‘Beer is living proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.? ? Benjamin Franklin

Rex Halfpenny is a man driven by passion. A man guided by a mission.
His passion ? beer. His mission ? elevate beer’s image from a blue-collar staple to a connoisseur’s choice.
In 1997, the 54-year-old Addison resident quit his successful and lucrative ? but toxically stressful ? 15-year career in corporate America to follow his heart.
‘I wanted to do something that was more personally rewarding,? Halfpenny said.
That same year the Michigan Beer Guide (www.michiganbeerguide.com) was born.
‘My goal has always been to wake people up to a more interesting glass of beer,? said Halfpenny, whose passion for beer began as a 13-year-old boy growing up in Hawaii when the men he was working with handed him his first beer ? Primo Beer made by the Hawaii Brewing Company.
Published bi-monthly from Halfpenny’s home, the Michigan Beer Guide’s 32 pages are filled with beer news, beer editorials, beer events, beer ads and a complete listing of Michigan’s 68 microbreweries and brewpubs including a map of their locations and details about what’s on tap.
Halfpenny is responsible for all editorial content while his wife Mary, who’s been with him since 1976, handles the book-keeping and the guide’s brewery directory.
About 12,000 copies Michigan Beer Guide are printed, two-thirds of which are available free of charge at the state’s breweries. The other third are given away to tourists at Michigan’s Welcome Centers.
Don’t look for news about Bud Light, Miller Lite or any of the other popular mass-marketed beers in Halfpenny’s guide. His is a publication devoted to educating the palate and delighting the senses, not simply quenching thirst and getting drunk.
‘What I want people to get out of Michigan Beer Guide is a better appreciation of beer. I want to elevate beer to be more worthy of study,? said Halfpenny, who completed a course on the ‘Sensory Evaluation of Beer? from the Chicago-based Siebel Institute of Technology in 1997 and became a ‘Certified Beer Judge? in 1998.
In addition to judging beer competitions and giving regular talks at Michigan breweries, Halfpenny also teaches a course on ‘Beer Evaluation and Judging Skills? at Schoolcraft College.
‘I teach people how to examine a beer, how to use their senses to appreciate a beer,? he said. ‘I want to bring beer out of the longneck bottle and into stemware and onto the dinner table. I want it to be just as worthy as wine.?
But much like Sysiphus ? the mythical Greek whom the gods condemned to ceaselessly roll a rock to the top of a mountain ? Halfpenny is engaged in his own uphill battle against mass-market beer and the attitudes it’s created about the beverage in general.
‘Michigan drinks a lot of beer, they just don’t drink very good beer,? he said.
About five mass brewers have 85 percent of the market share in Michigan. (Budweiser alone controls 55 percent of the state’s market share.) And all of it is pretty much the same beer bearing different labels, according to Halfpenny.
The other 15 percent is occupied by the state’s 68 microbreweries and brewpubs plus all the imported and other domestic beers available.
‘It’s very hard to talk somebody who wants to drink 30 cans on a Saturday afternoon into appreciating two bottles,? said Halfpenny, who averages one or two bottles a day himself.
While the mass-market brewers are busy selling consumers more light beer (which means ‘more water?) and ‘low carb? beer (which means ‘less ingredients), Halfpenny is pushing ‘big beer, more calories, more ingredients, more flavor, more aroma.?
‘I don’t mean that mass market beer is not good beer. It is good beer,? he explained. ‘But it’s one kind of beer in a world full of much more interesting beer.?
Over the years, Halfpenny’s sampled anywhere from 15,000 to 20,000 different beers from about 110 countries. About 3,000 of those bottles made it into the collection which lines the walls of Halfpenny’s basement.
Interestingly, of all the beers he’s sampled, Halfpenny said the ‘most intriguing? and ‘exotic? are those made in Belgium by monks in the country’s five remaining Trappist monasteries. ‘To construct a beer with all goodness and holiness and godliness in mind puts that beer out there as being unusual,? he said.
So what makes a ‘good beer? according to Halfpenny?
‘A well-made, balanced beer,? he said. ‘A good use of the ingredients so they exemplify what the brewer had in mind when he made the beer.?
Conversely, a ‘bad beer? is the result of ‘poor recipe formulation, poor brewing process or biological contamination.?
A quality beer is brewed using all malted barley, which is the most expensive ingredient in beer, whereas other mass-market beers use cereals like rice (Budweiser) and corn (Miller), which are cheaper ingredients.
Cereals used in beers are called ‘adjunctants.?
‘An adjunctant is anything you add to a beer to increase the sugar levels in place of malted barley,? Halfpenny said. ‘So when you take out 40 percent of the malted barley and you put in 40 percent cereals ? it’s like adding cereal to dog food, you’ve just made it cheaper.?
‘Unfortunately, there are many beers out there that do not represent a good beer, but a lot of consumers don’t know the difference between a good beer and a bad beer,? Halfpenny explained. ‘You have to know what a bad beer is to know what a good beer is.?
For Halfpenny, a ‘good beer? is one that’s ‘clean,? meaning ‘I have no problems with it.?
In order to be ‘clean? a beer must meet certain requirements for its style.
The world of beer is divided into ?23 distinct styles,? Halfpenny explained, each one with its own set of guidelines that define it. If a beer fits its style guidelines in terms of ‘aroma, color, flavor, body and aftertaste,? then it’s ‘clean.?
‘If it’s clean, the brewer knows what he’s doing,? Halfpenny said.
In addition to championing high quality beers, Halfpenny is committed to promoting beers brewed right here in the Great Lakes state.
That’s why in 1997 he founded the Michigan Brewers Guild (www.michiganbrewersguild.org), which today has 35 to 40 members all united under the easy-to-remember slogan ‘Drink Michigan Beer.?
‘It’s a collective voice to get people to recognize that Michigan is brewing a great diversity of high quality products,? he said. ‘The guild’s primary intent is to market Michigan beers.?
For those readers who enjoy home-brewing, raise your glass to Halfpenny because he’s the one who spearheaded the grassroots effort which legalized the practice in Michigan in 1997.
‘It wasn’t legal, but it wasn’t illegal,? he explained. ‘There were home-brew supply stores and home-brew clubs. People were doing it. But it wasn’t legally recognized.?
Connoisseur, teacher, publisher, activist ? Rex Halfpenny just may be one of the best friends a glass of beer ever had.