Brewery Terra Firma | Traverse City, MI
Beer Trip: Brewery Terra Firma in Traverse City, Michigan
Northern Michigan’s reputation was that the region is known for its wineries, but we were pleasantly surprised to find that there are plenty of craft breweries as well. With a few days in Traverse City, Brewery Terra Firma was a place that kept popping up on our radar - so we decided to check it out.
The Brewery
The farm’s beehives
Brewery Terra Firma is located right on the outskirts of town on a 10-acre plot of land. “Terra Firma,” a Latin phrase meaning “firm land,” is an absolutely fitting name as you pull into the parking lot and see that this brewery is a living, breathing farm in many ways. This place is focused on sustainability and nature, and their owner, John (a brewer with 30+ years of experience!), told us that their building is set up to help them achieve these goals. They are able to recycle most of their water to use as irrigation on the farm. Because of this, Terra Firma isn’t even connected to the municipal waste system, allowing it to be completely self-reliant. Another item we found interesting is that they are able to capture their heating BTUs from their fermenters and use them for heating the building during the winter!
Hops grown onsite
Signage from the road
Menu and mug club
The indoor area here is spacious, featuring a good number of tables and chairs and a long bar against the back wall. One entire wall is covered with mugs from their mug club, a club that we were told has over 500 members (many of which we met during our visit)! They have a shuffleboard table and several board games to keep you entertained inside. The outdoor section is where we chose to spend most of our time, as it allowed Warren to roam about freely. They have several campfire areas, picnic tables, a few cornhole sets, and even a one-hole disc golf setup.
Fun, rustic decor behind the bar
Great lighting and more of the mug club
Additional seating and lots of games
The outdoor patio
The Beer
This might be the first brewery we have experienced where they try to source as many of their beer ingredients as they can from their own land! John stopped to chat with us for a bit and talked about his sustainability passion. They are able to grow several varieties of hops, berries, and wheat - all within walking distance of the front door. He actually let us walk some of the property, including back near their beehives which is a source of honey for their beer. Our son, Warren, even decided he wanted to eat a few mulberries directly from a tree.
During our visit, Terra Firma had a dozen different brews to choose from. We were told that 3 - 4 of the taps are mainstays, while the rest rotate out until they’re gone. Their menu consisted of a wide range of beer styles including an amber, stout, blonde, ESB, and a sour - just to name a few. IPAs are the center of the craft beer industry, so they did have one available - but it was nice to find a brewery like Terra Firma that is focused on other styles. We aren’t sure if it’s a Michigan thing, but several regional breweries, including this one, offered beer mixes - a drink where they would fill half of the glass with one of their beers and top it off with another.
Every beer we tried was top-notch in quality, but there were a couple that stood out most to us. The Bee Hive Honey Blonde is lighter than most blondes and has a clean, crisp taste. Of course, they honey flavoring comes through nicely, especially being able to see the bees that it came from! Our favorite of the whole trip, though, was the Vanilla Red Zeppelin. This amber has great rich malts but is combined with the perfect amount of vanilla, leaving a nice, lingering aftertaste.
Food, Merch, & More
Terra Firma doesn’t have a kitchen to offer food, but they do have local shortbreads and chip/cracker dips, which we were told are fantastic. They also have free, fresh popcorn - which we’re always a fan of!
If you don’t drink, they make two different varieties of kombucha as well. For merchandise, Terra Firma has shirts, glassware, koozies, and some really unique growlers. They also have custom stickers for a few of their mainstay beers, but they were unfortunately out of their standard sticker.
Brewery Terra Firma gave us a whole new experience for a brewery with its farm-to-glass operation. After visiting for ourselves, it’s easy to see why this place is highly regarded among the locals.
Cheers!
Our happy, dirty, mulberry covered boy!
Warren trying his hand at disc golf
He had a blast here
Warren was heading straight for the bees - LOL
