It’s Memorial Day Weekend, and we’re sure you’re excited for the traditional kick-off to summer!
We’ll keep it brief and to the point here today, because we’ve got a TON of stuff going on and we don’t want you to miss any of it.
Cyser Lab
Ever wonder how the brewcrew spends their time when they aren’t making and bottling your current favorites? Find out this weekend with our Cyser Lab experiment. We’ve got a limited edition release of three new cysers that may someday join the permanent lineup – if you like them!
We have a Strawberry/Black Pepper cyser, an Orange Blossom cyser aged in French Oak barrels, and a Passionfruit cyser! Each will be available – until it’s gone – this weekend. Hurry and get here early in case your potential new favorite runs out!
Turbo Pup
Turbo Pup Duo graces the tasting room stage on Friday night for what is sure to be a rockin’ show! These local heroes are ready to melt some faces here at St. Ambrose Cellars and we couldn’t be more excited. Join us on Friday night at 6PM!
Ted Alan
Ted Alan hits the tasting room for a Saturday night show – like always, the fun starts at 6 PM
New Discs!
Looking for some outdoor recreation this weekend? Hit the disc golf course out back – and pick up some new Black Madonna discs from our friends at Innova.
This Saturday night the very talented rising star Syd Burnham joins us again at St. Ambrose! The fun starts at 6PM. Before the show, we got a chance to ask her a few questions about her career and music.
1. Has it been challenging to do so much touring at a young age?
There can be ups and downs of touring and playing all the time but being able to share and make music with other people overcomes all the small bad details.
2. What are some of your biggest inspirations, musically?
I am a true sucker for lady rockers so of course I look up to Grace Potter, Janis Joplin, Tori Kelly and Stevie nicks. Though I have grown up around lots of other music including Stevie Ray Vaughn, Stevie Wonder, The Foo Fighters, Pink Floyd, The Beatles and other like those and they have all really shaped who I am as a person and musically.
3. What other performers have you been listening to lately?
This is kinda a difficult question for me because I am always listening to new music so to choose just a couple is difficult. I have recently joined a band called “Red Herring” and all the dudes in the band are super into Frank Zappa, Steely Dan, and The Who so I’ve been listening to those artists and artists like them. I also try to listen to local talent like The Sweet Water Warblers, Jill Jack, Joe Hertler and the Rainbow Seekers.
4. This will be your second time at St. Ambrose – what’s your favorite part, so far, about playing here?
St. Ambrose is really so beautiful! I love that it is nearly in the middle of nowhere but as soon as your there its so lively. From the church windows to the big barn and great outside space its hard to choose a favorite thing about this place but I think I would definitely have to go with the wonderful people that work there! All the staff and the owner(s) were so inviting and made a wonderful experience for me all together!
5. Do you have any exciting plans for 2017? Anything fans should be on the lookout for?
2017 is going to be a great year for music! We have lots of fun summer festivals planned and hope to maybe release some new music!
Thanks Syd!
And here’s a preview of what to expect on Saturday night from this performer …
The bees are buzzin in our fields and you can be too, this Friday, as our old friend John Lemon returns to our taps this weekend.
As draft meads go in the tasting room, this one seems to have a cult-like following, not unlike it’s namesake. We have been awaiting its return for many moons and couldn’t be happier to re-release it on the same day our “house band”, Alfredo, hopes to have its cd release party, as part of our Friday Night Music Series. While its up to the goddess of fed ex to deliver their goods on time, our Mazers promise to have loads of our lavish lemon flowing all day long.
Join us starting at noon for an all day happy hour, where glasses of all our draft meads will be half off to celebrate the return of the “prodigal sun”…. Just in time for Beltane, the halfway mark between vernal equinox and summer solstice! And join us for the cream on top, Alfredo Improvisational Quartet, from 6-9, with those happy hour specials continuing on into the evening.
As always, drink responsibly, soak it all up with one of our delicious food pairings and bring your DD– we’ve got Sassy Sarsaparilla– a non-alcoholic Honey and Chaga beverage, on tap, for them, too!
This Friday at St Ambrose will feature two hot dishes~ one is our returning musical guests, Saldaje, the “darkest ukulele band in Northern Michigan”. Saldaje is comprised of two talented artisans, Melonie Steffes & Shaun Anchak, whose self described style is “New Old World, Apocalyptic Folk, Cabaret”, and what we like to call too good to miss! With influences like Tom Waits, Leonard Cohen, Nick Cave, Suzanne Vega and Nina Simone, this duo call us out from the cobwebs of winter and thrust us into this vernal season with their contradictory dualities; dark and ethereal, sinewy yet robust.
We’ve also recently released our 2014 Late Harvest Riesling, and on Friday, April 1st, we will be pouring it alongside its cousins; a treasure trove of our Riesling Reserves, for our Friday Night Flights of Fancy. Paired with a delicious oblation of goat cheese and an impressive balsamic, strawberry & riesling relish for $12, the flight features this Late Harvest from 2014 as well as the 2011, 2012 & 2013 Riesling Reserves. Our newest vintage combines a stunning floral, fruit forward crispness with finishing notes of citrus for a beautiful late harvest wine we think you’ll want to savor as much as we do.
Plus, if you come in for music on Friday you’ll get to elect the next president! (April Fools)… But we do guarantee you a place of refuge from endless political commercials. You can say that twice and mean it!
With temperatures expected to rise to downright balmy this coming weekend, our Friday night musicians are right on time for a little cabin fever reliever. Barefoot, a new quartet comprised of some of our favorite homegrown talent, will debut right here at St Ambrose, starting at 6pm. With soulful renditions of songs that connect us to memory and each other, Barefoot artfully blends familiar emotional ballads and funky tunes with an upbeat, crowd pleasing, original sound that delivers musically as well as lyrically.
The Band
Chanteuse Jenni Rae captures your heart with her stunning presence and impeccable vocals. Jenni is a classically trained pianist who discovered her voice and knack for music the tender age of 4 & has cultivated a depth to her work that evokes continual goosebumps and demands your attention, anticipating her next verse and begging for an encore.
Supporting Jenni are a cast of characters that all discovered a love for music as young men. On harmonica, Phil Coryell plays intuitively from the deep roots of his musical upbringing, where his father noted a penchant for keeping rhythm watching him toe tap to The Mitch Miller Show as a child. Phil brings a wealth of knowledge and a teacher’s heart to this collaboration; his humor and nurturing ways have infused his harmonizing. Bee Jay Reffitt is a true free spirit, an apiarist at our headquarters, Sleeping Bear Farms, and is all about the upright bass. He says he comes from a long line of barefoot hillbillies and is a lover of organic musical relationships. Native son,
Nathon Lane, rounds out this awesome foursome. Mr Lane, who oversees production of our beautiful honey at Sleeping Bear Farms, is also the brains and brawn behind Barefoot, a football coach and a daddy to two lovely girls. The sensitivity and intention required of him in his daily life plays out in his masterly riffs on guitar and a zen like performance charisma.
This Friday
St Ambrose is thrilled to host the launch of our dear friends who also happen to really bring it. Join us in the tasting room from 69pm on Friday, February 19!
Oh, and Barefoot pairs nicely with a glass of our Dancing Bare Ambrosia or Secret Beach and a charcuterie platter, just sayin.
The holidays may be over, but the party season never ends here at St. Ambrose Cellars. If you’re looking for some fun this Friday night, the tasting room will be hosting local favorites the sensational Alfredo Improvisational Quartet! Let’s let them give you a taste of what to expect:
Alfredo was born in a kitchen with a mouthful of cabbage. The product of singer/percussionist Al Pityo and guitarist Frederik Stig-Nielsen’s improvisational dreams, the band has grown slowly over time. Like the chef who can’t but taste the salacious creations made in his kitchen, Alfredo has been gobbling up other local musicians with a penchant for the unknown and craving for the uncertainty and fear of true over the edge jamming and like that chef, Alfredo has gained in mass. After two years, now there are four. Bass player Chris Kuykendahl joined in the fall of 2013 and drummer and soulful vocalist extraordinaire Bill Frary joined in the summer of 2015. Most importantly, the members of Alfredo have decided—whether tacitly or not—never to take themselves too seriously. You shouldn’t either.
The music will start around 6PM in the tasting room. You’ll want to be on time because Alfredo is sure to bring a crowd! Our Friday night live music lineup runs all winter. Come catch some of the best acts around in the cozy confines of our tasting room just outside Beulah, MI – with no cover charge. Sounds like a great idea for a date night, doesn’t it?