Ann Arbor Rocks – Biercamp

A few months ago, during one of my morning pilgrimages to the Produce Station for their scone & coffee special, I saw a sign for Biercamp next door.   I was curious to see what it would be – because of the “Bier” part, not the camping part.  Because anyone who’ll actually admit to knowing me will tell you that my idea of camping involves a Marriott hotel.  The sign said “Coming Soon”, so I waited. And waited.  Then got distracted by other things.

Really no purpose for this pic except to show up on Google searches...

A few years ago, I had the idea of opening up a crepe stand at the Farmers’ Market that would combine my killer crepe recipe with whatever was in season.  I looked into it and the local government regulations on such a venture made it completely cost prohibitive.   So it comes as no surprise that Biercamp had to jump through flaming hoops held aloft by unicorns before they were finally allowed to open their doors.   Little did they know that all they had to do was pretend they were Indian or Korean, because it seems there’s one of those restaurants opening every week.

When they finally opened, I was a little surprised that they didn’t sell beer.  Rather they make and sell artisan sausages, jerky, and other cured meats.  I hadn’t realized that they finally opened until I came across this article  in the Ann Arbor Observer.  At the time of this writing, it’s late and I’m feeling incredibly lazy.  So check out that article for background on the owners – Walter and Hannah.

There’s no really good way to say this without sounding like I’m in a bathhouse somewhere, so I’ll just put it out there – I love  me some good sausage.  And Biercamp delivers.  In the past two weeks, we’ve been to the store four times and everything we’ve taken home has been delicious:

-       Smoked gouda and portabello brats

-       Asparagus and cheddar brats

-       Italian sausage

-       Homemade hot dogs

-       About 6-8 different types of meat sticks and jerky– including Cajun beef, chimichurri pork, Lizano salsa pork, and the super-hot Quatro Crazy beef jerky

-       Canadian peameal bacon – I’ve literally gone through 3 pounds of the stuff.   This may be the best breakfast meat I’ve ever had.

They do have a couple of chairs available for dine-in.  Although they have minimal choices, what they do have is stellar. Besides being delicious, the sandwiches go for $5-6, which makes them the best cheap eats I’ve had in Ann Arbor.

Barbecued Beef Brisket

16-hour Pulled Pork

These are some serious sandwiches.  The pork especially stands out – juicy, tender, full of smoky flavor.  The sauce was your standard tomato-based one and was a well-balanced combination of sweet and spicy.  That said, I’d love to see them make a North Carolina-style vinegar sauce.

Go there. Now.

About thefoodandwinehedonist

I don't know everything about the world of food and wine, but I'm not going to let a small detail like that stop me from blogging about it.

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