REDWOOD STEAKHOUSE AND BREWERY
5304 Gateway Centre Drive
Flint
810-233-8000
GENERAL MANAGER: Luis Fernandes
BREWER: Konrad Connor
FLAGSHIP BEERS: Light and Kölsch; Munich Helles; English Pale; Brown Porter; Cream Stout; American IPA
Unless you live in the Flint area or regularly drive on U.S. 23 south of the interchange with I-75, you’ve probably never heard of the Redwood Steakhouse and Brewery. Surprisingly, its high-profile location right off the freeway doesn’t seem to raise the level of awareness that it exists. People who pass it on the highway are usually focused on getting somewhere else. Besides, most people just can’t imagine that there can be a good brewery at the end of a dead-end street in an office park.
But you should not dismiss Redwood based simply on its lack of name recognition. Get off U.S. 23 and weave your way through the streets and you will be surprised by Redwood Steakhouse and Brewery. Adorned with log walls, beams, and pillars, and featuring a stone fireplace, it resembles a classic northern California lodge. And when you look up at those grand wooden beams, you will see banners proclaiming this little-known brewery’s accomplishments:
GREAT AMERICAN BEER FESTIVAL
2012: Silver medal, Coffee Beer Category—Hazelnut Coffee Cream Stout
2011: Silver medal, Sweet Stout Category—Cream Stout
2009: Silver medal, Sweet Stout Category—Cream Stout
2008: Great American Beer Festival Small Brewpub of the Year
2008: Gold medal, Sweet Stout Category—Cream Stout
2008: Gold medal, European Style Dunkel Category—Dunkel
2005: Bronze medal, American Dark Lager Category—Darth’s Dark Lager
2003: Gold medal, British Stout Category—Cream Stout
2002: Silver medal, Sweet Stout Category—Cream Stout
WORLD BEER CUP
2014: Bronze award, Sweet or Cream Stout Category—Cream Stout
2010: Silver award, Sweet Stout Category—Cream Stout
2008: Bronze award, English Style Mild Ale Category—The Mild One
2006: Bronze award, Sweet Stout Category—Cream Stout
2004: Gold award, Belgian Style Saison Category—Saison Redwood
2004: Bronze award, Sezoens (Belgian Other Style) Category—Belgian Brown Ale
2002: Gold award, Old Ale Category—Old English Ale
2002: Bronze award, Sweet Stout Category—Cream Stout
Michigan has bigger breweries and better-known breweries, but Redwood is the little brewery that could.
Redwood’s direction was set by legendary Michigan brewer Bill Wamby when he arrived from the now-defunct Big Buck Brewery in Auburn Hills in the early 2000s. Wamby turned Redwood into a brewing powerhouse by focusing on traditional English-, German-, and Czech-style beers and immediately improved the quality of the beer by doing something simple but often overlooked: making sure the brewing equipment was consistently clean and sanitized. From there, it was just a matter of fine-tuning the recipes to brew consistently good beers that met style guidelines.
Surprisingly, Wamby did not set out to make Redwood one of the state’s most celebrated breweries. Wamby says he entered Redwood’s beers in contests like the World Beer Cup because he just wanted to see how his beer stacked up next to the big, established brewers. “A lot of people think it’s an ego thing. That’s not true,” Wamby says. “We didn’t get anything for it—no recognition or pay. But it helped you mentally because it gave you a challenge.”
Today, Konrad Connor carries on Redwood’s brewing traditions. Connor had been a home brewer and a member of Redwood’s Mug Club who would raise his hand and volunteer to help clean up the brewery or package beer in exchange for a growler. Then came the Friday when Connor learned that his job as a computer programmer had been outsourced. He left his former place of business in the late morning and headed immediately for Redwood for a beer and to think about what would come next. Before he left, Wamby offered Connor a part-time job.
On his first day in his new job, Connor recalls, Wamby provided a crash course in sanitation and chemistry and instilled in Connor a complete understanding of the brewing process and the importance of attention to detail. “When I started here I didn’t know anything,” Connor says. “All the basics came from Bill.”
Connor says his brewing philosophy comes straight from Wamby: if you want to cut corners, you should just quit because you are on the wrong path.
Over the years, Wamby has instilled those same traits in his other assistants: Adam Beratta, who brews at Axle Brewing Company in Ferndale, and David Shaw, who went on to brew at Parker’s Hilltop Brewery in Clarkston.
“I want to make the highest-quality beer I can,” Connor says. “Bill set the bar and it’s pretty darned hard to stay there. I think that’s why so many of his people have gone on to success. He set the high standard.”
Still, you don’t have to take Connor’s word for it. Next time you are near Flint, don’t drive past. Instead, stop in, order a beer, and look up at the banners.