The Alpha Michigan Brewing Company (AMBC) is a

nanobrewery Craft beer is a beer that has been made by craft breweries. They produce smaller amounts of beer, typically less than large breweries, and are often independently owned. Such breweries are generally perceived and marketed as having an emphasis o ...

in the village of

Alpha Alpha (uppercase , lowercase ; grc, ἄλφα, ''álpha'', or ell, άλφα, álfa) is the first letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of one. Alpha is derived from the Phoenician letter aleph , whic ...

in the

Upper Peninsula of Michigan The Upper Peninsula of Michigan – also known as Upper Michigan or colloquially the U.P. – is the northern and more elevated of the two major landmasses that make up the U.S. state of Michigan; it is separated from the Lower Peninsula by t ...

Background

The establishment describes Alpha as "the smallest village in America with a brewery". Mike Bjork later told a local news outlet that the small size of the town around them, estimated by Bjork as being between 105 and 115 people, led to much skepticism about their business plans. AMBC's beer names are all related to Alpha, its former Porter school, nearby Mastodon Township, or Iron County, the county of Alpha and Mastodon Township. , its beers carry logos designed by local artist Tracie Wayman. The brewery's business is heavily focused on Alpha and the region around it. AMBC sources its barley, oats, and some of its hops from local farms, at least one of which is less than away, and , it donates a portion of its net sales to charitable organizations during fundraisers. For example, during the 2020

COVID-19 pandemic in the United States The COVID-19 pandemic in the United States is a part of the COVID-19 pandemic, worldwide pandemic of COVID-19, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by SARS-CoV-2, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). In the Uni ...

, the brewery donated US$200 plus 20% of their Saturday beer sales to three nearby

St. Vincent de Paul Vincent de Paul, CM (24 April 1581 – 27 September 1660), commonly known as Saint Vincent de Paul, was a Occitan French Catholic priest who dedicated himself to serving the poor. In 1622 Vincent was appointed a chaplain to the galleys. Afte ...

locations.

Owners

The brewery was registered as a company by Stu Creel in 2012. By the time it opened in 2018, the brewery was owned by Stu Creel and his wife, Julie, along with Mike and Mary Bjork. All four lived in the local area. In July 2023, the brewery announced that the Creels had sold their stake in the business to another local couple, Dan and Jackie Rosek.

History

AMBC was started in 2012 by Stu & Julie Creel and opened in May 2018. A year later, AMBC ran out of beer after above-normal sales during the US

Independence Day An independence day is an annual event commemorating the anniversary of a nation's independence or statehood, usually after ceasing to be a group or part of another nation or state, or more rarely after the end of a military occupation. Man ...

holiday. In early 2021, the brewery added outdoor heated tents to expand its COVID-appropriate seating. The funds to purchase them came from a Michigan weatherization grant program. In 2022, the company hosted an "Ice Bowl" winter

disc golf Disc golf, also known as frisbee golf, is a flying disc sport in which players throw a disc at a target; it is played using rules similar to golf. Most disc golf discs are made out of polypropylene plastic, otherwise known as polypropene, which ...

competition to benefit a local

food bank A food bank is a non-profit, charitable organization that distributes food to those who have difficulty purchasing enough to avoid hunger, usually through intermediaries like food pantries and soup kitchens. Some food banks distribute food direc ...

, and brewed a

pilsner Pilsner (also pilsener or simply pils) is a type of pale lager. It takes its name from the Bohemian city of Plzeň (german: Pilsen), where the world's first pale lager (now known as Pilsner Urquell) was produced in 1842 by Pilsner Urquell Brewe ...

beer to support Ukraine during the Russian invasion of that country. Over the 2023 US

Memorial Day Memorial Day (originally known as Decoration Day) is a federal holiday in the United States for mourning the U.S. military personnel who have fought and died while serving in the United States armed forces. It is observed on the last Monda ...

weekend, the brewery celebrated its fifth year in operation.

Location

AMBC is located at 303 E. Center St. in a former bus garage attached to Alpha's long-closed George F. Porter Public School. The school building is listed on the US

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

as part of the Alpha Public Buildings Historic Complex, all on a single block. The Porter School was last used as a school in 1967 and sold by the village in 2005. The interior of the taproom was partially constructed from secondhand materials gathered from around the village. Its bar was previously used for a buffet at the Alpha Inn and at the Alpha Veterans of Foreign Wars, changing hands when the locations closed, and a pew from the shuttered St. Edwards Catholic Church in Alpha is part of the brewery's available seats.

References

External links

Official websiteFacebook page
{{coord, 46, 02, 49.4, N, 88, 22, 37.8, W, display=title 2018 establishments in Michigan Companies based in Alpha, Michigan Beer brewing companies based in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan American companies established in 2018 Food and drink companies established in 2018