SO YOU’VE BEEN wondering when someone was finally going to do something with the old, closed-down but charming Northwoods Supper Club in Marquette Township?
Well, now we know.
It’ll become the Barrel and Beam Brewery next summer.
Yep, a craft brewery with a focus on farmhouse and barrel-aged style beers. The brews will be aged in wine barrels, a Belgian method of brewing that utilizes full-sized tanks made of oak. Some ingredients will come from Belgium and France, others from Michigan.
All of this brought to you by the Barrel and Beam founders, Nick VanCourt and Marina Dupler. Yoopers, Marquette residents, NMU grads.
Nick has been the head brewer at the Ore Dock since it opened, and both he and Marina are minority owners at the Ore Dock, which incidentally welcomes Barrel and Beam, a distinctly niche brewery.
And, oh yeah, Nick and Marina, who works at NMU, are married. With a child, and another on the way.
As for the Northwoods building which dates back to the Thirties, it’ll be renovated in a style reminiscent of a Belgian farmhouse. Light and airy. Huge beams.
For those of you who celebrated weddings, anniversaries and other special events at the Northwoods, this could all prove nostalgic.
And you’ll be able to indulge that nostalgia starting next summer. The Barrel and Beam will feature a tasting room, open on Saturdays, for sampling the brews and buying the bottles.
Young entrepreneurs. Yoopers. An iconic building. A craft brewery. Could it get any better?
You got news? Email briancabell@gmail.com