A few months ago, two of my friends called me as I was driving home from school. "Guess what?" asked one. "We are at Whole Foods and we are DRUNK!"

I had had one of those days and I was like, "Huhn?"

It turns out that the Whole Foods in the Cranbrook Plaza has quite the happy hour.

They have a lot of wines and a good number of beers. Their website says that they always have Michigan beer on tap. They also have quite the selection of cheeses to snack on while you drink.

On Thursday, my husband and I drove out to sample this happy hour bar ourselves; we picked this particular day because I read that they were highlighting Michigan beers. We got caught in the Art Fair traffic, so we were more than ready to drink by the time we got there.

Normally, I can't really afford Whole Foods, so I'm not at all familiar with their store. After wandering for a moment (and having some free samples of cheese, mmmm!) we stumbled upon the wine and beer bar. The bar is a semi-circle surrounded by some very comfortable stools. The servers stand in the middle, surrounded by wine bottles, beer bottles, taps and cheese. On Thursday, Arcadia beer was featured and so most of our choices were from that fun brewery to our west (in Battle Creek, to be exact). Jeff and I decided to have the 4 ounce samples of the various beers. (Samples were 4 oz. for $1 and a pint was $3).

I started with the Arcadia ESB (Extra Special Bitter). Generally, an ESB has a higher ABV (alcohol by volume) and is more bitter than a regular pale ale. This ESB had a lovely hoppy taste to it (hops provide beers with the "bitter" flavor, and it doesn't taste "bitter" in the way that you might think) and was very easy drinking, despite the higher ABV.

Jeff's first taste was of the Arcadia Whitsun, which is a wheat beer that has a hint of coriander, orange zest and honey. Normally, I am not a huge fan of wheat beers, but I really enjoyed this beer. (Jeff generously let me try some.) I could detect the citrusy and honey notes more than the wheat, which made it easy drinking for someone who is not hopelessly in love with wheat beers.

Next, I tried the Arcadia Hop Rocket and whoa, Nellie! Hold onto your seats and keep your hands and feet inside the ride, kids. Weighing in at 9% ABV (your average commercially produced beer usually comes in around 3% or less), this beer is sharp and, well, hoppy. I picked up some grapefruit or maybe lemon flavors, but the hops were what almost knocked me off my comfortable stool. If you are new to hops, you may want to work up to this beer...think of it as a final exam in hops, if you will.

Jeff's next taste was Arcadia's Imperial Stout which was full-bodied and creamy. The beer's "mouthfeel" was not heavy like some stouts can be. Coffee and cocoa were the dominant tastes, but there was a slight hoppy taste too, which is unusual for stouts.

My last taste was of New Holland's Mad Hatter, another hoppy beer. (Are you seeing a pattern here???) This malty, dry hopped beer went very well with our cheese plate, which arrived around the time this beer did. I would be remiss if I didn't say that the Zingermans Bridgewater cheese and Rosewood sharp cheddar were absolutely wonderful compliments to our beverages of wheat and rye.

Jeff's last taste was of Short's Pandemonium Pale Ale. I only had a small taste, but this beer lived up to Short's awesome reputation...it was a light, crisp pale ale of the finest order.

One of the coolest things about this whole experience was how willing our servers were to open bottles for us. I felt bad making them open up bottles just to give us a sample, but they were more than accommodating. (I thought about offering to finish the other 8 ounces in the bottles--for free--but they probably have heard that a million times and would find me neither cute nor charming). Our cheese man (I'm sorry, I can't think of any other way to say it) was awesome, helping us pair local, cow's milk cheeses. He also showed us the coolest.thing.ever (okay, maybe not ever)--grillable cheese! Cheese! On a grill! You can't beat that with a stick, folks. As I type, it sits in my refrigerator, awaiting its shot at glory on the BBQ.

The only downside to the whole thing was that none of my pictures turned out. So, I leave you with a shot of Arcadia Brewery. I took this on the beer trip that Jeff and I took last summer. I hope that this will inspire you to take a trip of your own...or at least take a trip down to Whole Foods and get some rush hour relief :).

Until next time, keep your belly up to the bar and keep reaching for the taps!