It’s time for another look at what’s going on at St. Ambrose Cellars!
Eat a Peach
Eat a Peach is our newest draft style mead creation, and it’s been rolling it’s way into stores across Michigan the past few weeks. Our store locator has been updated with almost 80 locations that are offering this new cyser.
Featuring a refreshing apple, peach, and honey flavor profile, Eat a Peach is a great summer refresher. This new mead has been a hit everywhere we’ve taken it, and we’re sure you’re going to love it to! Find it now, either in a store near you, our tasting room, or through our web store.
$2 Beer Wednesdays
Our newest tradition rolls on this week with our $2 Beer Wednesdays. For just $2 – yes that’s right, just $2 – you can have a glass of one our awesome new beers. Our newest addition to the tap is Sandbar Pale Ale. It’s a malt-forward pale ale that’s got a delightful red hue to it. Check it out this Wednesday, and stick around to play some games with your friends.
Music This Weekend
It’s another awesome weekend of music. We kick things off with Open Mic Night featuring Jim & Wanda Curtis. Rumor has it that Mr. Jones might even be joining in on the fun now that he’s returned to the great state of Michigan.
On Friday, Dede Alder makes her way back to the tasting room for another night of magical music. Dede is a favorite and we’re glad to see her back.
Maggie McCabe brings her rock n’ roll show to the tasting room on Saturday night. The fun starts at 6 PM – and believe us, it’s always fun when Maggie comes to town!
Double Vision
We’ve got a limited supply of Double Vision cider still available. This collaboration with Townline Ciderworks features Wickson Crab Apples, Star Thistle Honey, Tart Cherry Juice, and Ramblin’ Rose Tea from Bear Earth Essentials.
Yard Yoga
On May 15th, we begin our Yard Yoga series, taught by the wonderful Jenn Ryan. For just $10 you get a 1 hour yoga class in our serene bee garden area. There are some extra mats available – make sure to mention if you need one when you register. View more details and a registration number here.
LuLaRoe Pop-Up May 20th
LuLaRoe returns to the winery on Sunday, May 20th. Stay tuned for more details to come on this pop-up boutique experience.
Mother’s Day Wines
In case you missed it last week, we have a whole slew of new wines available. Any of these would make a great gift for Mother’s Day this weekend – so if you haven’t found a present yet, make sure to stop out and pick up some this week!
It’s the start of May, and we’ve got lots of great events going on this week to kick off the early-summer season!
New Drinks!
We’ve got two new drinks on tap – Sandbar Pale Ale, and Double Vision!
Sandbar Pale Ale is a malt forward pale ale, with a little bitterness from the hops and a nice off-red color. This is a delicious day drinker for your time in the sun!
Double Vision is a cyser that we made in collaboration with Townline Ciderworks – it features Wickson crab apples, star thistle honey, tart cherry juice, and Ramblin’ Rose Tea from Bear Earth Herbals. It checks in at 6.9% ABV and we have a VERY limited supply – be sure to come check it out before it’s gone!
New Wines!
Our latest round of wines are also available in the tasting room now – we are currently pouring the following new wines:
On Friday, the always-great Keith Scott will join us for his blues show.
On Saturday, local legends The Feral Cats will be playing in the tasting room.
And on Thursday – as usual – we have Open Mic Night with Jim & Wanda Curtis.
Two Dollar Beer Day!
Starting this Wednesday, we’re going to offer all of our draft beers for just $2 a glass on that day. So every Wednesday you can come wet your whistle and enjoy our brewmaster’s creations for just $2 a glass. What a steal!
May Painting Class
Our May Painting Class is coming up – the class is this Monday (the 7th) at 3 PM. For $30 you get a 10% discount on drinks and cheese plates, painting materials, and painting instruction. Check out more (and buy tickets) at this link.
Enjoy the sun – we’ll be here waiting to help you get some much needed refreshment!
Summer is winding down, but that doesn’t mean the fun is winding down. We’ve got another buzzworthy weekend coming up, and here’s all the details you need!
DeDe Alder
The wonderful DeDe Alder – a mainstay of the St. Ambrose Cellars music lineup – is back again on Friday night.
From humble beginnings, Dede has paved her way on her own experimental, alternative, off the grid musical journey. Dede has picked up her gypsy skills over the years including soulfull singing, raw song-writing, playing percussion of all kinds, dancing, community organizing, and being able to sleep in any location at anytime. Skilled in the art of the Vibraphone, Tambourine, Drumkit, Frame Drum, Snare Drum, Vocals, Word Smithery and much more, she is a versatile performer that can wear many hats, and does.
Her vocal style mixes sweet Irish influence with growling soulfelt jazz sensibilities, a unique combo you can only experience for yourself.
Come enjoy DeDe and her delightful drums, and grab yourself some mead, wine, beer, and food from the awesome TNT Food Truck outside.
Suds on the Shore
We’re back at Suds on the Shore in beautiful Ludington, MI this weekend. For the low low price of $25, you’ll get to sample the wares of St. Ambrose and 60 other vendors!
If you’ve been to the tasting room lately, you’ve certainly noticed the larger tap selection that we’ve added. We have too many cool ideas to be contained by just 12 taps – so we put on a few more, and that’s allowed us to debut some new beverages – including two options for our designated drivers (or soda lovers in general)!
St. Cider
Our house cider is now available. It features 11 different apples! We use Spartan, Gala, Jonathan, Honey Gold, Yellow Delicious, Ginger Gold, Iona Gold, Cortland, Greening, Chestnut Crab, and Wickson Crab to make this house cider.
Eat a Peach
Our Peach Cyser, with peach, apple, and apricot flavors, is a traditional cyser (mead/cider combo) that is going to have Georgia on your mind in no time.
Northwoods Soda
We’ve added two Northwoods Sodas – Lake Effect and Black Cherry – to our lineup, for those looking for something a little lighter.
Imperial Brag-about-it
This is our first true braggot – a mead and beer hybrid – that is hard to describe and even harder to forget. Words aren’t going to do this justice, so you need to come in and grab a glass before it’s gone!
TNT Food Truck
As usual, the TNT Food Truck will be joining us on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Here’s a preview of the menu:
THE CRUSH 2017
It’s that time of year again!
It’s that time … THE CRUSH! St. Ambrose Cellars presents the yearly birthday party that we all love! This year, we’ll be donating a portion of your $10 entrance fee to the Honor Area Restoration Project. For your entrance fee, you’ll get to enjoy FOUR great bands: The Ol’ Microtones, Kellerville, The Barbarossa Brothers, and the world famous K. Jones & The Benzie Playboys, and you’ll get a drink token!
Join us for another awesome day and night of partying at the Cellars – September 16th, starting at 4PM!
How many times have you gotten to the winery at 11:00 AM and waited patiently for us to open up? I know at least two of you have – because I have seen your cars. Well, we’ve noticed, and we’ve made the change! For the rest of the summer, we’re opening up at 11:00AM for all your mead, wine, and beer needs. Get those growlers filled earlier, pick up some wine for your afternoon picnic, and don’t forget the honey. As a reminder, our new operating hours for the rest of the summer are:
Monday – Wednesday: 11AM to 9PM
Thursday – Saturday: 11AM to 10PM
Sunday: 11AM – 6PM
Music This Weekend
Your home for the hottest music in Benzie County is right here at St. Ambrose Cellars. We’ve got three more night of tunes for you this week.
Open Mic
The ever-popular Open Mic series hosted by Jim & Wanda Curtis rolls on this week, starting Thursday at 6PM! We’ve got a fancy sound system and everything for you to play with now!
Alfredo Improv
Local legends Alfredo will be back on Friday night, starting around 6PM.
TBA
The hottest band in the land – To Be Announced – will be hopefully joining us on Saturday.
Ok, The Whiskey Charmers had a situation pop up and had to unfortunately cancel, so we’re working on a replacement. TBA ! TBA ! TBA !
TNT Food Truck
Joining us on our Thursday nights, Friday nights, and Saturdays will be the TNT Food Truck! The menu is constantly evolving, but here’s a selection of what they have been serving up lately:
In the Wild
HopCat East Lansing
Looking at our Untappd check-ins, it seems the HopCat down in East Lansing is really purring with love for the Black Madonna draft lately. If you’re downstate and need your fix, head down to the HopCat and check out Black Madonna – along with about 1 million other beers, ciders, and meads – and show them some love!
VinoShipper – our shipping partners for online sales – have made some shipping changes for the summer. Shipping during the summer months can be a challenge due to varying temperatures around the country, so this summer, in partnership with UPS they are offering substantially reduced UPS Next Day Air shipping rates – a reduction of about 45%.
This helps save your mead and wine from being left in hot trucks or other delivery points during these blazin’ summer months. You can shop our VinoShipper store here.
Yard Yoga!
Join RYT200 certified yoga instructor Jenn Ryan & guest teachers for YardYoga at St. Ambrose Cellars, Tuesday evenings, beginning June 13th!
REGISTER via text: 231-218-0655
Classes will always be different – sometimes gentle, sometimes a well-balanced vinyasa flow – we’ll have fun, enjoy nature’s beauty, & afterward, perhaps have a sip or a snack.
YardYoga will happen IF:
1. it’s not raining
2. it’s at least 65 degrees Farenheit
3. the ground isn’t soaked from a day of rain that has ceased
Namaste!
Mt. Pleasant Craft Beer Festival
We’ll be pouring our wares at the Mt. Pleasant Beer Festival on Saturday, June 10th! More info here:
First, a big thanks to everyone who came out for Memorial Day weekend! We know it was busy here, and we appreciate your business. It was great to see so many happy faces trying out the meads, wines, and new beers.
There’s no three-day weekend this week, but we’ve still got plenty going on out here at the Cellars for the start of June.
Open Mic Thursday
Starting off with tonight – we’ve got Jim and Wanda Curtis in the house for open mic! We’ve recently installed a whole host of new sound equipment to make this event even more lively, and you definitely need to come down and check out the new speakers, soundboard, and more. We’ve loved having Jim and Wanda host our Open Mics, and look forward to a summer full of sound from our favorite friends. Get in on the fun – and get 35% off your howlers and growlers because it is Thirsty Thursday! Music starts around 6PM and goes until we close!
DeDe Alder
DeDe and her magic drums are one of our favorite acts in the tasting room, and she’ll be back on Friday night to delight you. The music will start around 6PM. From humble beginnings, Dede has paved her way on her own experimental, alternative, off the grid musical journey. Dede has picked up her gypsy skills over the years including soulfull singing, raw song-writing, playing percussion of all kinds, dancing, community organizing, and being able to sleep in any location at anytime. Skilled in the art of the Vibraphone, Tambourine, Drumkit, Frame Drum, Snare Drum, Vocals, Word Smithery and much more, she is a versatile performer that can wear many hats, and does.
Her vocal style mixes sweet Irish influence with growling soulfelt jazz sensibilities, a unique combo you can only experience for yourself.
Blake Elliott
Blake Elliott hasn’t been in the tasting room in a while, but she’s back on Saturday night!
Blake Elliott’s signature style is as universal as the types of music she creates. Her writing spans a wide range of genres, covering the scope from jazz to folk to soul and ensuring that even the most discriminating of listeners will enjoy watching her perform. With a vibrant personality that matches those bright red lips, Blake has made her mark on the Michigan music scene with a fervor that’s unceasing.
The fun starts at 6PM on Saturday night – as always, there is no cover for our Friday and Saturday shows.
St. Ambrose in the Wild
Our store locator has over 400 places where you can pick up our wine, still, and draft mead. Check it out! And if you want to see it in your area, let your favorite bar, restaurant, or store know that they should stock up – we’re distributed by Imperial Beverage and available across the great state of Michigan! If you aren’t in Michigan, you can always find our products at VinoShipper.
In Traverse City, we’re available at Taproot Ciderhouse – one of the coolest spots in downtown! Here’s the owner, Jenn, with some St. Ambrose goodies:
Taproot has awesome ciders, and in addition, they have a truly awesome food menu. You won’t be disappointed. One of my top spots to eat in TC, easily.
Hagerty Small Business of the Year
Congratulations to Image360, who won the Hagerty Small Business of the Year award! We were a Top 10 finalist, but alas, didn’t take home the gold. Kirk and Doug still had a good time at the award ceremony:
Thanks for reading, and can’t wait to see you all soon!
It’s May 17th, and we’re really getting into the swing of summer here at St. Ambrose Cellars. You may have heard some of the big news – we’ve got beer! – and I’m sure you’re excited to come try No Frills IPA, if you haven’t already. This is a limited edition first run – so you’ll want to get out here and grab a glass before it is gone! The men in the back are working hard on adding more delicious beers to our taps, and we’ll have more info on those once they are ready to go.
But there’s other stuff happening too!
Festival Season Has Returned
The return of the sun means the return of the busy festival calendar here in Northern Michigan. As usual, St. Ambrose Cellars will be out and about pouring our favorite beverages at your favorite festivals. We’ve got a couple events lined up in the next two weeks:
Empire Asparagus Festival
One of our favorite events, the Empire Asparagus Festival is this weekend and we’ll be there with XR Cyser and a rotating selection of other meads filling the other three taps. Don’t miss the world famous parade at the Asparagus Festival, it’s a delight. There will also be a pig roast on Friday night, and music from outstanding artists like K. Jones & The Benzie Playboyz throughout the weekend.
Next weekend – Memorial Day Weekend – we’ll be pouring out at Crystal Mountain for their Beer n’ Brat Festival. Roll your self away to Crystal Mountain, turn the page on spring, and work on your night moves with Lookin’ Back, a Detroit-based Bob Seger Tribute Band and some sweet St. Ambrose mead!
As we announced last week, it’s Michigan Wine Month and in honor of this grand occasion we’re offering four of wines and meads at a special 30% discount. These Michigan grown, Michigan made wine and meads will make a great addition to your cellar. Grab our Marsanne Viognier, Dancing Bare, Rose Ambrosia, and 2011 Riesling Reserve at this special discounted price now through the end of the month!
Music This Weekend
Benzie’s home for the best jams is going to host three musical blockbusters again this weekend.
The action kicks off on Thursday with the Famous Curtis band and our Open Mic night. It’s also Thirsty Thursday, so you can take home a growler of your favorite mead or our new No Frills IPA beer for 35% off! It’s a great way to try something new, and stick around to watch the show starting at 6PM with Jim & Wanda Curtis.
On Friday, we’ve got hometown favorites The Feral Cats returning to the tasting room stage. The fur will be flying when these cats get scratching. As always, no cover for our musical performances. Enjoy a glass of wine, mead, or beer and a build your own charcuterie board while they slay you with some tunes.
On Saturday, “Michigan’s darkest ukulele band” – SALDAJE – is back in action. These St. Ambrose favorites are sure to pack the house for another night of mystical music and storytelling. We love when Saldaje makes time for the tasting room, and you won’t want to miss this performance.
$7.77 Draft Meads
If you can’t make it to the tasting room, and you can’t find your favorite drafts on store shelves near you with our store locator, don’t forget that we ship to 37 states through our online store. All draft meads are now just $7.77 (plus shipping) through the web! Our line of wines and meads are also available through the store. Check out the full list here.
