Like ripples in a pond, Northern Michigan\u2019s microbrewery scene is spreading from Traverse City into the surrounding rural counties. Stormcloud Brewing Company<\/a> opened two years ago in Frankfort, Hop Lot opened last month in Suttons Bay, and this week, Matt Therrien will pour his first pints at Lake Ann Brewing Co.<\/a> (Early this fall, the Cedar Rustic Inn will convert into a microbrew pub, also.)<\/p>\n From Traverse City to Benzie to Leelanau, cheers!<\/p>\n Therrien, who worked for years in his family\u2019s construction and masonry business, has converted Guy Gray\u2019s original Snack Shack\u2014which was built in 1945 in the heart of Lake Ann\u2014into a cozy, northwoods-inspired brewpub that feels like your grandpa\u2019s hunting cabin or a scene from an L.L. Bean catalogue. The ceilings are low, and the walls sport beadboard and plaid paneling. Coleman lanterns hang against the back wall, and a Pabst Blue Ribbon statue and a \u201cfisherman\u2019s thermometer\u201d adorn the shelf above the bar. (Therrien\u2019s uncle delivered PBR for 30 years.) There\u2019s no television at the bar, because Therrien \u201chates T.V.\u201d<\/p>\n Despite the PBR homage, you won\u2019t find any generic beer on tap at Lake Ann Brewing Co. Therrien will serve craft American ales including his \u201cListen Chief IPA,\u201d \u201cAral Hills Pale Ale,\u201d \u201cVillage Blonde,\u201d \u201cLake Ann Amber,\u201d \u201cMr. P\u2019s Porter,\u201d and \u201cMr. Blue Sky Wheat,\u201d which is less sweet than those made with German hefeweizen yeast. <\/p>\n \u201cI like bananas and cloves in my nutbread, not in my beer,\u201d Therrien says. <\/p>\n After homebrewing for 20 years and making what he admits at first was \u201cterrible beer,\u201d Therrien couldn\u2019t pass up the opportunity to open a brewpub in downtown Lake Ann. The vacant building had gone into foreclosure in 2011, and when Therrien first eyed the space two years ago, he thought it was a wreck. <\/p>\n \u201cI looked at the building and said \u2018no way.\u2019 A year later, I looked again, and the idea began to grow on me,\u201d he admits. \u201cHow often does the best location in town sit available for years?\u201d<\/p>\n Therrien eventually negotiated Honor Bank to a favorable price at half the building\u2019s original listed value. It was clear to him that the bank\u2014and the community\u2014desperately wanted an owner. He closed in the spring of 2014. Ever since then, the community has helped Therrien to decorate the space. <\/p>\n \u201cA lot of the stuff we have in here is stuff we reclaimed,\u201d Therrien says. There are church pews from Bayview Wesleyan Church, stools from Union Street Station in Traverse City, chairs from Hermann\u2019s European Caf\u00e9 in Cadillac, and a framed portrait of Italian chef Tony Pisari, a former owner of the building. \u201cSo many people have come and dropped off stuff and said, \u2018Hey, we thought you could use this.\u2019 The nice thing about being in total artistic control is that I can hang things up and no one will complain.\u201d<\/p>\n Last July, his wife Jennie convinced him to place a sign out front announcing that the brewery would be \u201copen tomorrow.\u201d The advertisement was a joke, of course\u2014the building needed to be gutted, renovated, and retrofitted to brew seven barrels of beer at one time. All summer, fall, and winter, the sign remained, though Therrien tired of the incredulous gawks of passersby. (\u201cYou\u2019re opening tomorrow? But the place is a wreck!\u201d) <\/p>\n Therrien jokes that this week, when Lake Ann Brewing Co. officially opens, he may replace \u201copen tomorrow\u201d with \u201copen today!\u201d He never wants to see the \u201ctomorrow\u201d sign again. (Though now the mantle behind the bar sports a sign that reads, \u201cFree beer\u2014tomorrow!\u201d)<\/p>\n Therrien expects to be busy. After all, he now has the only watering hole in Almira Township in northeastern Benzie County, a rural tract that is home to more residents than the entire year-round population of Elberta, Gilmore, and Crystal Lake Townships, plus the City of Frankfort, combined. Bucking the predominant trend of other rural Midwestern communities, Almira has witnessed explosive growth in recent years, as the population surged from 2,811 to 3,645 between 2000 and 2010. Lake Ann sits roughly 12 miles from bustling Traverse City, giving its residents access to the urban job market.<\/p>\n \u201cI never realized until I was working here on the brewery how much traffic comes through Lake Ann,\u201d Therrien says. \u201cIt\u2019s had population growth without any commercial growth. The town square is basically the same. The footprint of the business district hasn\u2019t changed in 30 years.\u201d <\/p>\n Therrien quips that he recently walked into Lake Ann Grocery at 5 minutes to 10 p.m. to purchase electrical breakers and couldn\u2019t believe the amount of foot traffic inside the rural grocery store. <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s like Meijer in there,\u201d he jokes. \u201cAnd now we\u2019re the only place in town to get a beer.\u201d<\/p>\nCaffeinated Community Center<\/h2>\n