Behind the Mitten

While on the road searching for Michigan's Best Bowling Alley, John Gonzalez and Amy Sherman of MLive stopped at Luigi's in Flint, and then later at New Jack's Place in Flushing. John and Amy also catch up with what's new at Table & Tap in Flint. Beer of the week is from Tenacity.

While on the road searching for Michigan's Best Bowling Alley, John Gonzalez and Amy Sherman stop at the Wagon Wheel in Portland. They also tell you about American Fifth in Lansing. And they catch up with good friend Paul Starr from I'm a Beer Hound.

This weekend's first-ever Ice Jam Winter Festival at Perrin Brewing Co. (Jan. 28, 2017) will have its share of highlights. The big news for craft beer drinkers, a chance to drink Cigar City's famous Jai Alai IPA without driving all the way to Florida. The festival begins with a Frostbite 5k walk/run at 1:30 p.m. Special beer releases on tap at 2 p.m. Live music at 3 p.m. The festival takes place i...

On this episode of Behind the Mitten, John and Amy travel to Tibbs Brewing Company in Kalamazoo to talk about the local beer scene as well as cultural institutions such as the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts and Miller Auditorium at WMU. Making a special singing appearance on the show is Michael Sobel, President of the Mall City Harmonizers about special Valentine's Day gifts. Show Notes Segment 1: In...

John Gonzalez and Amy Sherman of MLive and Behind the Mitten stopped by West Michigan Live on WOOD Radio to talk about local events and their upcoming weekend show. They brought along Kevin Tibbs of Tibbs Brewing Company in Kalamazoo. This weekend's show is broadcast from Tibbs, which is in the middle of Kalamazoo Beer Week. More info on #KBW2017 at http://www.kalamazoobeerweek.com/ More info on T...

John Gonzalez and Amy Sherman of MLive and the "Behind the Mitten" radio show spend some time with Chris Knape and Garry Boyd of HopCat, which is celebrating its 9th anniversary on Jan. 21, 2017 with special bottle releases and a Crack Fries Eating Contest. The celebration begins at 11 a.m. in Grand Rapids, the site of the original location, and at 10 a.m. at other statewide locations. The Crack F...

John Gonzalez and Amy Sherman of MLive recorded this show at Perrin Brewing Co. in Comstock Park as part of the No Problems Training Runs as part of the Fifth Third River Bank Run. (The training runs are the second Tuesday of each month.) This show aired Jan. 14-15, 2017. Segment 1: John and Amy talk to Scott Stenstrom about this year's Fifth Third River Bank Run, which is May 13. Scott is the ass...

John Gonzalez and Amy Sherman of MLive and "Behind the Mitten" spend some time with Eric Hoffman of Unruly Brewing in Muskegon and Allen Serio of the Burning Foot Beer Festival at Pere Marquette Park. This Podcast was recorded Jan. 12, 2017 at the Michigan Brewers Guild Conference in Kalamazoo. John and Amy talk to Allen about how the festival began, and how popular it has become in just two years...

John Gonzalez and Amy Sherman of MLive and "Behind the Mitten" spend some time catching up with Fred Bueltmann of New Holland Brewery. This Podcast was recorded Jan. 12, 2017 at the Michigan Brewers Guild Conference in Kalamazoo. While Amy was at a session, John talked to Fred about beer, spirits, his own Podcast and music. More on New Holland at https://www.facebook.com/newhollandbrew/?fref=ts Be...

John Gonzalez and Amy Sherman of MLive and "Behind the Mitten" spend some time catching up with Rick Schmitt and Brian Confer at Stormcloud Brewing Co. in Frankfort. This Podcast was recorded Jan. 12, 2017 at the Michigan Brewers Guild Conference in Kalamazoo. John and Amy talk to Stormcloud about its busy winter season with an upcoming film and dinner series. And its popular curling league. John...

On this podcast with John Gonzalez of MLive and the Behind the Mitten radio show we go behind the scenes of "Beautiful – The Carole King Musical." It tells the inspiring true story of King’s remarkable rise to stardom. In this interview, John talks to Julia Knitel who plays Carole King. They talk about her story -- from teenage songwriter to being part of a hit songwriting team with her first husb...

John Gonzalez and Amy Sherman of the radio show Behind the Mitten and MLive.com spent the day in Traverse City for this weekend's show. Here are the show notes: Segment 1: John and Amy talk to Trevor Tkach of the Traverse City Tourism Bureau. They talk about his transition from leading the National Cherry Festival to his new position at the Bureau. More info at https://www.traversecity.com/ Segmen...

John Gonzalez and Amy Sherman of "Behind the Mitten" had so much fun meeting Pete Kirkwood of The Workshop Brewing Co. in Traverse City that they decided to record a podcast to talk more about Beer of the Week ("Friday Shaker," a beer brewed with cherries and aged in oak barrels). This podcast was recorded Jan. 5, 2017. More on The Workshop: https://www.facebook.com/traversecityworkshop/?fref=ts M...

Embrace Winter! That's a common theme for Amy Sherman and John Gonzalez of Behind the Mitten, a weekend show that airs on multiple radio stations across the state. This weekend talk winter fun, and they also reveal their favorite Beer of the Year. On this show (which aired Dec. 31, 2016/Jan. 1, 2017), Amy and John talk to: Segment 1: Mickey MacWilliams of the Michigan Snowsports Industries and Mic...

On their last show of 2016, Amy Sherman and John Gonzalez of MLive and Behind the Mitten pick their "Beers of the Year." John picks a beer from Stormcloud Brewing Company in Frankfort, which was their pick for Michigan's Best New Brewery. http://www.mlive.com/dining/index.ssf/2016/08/michigans_best_new_brewery_our_2.html#0 More on Stormcloud: https://www.facebook.com/StormcloudBrewing/?fref=ts Amy...

John Gonzalez and Amy Sherman of MLive and Behind the Mitten celebrate the holidays with this special "Best Of" show. It features some of their favorite interviews in 2016. Segment 1: Air Date Feb. 13 (Episode 42): Interview with Rob Klatay of Table & Tap in Flint. Link to full episode. http://www.spreaker.com/user/michigangonzo/btm-flint-show-feb-14-2016 Segment 2 (Listen at 10:01): Air Date Apri...

John Gonzalez and Amy Sherman of MLive and "Behind the Mitten" stop by "West Michigan Live" with Justin Barclay on WOOD Radio. They talk about The Accidentals, the Traverse City trio that was named to Huffington Post's Sweet 16 music acts for 2016. They also run down this weekend's BTM show, and things to do this weekend. (Oh, and they sample Founder's famed KBS!) This segment aired on Dec. 22, 20...

John Gonzalez and Amy Sherman of MLive and "Behind the Mitten" visit Territorial Brewing Co. in Springfield, Michigan (near Battle Creek). Territorial was one of their picks for Michigan's Best New Brewery. This episode includes interviews with reps from the Air Zoo in Portage, and Binder Park Zoo in Battle Creek. Segment 1: John and Amy talk to co-owners Charles Grantier and Tim Davis, who is the...

John Gonzalez of MLive and Behind the Mitten interviews Kristen Hahn, who plays Phoebe in the Broadway tour of "A Gentleman's Guide to Love & Murder." The show stops for 8 shows Dec. 13-18, 2016, at the Wharton Center in East Lansing. More info at https://www.whartoncenter.com/events/detail/gentlemans-guide

John Gonzalez and Amy Sherman of MLive and "Behind the Mitten" visit on of their favorite places in Michigan -- Mackinac Island. This time they record from Original Murdick's Fudge, which is open during the holidays and shipping fudge all over the country .... just in time for the holidays. Segment 1: John and Amy talk to owner Bobby Benser Jr. about the special packages of fudge available for the...

John Gonzalez and Amy Sherman of MLive and "Behind the Mitten: preview this weekend's show, which airs on several radio stations throughout Michigan. On this segment they talk to Justin Barclay of West Michigan Live on WOOD Radio. (This aired Thursday, Dec. 8, 2016) They talk about this weekend's show from Mackinac Island and Original Murdick's Fudge, as well as some events taking place this weeke...

John Gonzalez and Amy Sherman of MLive and "Behind the Mitten" talks to Higher Grounds coffee owner Chris Treter, who operates his Fair Trade Company in Traverse City. They work with specialty growers in Mexico and the Chiapan Highlands of Mexico. Chris talks about his original vision for the company, which is about "1,000 times the original vision," he said. They are now available in a variety of...

John Gonzalez and Amy Sherman of MLive and Behind the Mitten spend some time in Gaylord, Michigan to explore all the fun things you can do in the winter time. Segment 1: John and Amy talk to Mr. Gaylord himself, Paul Beachnau, head of the Gaylord Tourism Bureau. Paul talks about all the outdoor activities in the area. (He also jokes with John and Amy about his favorite beer, Perrin Brewery's Black...

On this segment, John Gonzalez and Amy Sherman of MLive and Behind the Mitten talk about Winter events in Gaylord with Paul Beachnau of the Tourism Bureau. *Free Ski Weekend (Dec. 16-18, 2016) *AlpenFrost (Feb. 5-6, 2017) *Michigan Snowmobile Festival (Feb. 24-25, 2017) More on Gaylord Events at http://www.gaylordmichigan.net/ John and Amy also talk to Sandy Mattingly of Pine Cone Accommodations a...

John Gonzalez and Amy Sherman of MLive and Behind the Mitten stop at Snowbelt Brewing Co. in Gaylord. The downtown brewery opened Aug. 20, 2016. It is owned by Nate and Angelina Muellenberg. They operate on a 5-barrel system and offer about 8 beers on tap. They make "good tasting beers with a wide range of styles," Nate said. Beer of the Week is the "My Chest Hurt IPA," which comes in a little hea...