Spirits of Detroit: Bar-hopping with a beer-loving Okie

My long-lost friend from Oklahoma had never been to Detroit. Its reputation, in his words: "A dirty, violent, sketchy place."

Two weeks after sending me a Facebook message, he arrived at my downtown apartment Friday afternoon -- dropped off after hitching a 14-hour ride from a friend heading to a memorial service. Tim Landes, 33, of Tulsa arrived curious, with a camera strap on his shoulder.

"Is it safe to walk around out there?" he asked, gazing out my 12th-floor window over Grand Circus Park. Most of what he'd heard about the city involved bankruptcy, blight and crime.

"It's fine," I said. "Let's go."

We walked down Woodward, beneath the scaffolds among humming construction equipment. I pointed out long-ghostly buildings now lined with shiny new windows, preparing to welcome new tenants. We walked the construction maze into Campus Martius Park, with some of the lunch crowd lingering as food trucks pulled out.

I paused while opening the door to Grand Trunk Pub on Woodward near Congress Street, so he could take photos. We sat at the end of the bar, where I ordered a Melon Head (6.5% alcohol by volume) pale ale by Latitude 42 Brewing Company. I insisted Tim try a Bell's Two Hearted Ale (7% ABV), Michigan's most beloved IPA. He enjoyed it.

I hadn't seen him in eight years. We met during journalism school at Oklahoma State University, and he works in public relations for the Cherokee Nation. He said Detroit was on his list of cities to visit; now, he wants to come back.

We walked from Grand Trunk to Hart Plaza and along the riverfront, through the Renaissance Center and back around through Greektown -- where for the first time, I noticed Monroe Avenue shut down to car traffic. Someone was spinning fire for a small crowd. The pedestrian-friendly weekend road closure, the latest of countless improvements I've seen in the past year living downtown, is already attracting more people to dining and nightlife.

Tim likes good beer. He lives in a state where liquor stores can only sell beer that's more than 3.2% alcohol by weight (about 4% ABV) at room temperature, they close at 9 p.m. and don't open on Sundays. Ironically, it's also the only place I've been where you can pay a $5 cover for "drown night" and drink all the 3.2-beer you want.

I figured he'd get a real kick out of the HopCat and its 130 beer taps at Canfield and Woodward, so we went there for dinner.

I had a Castlebrite Apricot Ale (5.1% ABV) from Dragonmead Microbrewery. Tim had a Huma Lupa Licious (7.7% ABV) from Short's Brewing Company, another highly regarded Michigan IPA from one of our state's most prolific breweries.

"The beers are amazing," he later said, adding that it was impressive how you could pop into any Detroit bar and have a local brew that's different from the last.

The next stop on our Friday night tour was Jolly Pumpkin Pizzeria and Brewery, a place I've frequented since it opened last April for its good vibes and "artisan," often-experimental sour ales. Tim said he didn't like the sour beers he'd tried before. But he said the Calabaza Blanca (4.8% ABV) sour witbier had a "really good, smooth taste."

As we sat in the bustling, trendy bar and restaurant, with its large windows, walls lined with reclaimed pallet wood and hipster-ish crowd, he mused: "I wasn't expecting Detroit to be like this."

I promptly ordered an Uber to Nancy Whiskey, a north Corktown dive bar founded in 1902 that continues to pour generous shots at Harrison and Spruce streets, a corner of a worn-down neighborhood. About four people were sitting casually at the bar, and the friendly bartender served up the drinks without demanding immediate payment or a credit card to hold.

We sat at a picnic table out back, drinking Pabst Blue Ribbon. Tim explained the intricacies of Oklahoma casino slot payouts, and I noticed the only other person out there was a tired-looking, middle-aged man having a serious conversation on his cell phone.

I paid the bartender, and we crossed the bridge over I-75 to Michigan Avenue, dropping by Michigan Central Station so Tim could take more photos. We stopped at the seemingly always-humming Two James Distillery, nabbing one of the few open tables near the wide-open garage door. We tried some of its delicious Absinthe du Nain Rouge before walking up Michigan Avenue, watching the massive full moon -- a blue moon -- rise above the RenCen.

We stopped by McShane's Irish Pub and Whiskey Bar for a round of pool and a $1 play on the jukebox: "Wasting Time" (2003) by Kings of Leon, one of our college party anthems by a once-great southern garage rock band with Oklahoma roots that has since sold its soul. Like at Nancy Whiskey, we nearly had this place to ourselves.

Then we walked a mile to Lafayette Coney Island so Tim could have his first authentic couple of coney dogs. He later remarked to me that it was worth noting we had "no problems" with anyone bothering us on the long walk. I'd taken him for a drive through the burnt-out neighborhoods and Packard Plant during his weekend visit, but it didn't much appear to affect his overall impression of the city.

Tim said much of it "seemed clean and safe, especially in the downtown area and Midtown."

He reflected on how Tulsa, a city that also spent the second half of the 20th Century in decline, is enjoying a similar resurgence at its core. America's young people are rediscovering city life.

I moved to downtown a year ago, having moved to Michigan from Colorado less than two years ago. In Colorado for seven years, I didn't host as many curious visitors as I have in the past year.

Spirits of Detroit columnist Robert Allen covers alcohol for the Free Press. He can be reached at rallen@freepress.com or Untappd, raDetroit; Twitter, @rallenMI, Facebook, robertallen.news; and Periscope, @rallenMI.

Craft beers tasted, and what I thought of them (as rated on Untappd, profile: raDetroit):

Grand Trunk Pub: Melon Head (6.5% alcohol by volume) by Latitude 42 Brewing Company of Portage: "Tasty with some pineapple flavors and pineyness." 3.75/5

Hopcat, Detroit: Castlebrite Apricot Ale by Dragonmead Microbrewery of Warren: "Smells of fresh apricot. Great flavor of apricot and lemon with perfect level of carbonation. First apricot beer I've enjoyed!" 4.5/5

Hopcat, Detroit: Big Red Coq by Brewery Vivant of Grand Rapids: "Nice, unusual Belgian red. Aftertaste reminds of the smell of an old book." 3.5/5

Jolly Pumpkin Pizzeria and Brewery, Detroit: Fuego del Otono by Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales: "Not one of their more flavorful sours; mostly tasting the oak here. It was the first pour off a new keg, so maybe that affected." 2.75/5

McShane's Irish Pub and Whiskey Bar: Prolonged Enjoyment by Short's Brewing Company of Bellaire: 3/5