old cartoon called Vicky the Viking. So he was like, “Vikings are cool. They’re basically pirates. I’m going to write a story about pirates.” So I’d love to learn how he does his research, how does he find inspiration in so many things, and yet bring them all together into one cohesive story?
~
Thanks for checking out our humble little brewery! As long as you keep coming by, we’ll do our part by making the best damn beer possible and serving it in our always inviting atmosphere.
The Klockow Staff
Beer drops this past week:
Local, etc. -
Bear Ridge Pizza - Coleraine
Rocket’s - Cohasset
NoPo Kitchen - Grand Rapids
Pokegama Plaza Liquor - Grand Rapids
Zorbaz - Grand Rapids
Pickeled Loon - Grand Rapids
Dutch Room - Grand Rapids
Boulder Taphouse - Grand Rapids
Bottles & Brews - Grand Rapids
Super One Liquor - Grand Rapids
Super One Foods - South Grand Rapids
Duluth & Superior -
7 West - Superior
Super One Liquor - Cloquet
Super One Liquor - West Duluth
Super One Liquor - Pike Lake
New Scenic Cafe - North Shore
Dovetail Cafe - Duluth
Woodland Liquor - Duluth
DECC - Duluth
McGregor -
Mark’s Bar
Willey’s
